Secretary Bessent Comments: Iran’s Storage is Full, and Other Comments on China Trip

WASHINGTON/BEIJING – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a stark update on Iran’s oil sector while in Beijing for the Trump-Xi summit, declaring that Iran’s primary export terminal at Kharg Island has reached 100% storage capacity. No oil loadings have occurred in the past three days, ships are neither entering nor leaving, and production shutdowns […]

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Iran Seizes Oil Tanker and Attacks US Forces in Strait of Hormuz: Escalation Threatens Fragile Ceasefire and Global Oil Flows

In a sharp escalation near the world’s most critical energy chokepoint, Iran and the United States clashed overnight in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran accusing Washington of targeting an Iranian-flagged oil tanker and then launching missile, drone, and small-boat attacks on three US Navy destroyers. The incident, which both sides described as defensive, comes […]

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Iran appears to have increased flaring to keep the oil and gas fields stable to avoid shut-ins

Satellite observations from the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines reveal a notable divergence in upstream gas flaring trends across the Middle East in early 2026. While countries like Iraq, the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia showed sharp declines in flaring activity amid regional conflict, Iran registered a net increase […]

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Iranian War May Have an Off Ramp – Did The US Just Get Kharg Island?

President Donald Trump dropped a bombshell yesterday in the White House Oval Office: Iran just handed the United States a “very big present” worth a tremendous amount of money. It wasn’t nuclear-related, he stressed. It was “oil-and-gas-related” and tied directly to the flow through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump called it a “significant prize” that […]

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Secretary Scott Bessent has levers he can still pull to keep oil prices stable for a few weeks – Key Points from his Interview on Fox

As the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran roils global energy markets and pushes benchmark crude above $100 per barrel at times, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is wielding sanctions policy like a supply-side tool. With the Strait of Hormuz under pressure and Iranian exports partially disrupted, Bessent has already pulled several levers — temporary Russian oil sanctions […]

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Two Oil Tankers Seen at Kharg after U.S. Strikes, Satellite Firm Confirms

By Stuart Turley, Energy News Beat In a development that underscores the resilience of Iran\’s oil infrastructure amid escalating geopolitical tensions, satellite imagery has confirmed the presence of two oil tankers at Kharg Island, Iran\’s primary oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. This sighting comes just hours after U.S. precision strikes targeted military installations […]

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