ExxonMobil’s preliminary third-quarter update has put refining front and center for investors. Higher refining margins are expected to add roughly $4.5 billion to downstream earnings compared with the second quarter—on top of the $4.1 billion the company already generated from refining in Q2. That surge comes even as upstream earnings face an estimated $1.3 billion […]
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California’s Cap-and-Invest and Low Carbon Fuel Standard added about 47 cents a gallon in July (CEC). Washington’s carbon auction and clean-fuel rules add roughly 36–74 cents. The federal RFS is a separate 1-to-45-cent fight over gross credits versus net pump pass-through. We map the published estimates, keep taxes and refinery closures in their own buckets, […]
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The global diesel market is no longer just tight. It is rationing by price. This week the ICE gasoil crack — the difference between a barrel of crude and the diesel refined from it — hit a record $79 a barrel. In the United States, the diesel crack is trading well above $100 a barrel […]
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The ongoing conflict in Iran has triggered a profound energy crunch that extends far beyond crude oil prices. While Brent crude has retreated to around $90 per barrel from a wartime peak near $126, global shortages of refined products—diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel—have intensified. Global refinery throughput in July 2026 ran nearly 5 million barrels […]
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The U.S. diesel crack spread—the premium of ultra-low sulfur diesel futures over West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude—has shattered historical records, surging above $100 per barrel for the first time ever. It hit an intraday all-time high of $102.20 on Monday, August 17, 2026, before hovering around $100 on Tuesday, August 18 (settling in triple digits […]
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The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the 2026 Iran-related conflict has fundamentally altered global liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) trade flows. Middle Eastern exports from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Iran slowed sharply as tanker traffic collapsed and infrastructure faced risks or attacks. Before the escalation, roughly 54 oil, chemical, and LPG […]
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Phillips 66 Chairman and CEO Mark Lashier issued a clear warning on June 24, 2026, at the Reuters Global Energy Forum in New York: refining and petrochemical earnings face greater volatility due to ongoing uncertainty from disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. Lashier highlighted how uncertainty in crude supply and shipping lanes causes refining margins […]
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US refiners are operating plants at elevated run rates, with some delaying scheduled maintenance amid strong refining margins and steady-to-robust fuel demand. According to a Bloomberg report from June 1, 2026, the industry saw one of its lightest maintenance seasons in recent memory, with an average of only 470,000 barrels per day (bpd) of processing […]
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On Friday, May 29, 2026, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved sweeping updates to the state’s Cap-and-Invest program (formerly Cap-and-Trade), extending California’s signature climate initiative through 2045. State regulators framed the changes as a balanced move to meet aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets while supporting affordability and preventing industry “leakage”—the exodus of major polluters […]
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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a Record of Decision finalizing the easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to cross under Lake Oahe on the Missouri River in North Dakota. The move ends a years-long environmental review and legal battle, securing the long-term operation of the critical crude oil conduit nearly a […]
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