Energy Security Starts at Home: New and Refilled SPR Storage Could Drive Billions of Barrels of Oil Demand

The recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting stranding of over 10 million barrels per day of crude from the Persian Gulf served as a stark wake-up call for import-dependent nations worldwide. In response, countries are racing to expand strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) and commercial storage capacity for both oil and LNG. […]

Continue Reading

When Will Gas Prices Come Down? Post-Iran Conflict Dynamics, Tight Inventories, and the Path to Pre-War Levels

Gasoline prices in the U.S. have eased from crisis peaks above $4.50 per gallon but remain stubbornly elevated. As of June 15, 2026, the national average for regular gasoline stood around $4.05 per gallon (with some reports citing ~$3.90–$3.99 recently), still more than $1 above pre-war (pre-2022) levels that were consistently under $3 per gallon. […]

Continue Reading

India Orders Major Strategic Oil Reserve Upgrade

In a decisive move to strengthen its energy security amid recent global supply disruptions, the Indian government has directed state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to construct and fill a new underground strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) cavern at Mangaluru in Karnataka. The project, estimated at around $1.6 billion, will add 1.75 million metric tons […]

Continue Reading

Iran Asserts Control over Hormuz, Setting Stage for Tolls as Oil Tankers Hold Back Amid Lingering Uncertainty

Iran is tightening its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, with new rules requiring ships to obtain permission and secure insurance from Tehran. This move explicitly paves the way for future tolls, even as a fragile U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed earlier this week aimed to normalize flows. […]

Continue Reading

‘The damage in certain countries is far worse than let on’: Nuttall on the state of oil

In a timely BNN Bloomberg interview today, Eric Nuttall, Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager at Ninepoint Partners (manager of one of Canada’s largest energy funds), delivered a candid assessment of the global oil market following more than three months of conflict involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran. Nuttall emphasized that while news of an interim […]

Continue Reading

US Oil Levels Down Again This Week: Inventories Tighten Amid Geopolitical Strain and Looming Futures Rollover

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell for the seventh consecutive week, according to the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending June 5, 2026. Commercial crude stocks (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) dropped by 7.2 million barrels to 426.5 million barrels — now about 5% below the five-year […]

Continue Reading

The Iran Closure on the Strait of Hormuz Could Last to Labor Day: What It Means for Global Markets, Oil Prices, and the Physical vs. Paper Disconnect

The Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and significant LNG volumes flow — has remained effectively closed since early March 2026 following the escalation of the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict. Iran has suspended talks and signaled the blockade could become permanent absent major concessions. In a wide-ranging interview with […]

Continue Reading