The Israeli Energy Ministry on Thursday announced it had instructed the company operating the platform at the offshore natural gas field Karish to restore operations following the announcement of the two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire. The ministry has decided to instruct Energean to begin restoring the Karish rig off Israel’s Mediterranean coast into operation, after assessing the situation and taking into account all relevant considerations, Israel said today. Israel had ordered the Karish platform shut on February 28, when the U.S. and Israel…

The two-week US-Iran ceasefire announced overnight has taken the panic premium out of oil – but not the full risk premium. Prices are not snapping back to pre-war levels due to the scale of disruption and backlog-clearing mechanisms that will take some time to normalize. Futures have moved and, as a result, Rystad Energy has reduced its average Brent price from $97 to average $87 for 2026. However, the tightness in the physical barrels is unlikely to be cleared anytime soon. Oil plunged below US$100 per barrel after the US and Iran agreed…

The European Union is preparing to loosen methane rules on imported oil and gas as the bloc scrambles to secure supply in the wake of the U.S.-Iran war. Brussels is set to introduce “flexibilities” to its methane regulations, allowing importers to comply without tracing emissions data back to individual cargoes. Instead, countries exporting to the EU will only need to show that a sufficient share of their national production meets the standards, according to the European Commission. The change comes ahead of a 2027 expansion of the…

U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports hit a record 11.7 million metric tons in March 2026, mainly driven by global panic buying and supply disruptions triggered by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Missile and drone attacks on Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City in March damaged critical infrastructure, forcing major outages and positioning the U.S. as a vital swing producer. LNG facilities in Louisiana handled roughly 1.8 million more metric tons in March 2026 compared to March 2025, with Louisiana currently handling ~61% of all U.S.…

India's Oil Minister Hardeep Puri is visiting Qatar on Thursday and Friday as India seeks to secure LNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply amid the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Puri will be on an official visit to the State of Qatar on April 9-10, 2026, India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a statement early on Thursday. Puri is expected to press Qatari officials to prioritize supply of LNG and LPG, which is widely used as a cooking fuel in India, to the country, sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. India relies…

The fragile cease-fire between the United States and Iran could hang in the balance over what Washington has labeled a "misunderstanding" over whether the truce includes Israel’s offensive against Tehran-backed Hezbollah assets in Lebanon. US Vice President JD Vance, during a visit to Hungary on April 8, said he believes there was a "legitimate misunderstanding" about the terms of the truce announced the night before by President Donald Trump. "I think the ‌Iranians thought that the cease-fire included Lebanon, and it just didn't," he…

March has turned into a month of hard power tests for Iran – and so far, it has been quietly exceeding expectations. By effectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz to all but its own cargoes (or the ones that have received their approval), Tehran has demonstrated that the trajectory of the conflict is far from being dictated by its counterparts. Faced with the risk of acute shortages in medium-sour crude, the US administration has been forced into a partial sanctions retreat, allowing Iranian barrels already at sea to re-enter the market. The…

With fuel rationing beginning in some Asian countries and analysts warning Europe is next, talk has started about windfall profit taxes on Big Oil. The supermajors are the first target for additional taxes when oil prices surge, but they are not the only ones benefiting from such surges. This time around, the biggest winners are not just oil producers but oil producers with alternative export routes. The war that the United States and Israel started against Iran at the end of February has cost the Middle East’s petrostates some 11 million…

No country was more prepared for the war in Iran than China. As the rest of Asia reels from oil and gas shortages due to the Iran War, Beijing is sitting pretty thanks to its vast stores of crude oil and its enormous clean energy infrastructure. China has been building up its domestic clean energy sector faster than any other country on Earth at the same time that it has been stockpiling massive amounts of surplus oil and gas, all in anticipation of a major geopolitical disruption just like the one we’re seeing now. As a result, China is…

Just over a month since President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran, taken in the shadow of his military intervention in Venezuela, the contrast between the two is hard to ignore. One intervention is drifting into uncertainty, while the other is settling into something easily described as a success. As the world’s attention remains fixed on the volleys of missiles crossing the Middle East, the idea that Iran might follow Venezuela’s path now feels slightly absurd. For a moment, it was a compelling story of a quick…

Bridger Pipeline LLC has disclosed its proposed pipeline to transport crude from the ‌U.S.-Canada border to Wyoming would cost approximately US$2 billion and have a maximum capacity of 1.13 million barrels per day (bpd). The Casper-Wyoming company has proposed a 36-inch pipeline spanning nearly 650 miles (1,050 km) from the U.S.-Canada border in Phillips County, Montana, to Guernsey, Wyoming. The pipeline will initially operate at approximately 550,000 bpd; however, Plainview Energy Analytics has noted that batching light crude oil could allow…

Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, a critical artery bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, was reportedly hit in an Iranian drone attack on Wednesday, Reuters has reported. According to the report, a pumping station along the 1,200 km pipeline was struck by a drone early morning on Wednesday. Prior to the attack, the pipeline was pumping at its emergency capacity of 7 million barrels per day (bpd) to bypass the shuttered Strait of Hormuz. The strike occurred just hours after a U.S.-Iran ceasefire announcement, which has so far failed to halt regional…

Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, a critical artery bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, was reportedly hit in an Iranian drone attack on Wednesday, Reuters has reported. According to the report, a pumping station along the 1,200 km pipeline was struck by a drone early morning on Wednesday. Prior to the attack, the pipeline was pumping at its emergency capacity of 7 million barrels per day (bpd) to bypass the shuttered Strait of Hormuz. The strike occurred just hours after a U.S.-Iran ceasefire announcement, which has so far failed to halt regional…

The latest global oil shock has created an ideal environment for Suriname’s struggling oil boom. The impoverished South American country of less than seven hundred thousand is endeavoring to launch a transformative oil boom. Poor drilling results, a high gas-to-oil ratio, and conflicting seismic data saw Suriname’s oil boom put on hold during 2022. There are, however, obvious signs that the development of offshore Block 58 is back on track. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, after U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, will drive higher…

U.S. Oil & Gas giant Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) has signaled that surging oil and gas prices triggered by the conflict with Iran could increase its first-quarter upstream earnings by up to $2.9 billion, with the oil price boost expected to outweigh production disruptions in the Middle East. Exxon estimates that disruptions to its assets in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar will lower its global oil-equivalent production by 6% in the first quarter compared to Q4 2025, but higher commodity prices are projected to provide a profit lift between…

U.S. Oil & Gas giant Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) has signaled that surging oil and gas prices triggered by the conflict with Iran could increase its first-quarter upstream earnings by up to $2.9 billion, with the oil price boost expected to outweigh production disruptions in the Middle East. Exxon estimates that disruptions to its assets in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar will lower its global oil-equivalent production by 6% in the first quarter compared to Q4 2025, but higher commodity prices are projected to provide a profit lift between…

Interest in travel insurance has spiked over the last month after airline bosses warned of cancelled flights amid shortages of jet fuel due to the ongoing energy crisis. Thousands of flights have been cancelled, and more cuts are planned, as global airlines struggle with surging fuel costs and supply issues caused by the war in Iran. Ryanair chief executive, Michael O’Leary, has warned that his budget airline may need to cancel 10 per cent of its flights this summer as we enter this “unknown scenario”. Meanwhile, regional airline…

Oil prices fell below $100 per barrel while the S&P 500 and global markets surged after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire deal that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for the first time in more than a month. Brent crude for June delivery plunged 16.4% to trade at $91.37 per barrel at 8.00 am ET, while WTI crude for May delivery declined 17.9% to change hands at $92.62/bbl. On Wednesday morning, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that two ships appeared to have transited the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S.-Iran ceasefire…

Gold prices rose after U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire to finalize talks on ending the war that has upended global markets. Bullion climbed to above $4,800 an ounce, extending a 1.2% gain from the previous session. Trump said in a social media post that he had agreed to suspend bombing less than two hours before a self-imposed deadline to wipe out Iran's "whole civilization," adding that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz was a key condition for the pause. Iran said safe passage through the strait was "possible"…

Aker BP has started production from the Symra field in the North Sea nine months ahead of schedule, while partner DNO ASA highlighted the startup as a key milestone in its aggressive growth strategy offshore Norway. The Symra development, operated by Aker BP with a 50% stake, is expected to add around 60–63 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in gross reserves. For DNO, which holds a 20% interest, the field is projected to deliver 4,000–5,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) at plateau, providing a meaningful boost to its…