Donald Trump threatened over the Easter weekend to attack Iran’s power plants and bridges if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t opened by 8 pm Eastern time on Tuesday, April 7.  “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote Saturday morning on Truth Social. “Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”Media has been reporting that the closure of the strait, through which about 20% of the world’s crude oil passes, has skyrocketed…

Oil prices pulled back on Tuesday while physical crude markets surged to record highs, with traders taking a breather even as the underlying supply crisis worsens. WTI crude was trading at $113.7, up modestly on the day, while Brent slipped to $109.2, reflecting a cooling in futures after a sharp run higher driven by panic buying in physical markets. Meanwhile, real-world crude prices hit levels not seen before. Dated Brent—used to price much of the world’s physical oil—rose above $144 per barrel, with some cargoes effectively…

A flurry of recent deals and announcements suggest significant new reserves of natural gas are contained in the Ustyurt Plateau, which spans western sections of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The prospect of a major Ustyurt find is, in turn, helping to fuel interest in building a trans-Caspian gas corridor. The UK energy giant BP is shaping up as the pivotal player in the development of Ustyurt’s potential energy riches. On April 2, a company subsidiary signed an exploration deal with the Kazakh state-run entity KazMunayGaz covering a “promising…

Canada is often torn in two different directions when it comes to energy policy, with former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pursuing a green transition more strongly, while major oil-producing regions fought to keep oil and gas on the agenda. The ongoing production of highly polluting oil sands in Alberta province seems, to many, to be at odds with Canada’s climate targets, while others argue that the country’s crude production is key to both energy security and revenue. Now, as Avi Lewis takes over the New Democratic Party (NDP), the…

Hungary is expected on Tuesday to agree a $500-million oil supply deal with the United States during the visit of U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Budapest, a source with knowledge of the plan told Bloomberg. Vance arrived in Hungary’s capital city earlier on Tuesday, just days ahead of the general election in the country on April 12, in which Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is badly trailing in poll numbers. The expected Hungary-U.S. deal would envisage Hungarian energy company MOL agreeing to buy about 500,000 tons of U.S. oil for…

A quiet Easter Sunday was abruptly punctured when US President Donald Trump unleashed a brutal, expletive-filled ultimatum to the Iranian regime. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Tuesday will be power plant day, and bridge day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the f***in’ strait you crazy b***ards, or you’ll be living in Hell- JUST WATCH!” The president’s latest ultimatum comes as countries around the world face the grim realisation that the economic effects of the…

Kazakhstan's crude exports have not been affected by Monday's drone attack on the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, which is the primary export outlet of Kazakh oil, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Energy said on Tuesday. Oil shipments via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) remain stable after intensified Ukrainian attacks on Monday hit a terminal at the port of Novorossiysk, Kazakhstan said. The receipt and transportation of Kazakh crude through the main oil pipeline system are proceeding normally, and export plans are being fulfilled on schedule,…

Oil markets are on edge as Trump’s deadline hits, yet prices remain oddly calm—despite unusual signals like WTI trading above Brent, hinting that volatility or a major disruption could be imminent. Gas Prices Spike, Growth Slumps, and Trump Declares the End Times—Welcome to 2026 - Amidst Donald Trump’s posts on Truth Social about the death of a whole civilization, the commodity markets are gradually seeing the first signs of a potential period of stagflation developing ahead.- The US’ service PMI published Monday showed…

WTI crude surged to $115.8 per barrel—its highest level since April 2008—as President Donald Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” while strikes were reported on Iran’s Kharg Island, the hub for roughly 90% of the country’s oil exports. The US President added that tonight will be “one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World,” as President Trump’s deadline quickly approaches. Brent crude climbed to $111.0, with the strike keeping both benchmarks…

WTI crude surged to $115.8 per barrel—its highest level since April 2008—as President Donald Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” while strikes were reported on Iran’s Kharg Island, the hub for roughly 90% of the country’s oil exports. The US President added that tonight will be “one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World,” as President Trump’s deadline quickly approaches. Brent crude climbed to $111.0, with the strike keeping both benchmarks…

WTI crude surged to $115.8 per barrel—its highest level since April 2008—as President Donald Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” while strikes were reported on Iran’s Kharg Island, the hub for roughly 90% of the country’s oil exports. The US President added that tonight will be “one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World,” as President Trump’s deadline quickly approaches. Brent crude climbed to $111.0, with the strike keeping both benchmarks…

US and Israeli air strikes hit multiple locations across Iran, including infrastructure and the strategic Kharg Island, as an evening deadline from Washington for Tehran to agree to a deal to end the war approached with neither side signaling the intention to back down. Iranian media reported explosions across Tehran and the sound of air defense fire on April 7, with some accounts describing fighter jets flying at low altitude over the capital. Strikes were also reported on Iran’s Kharg Island, where some 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports…

REalloys (NASDAQ: ALOY) has signed an agreement to secure supply from one of the highest-grade rare earth deposits in the United States, with just nine months remaining before U.S. defense rules force the removal of Chinese material from the supply chain. The memorandum of understanding with U.S. Critical Materials Corp. gives REalloys access to up to 10% of production from the Sheep Creek project in Montana, with confirmed dysprosium, terbium, yttrium, and NdPr, the rare earth elements used in high-performance magnets for fighter aircraft, missile…

Global energy crises often act as severe stress tests that expose deep, structural fragilities in global supply chains that are erstwhile ignored. Such crises reveal weaknesses that extend far beyond fuel availability, causing systemic disruptions to industrial manufacturing, trade routes and food security. A good case in point is Germany, which effectively boxed itself into a corner with its decades-long energy policies.  Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, successive German governments pursued an energy policy that significantly…

The worst supply shock in the history of the oil market is spilling over to critical supply chains, threatening shortages of medical supplies, fertilizers, semiconductors, and everyday consumer goods, including textiles, footwear, and cosmetics. When the Strait of Hormuz is shut, it’s not only Asian refiners scrambling for crude oil to turn into fuels. The naphtha, ammonia, urea, and helium supply that the Middle East would typically export via the most critical energy chokepoint is now trapped in the Persian Gulf. Petrochemicals producers…

With over 90% of its annual budget historically coming from oil and around 95% of that black gold having to pass through the Strait of Hormuz before it is monetised, Iraq has at least as big a problem from the waterway’s closure as any country in the world. The temporary agreement it reached on 17 March with Iran that secured safe passage through the Strait for Iraqi ships has not provided the quick fix many might think. Despite the diplomatic agreement, most global shipping firms still refuse to send their vessels into the Gulf because…

Somalia is on the verge of embarking on its first-ever offshore oil drilling operation, marked by the arrival of the Turkish drillship Çagir Bey in Somali waters on Friday. The Turkish Petroleum Corporation's deep-water drilling vessel will conduct its first international mission off the Somali coast, and is expected to begin drilling at the Curad-1 well in the current month. Seismic data suggests Somalia’s offshore basins could hold between 30 billion and 40 billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent. Türkiye previously employed…

For years, one argument has dominated the debate around renewables: they are intermittent, and therefore require large-scale, dispatchable backup—usually in the form of gas-fired power plants. It is a compelling argument. It is also becoming increasingly outdated. Because while much of the discussion still treats batteries as a marginal technology, real-world systems are starting to show something very different. Storage is not just filling small gaps. It is beginning to replace the role traditionally played by large, flexible fossil generation.…

We vaguely remember that moment in the British detective series “Luther”, when the eponymous hero (Idris Elba), pursued by redheaded, demented murderer/lover Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson), running from the law, finds himself trapped on a bridge with the police rushing in on all sides, and he desperately asks, “Now what?” or similar words, and the episode ends, with all viewers left hanging. All of this reminds us of numbers piling up from various reputable sources that seem to show the electric industry heading into the same…

Oil price shocks since the U.S. and Israel first struck Iran, the world’s fifth-largest oil producer, have global markets on edge. The sudden energy crisis, which emerged after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, preventing the passage of around a fifth of the world’s oil supply, emphasizes the importance of petroleum production in non-OPEC countries. Brazil, along with Guyana and Argentina, was named among the largest non-OPEC contributors to global oil supply growth. Steadily expanding petroleum production will assist with securing…