A major fire reportedly broke out on Wednesday at a Russian oil pumping station in the Perm region in the Ural Mountains in a suspected drone attack just a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy touted the increasing range and accuracy of Ukrainian drones.  Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) targeted a production and dispatch station owned by Transneft more than 1,500 kilometers from Ukraine’s border, with unconfirmed reports indicating that almost all oil storage tanks at the facility were set ablaze.  Perm Governor…

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Wednesday that the country’s oil import bill has jumped 167% to $800 million per week amid the war in Iran from around $300 million weekly before the conflict began. Brent crude for June delivery was trading at $114.75 per barrel at 7.00 am ET on Wednesday, a big jump from the low 70s before the war, while the corresponding WTI crude contract was changing hands at $103.33/bbl from mid 60s in late February. According to Prime Minister Sharif, the spike in fuel prices has “dented…

The UK risks finding itself on the brink of recession as a result of the Iran war, a leading economics think tank has warned, as the potential damage to Rachel Reeves’ fiscal headroom and the threat of interest rates hikes has been laid bare in a new report.  In what will come as dire reading for Rachel Reeves’ team in the Treasury, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has said the UK economy will suffer a hit to growth amounting to at least 0.5 percentage points this year due to the Iran war.  The…

Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 6.2 million barrels during the week ending April 24, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The decrease brings commercial stockpiles to 459.5 million barrels according to government data, which is still 1% above the five-year average for this time of year, despite a flurry of weekly losses. The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which reported that crude oil inventories saw a draw…

After quitting OPEC and OPEC+, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to grow its oil production faster when the current Hormuz crisis is over, according to analysts at Barclays. In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, the UAE said it is quitting OPEC and the wider OPEC+ alliance effective May 1, to pursue its national interests. For years, the UAE has been working to boost its crude oil production capacity to 5 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027, and has frequently clashed with its fellow OPEC and OPEC+ producers over quotas. The UAE has insisted…

After quitting OPEC and OPEC+, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to grow its oil production faster when the current Hormuz crisis is over, according to analysts at Barclays. In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, the UAE said it is quitting OPEC and the wider OPEC+ alliance effective May 1, to pursue its national interests. For years, the UAE has been working to boost its crude oil production capacity to 5 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027, and has frequently clashed with its fellow OPEC and OPEC+ producers over quotas. The UAE has insisted…

As its cease-fire with Iran falters, the United States is significantly expanding its military capabilities in the Middle East, giving Washington the option of escalating the two-month-long conflict.The US military deployed a third aircraft carrier strike group with thousands of elite troops to the region on April 24, marking the largest buildup since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.In force since April 8, the truce paused a costly war that has rattled international energy markets and upended the global economy. But Washington and Tehran have accused…

The new energy crisis triggered by the Middle East conflict could hurt European consumers and industries for years, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday. "Our shared goal is now to see a lasting end to the war," von der Leyen told the European Parliament in a speech today. "But there is also a harsh reality we all need to face: the consequences of this conflict may echo for months or even years to come. This is why energy was on top of the informal EUCO's agenda," the Commission President added. The crisis caused…

The Middle East’s oil production and the global economy will take months and even years to recover from the worst crude supply shock in history. Two months after the U.S. and Israel bombed Iran on February 28, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for most tanker traffic, forcing more than 10 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude output shut-ins across the Middle Eastern oil producers. The disrupted energy flows triggered a global race for alternative supply, and sent energy prices soaring with the prospect of slowing global economic growth…

It will take many months for Middle East gas and oil volumes to fully recover from the U.S./Israel-Iran conflict, even if all hostilities stop today. In the case of some key sites, such as Qatar’s North Field gas site — a primary cog in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) machine — recovery will take several years. In the case of gas, according to a recent comment from the General Secretary of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Philip Mshelbila, the Iran war has “triggered a massive spike in price, returning the…

Last month, QatarEnergy declared force majeure on long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts to buyers in Europe and Asia following severe damage to its Ras Laffan production facilities by Iran’s missile strikes. This disrupted ~20% of global LNG supply and triggered a sharp spike in natural gas prices. Thankfully, gas prices have pulled back to pre-war levels, with natural gas markets coping remarkably well with the loss, thanks to expected volumes to be delivered to the market outweighing current and expected reductions over the next…

Following the Mubaraz LNG tanker's exit from the Hormuz chokepoint in recent weeks, the first such transit since the conflict began, new ship-tracking data from Bloomberg late Tuesday afternoon show that the first crude supertanker, Idemitsu Maru, is also exiting the critical waterway. Idemitsu Maru, operated by the tanker unit of Japan's Idemitsu Kosan, marks yet another positive signal for Gulf energy flows, but activity in the waterway remains deeply depressed. Two key things we must point out: first, the tanker is through; second, the tanker…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.79 million barrels in the week ending April 24. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 4.4 million barrels. Analysts had expected a 300,000-barrel build. US crude inventories are up 45 million barrels so far this year, according to API data. Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) continue to draw down to alleviate the pressure on prices. For week ending April 24, 7.1 million barrels left the SPR, bringing the…

Saudi Arabia’s energy giant Aramco is best known for its energy investments, but the company is also busy diversifying across industries. Right now, Aramco is building a presence in artificial intelligence development via its venture capital division, eyeing not just returns but possibly nurturing a local AI industry in Saudi Arabia. Aramco Ventures has $7.5 billion in assets under management and is putting a lot of that into “deep technology startups” founded on “solid science and engineering”, according to the venture…

The government’s borrowing costs have risen to their joint highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, after a sharp jump in the oil price prompted a sell-off in UK debt because of concerns over inflation. The yield on the 10-year gilt – the main benchmark for any government’s long-term ability to borrow – climbed back above five per cent for only the third time since the Iran war broke out on Tuesday, laying bare the extent to which Britain is almost uniquely exposed to the ongoing energy shock. The UK’s government…

Germany is hunting for solutions to reroute crude oil supplies to the PCK Schwedt refinery after Russia said it would halt Kazakh oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline starting May 1, with roughly 43,000 barrels per day (bpd) now at risk. Berlin is now in talks with Poland over moving replacement barrels through the port of Gdansk, with potential deliveries flowing onward to Schwedt, the refinery that supplies much of eastern Germany, including Berlin, with fuels. The plant has become a recurring pressure point since Germany moved away from…

Germany is hunting for solutions to reroute crude oil supplies to the PCK Schwedt refinery after Russia said it would halt Kazakh oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline starting May 1, with roughly 43,000 barrels per day (bpd) now at risk. Berlin is now in talks with Poland over moving replacement barrels through the port of Gdansk, with potential deliveries flowing onward to Schwedt, the refinery that supplies much of eastern Germany, including Berlin, with fuels. The plant has become a recurring pressure point since Germany moved away from…

China’s top refiner posted a strong first quarter as higher crude prices lifted inventory values and stable domestic fuel sales helped to offset pressure from disrupted Middle East supply. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) reported first-quarter net income of 17 billion yuan ($2.49 billion), up 28% from a year earlier, according to a Shanghai exchange filing. The results land as major oil companies begin showing how the Iran-driven supply shock is feeding through earnings. Throughput at Sinopec slipped 0.2% year over year…

China’s top refiner posted a strong first quarter as higher crude prices lifted inventory values and stable domestic fuel sales helped to offset pressure from disrupted Middle East supply. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) reported first-quarter net income of 17 billion yuan ($2.49 billion), up 28% from a year earlier, according to a Shanghai exchange filing. The results land as major oil companies begin showing how the Iran-driven supply shock is feeding through earnings. Throughput at Sinopec slipped 0.2% year over year…

Trump's blockade is having a predictable effect on Iran's economy and oil industry, with reports that the regime is scrambling to repurpose old and rusty tankers as floating storage.  Kharg Island is hitting capacity and the results could lead to disaster for Iran's oil wells.  The regime is reportedly moving to expand crude storage at the island, where around 90% of their energy exports are processed, by reactivating a 30-year-old crude carrier called M/T Nasha.  It's a bad sign for Iran, indicating that the country’s main…