Oil prices have held steady below $100 per barrel since the U.S. on Monday initiated a naval blockade to deter Iran-linked ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The three days of calmer oil futures markets so far this week aren’t expected to last long amid the volatile geopolitical situation at the world’s most vital oil shipping lane. The price of oil has the potential to either surge to new highs or slump to pre-war levels, depending on the U.S.-Iran talks, but most of all—on the status of navigability of the Strait…

Oil markets clawed back their recent losses, with oil prices rallying after Congress voted in favor of keeping the U.S. military in Iran. The House rejected a resolution requiring President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from the conflict with Iran, with Republicans largely supporting continued intervention, citing the need to tackle Iran's nuclear capabilities. Brent crude for June delivery gained 4.7% to trade at $101.7 per barrel 6:.44 pm ET on Thursday, while WTI crude spiked over 4% immediately after the vote, but by evening was trading down…

Damage caused to energy infrastructure in Gulf states would cost $58 billion to repair, Rystad Energy estimated this week, suggesting the fallout of the war between the U.S. and Israel, and Iran is more severe than futures market-focused observers would assume, because just two weeks ago, Rystad had calculated the damage at less than half that amount. According to the International Energy Agency’s head, Fatih Birol, more than 80 oil and gas facilities in Gulf states have been damaged in U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran's oil and gas facilities…

It could take up to two years to restore a meaningful share of oil and gas production lost in the Iran war, according to International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol. That timeline matters because markets are still treating the disruption as temporary. It isn’t. Oil fields, refineries, and pipelines have sustained damage across the Persian Gulf. The Strait of Hormuz has also been largely shut, cutting off a key export route for crude and fuels. Together, those disruptions have removed hundreds of millions of barrels from the market. In an…

It could take up to two years to restore a meaningful share of oil and gas production lost in the Iran war, according to International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol. That timeline matters because markets are still treating the disruption as temporary. It isn’t. Oil fields, refineries, and pipelines have sustained damage across the Persian Gulf. The Strait of Hormuz has also been largely shut, cutting off a key export route for crude and fuels. Together, those disruptions have removed hundreds of millions of barrels from the market. In an…

India’s central bank has told state-run oil refiners to stop buying dollars in the spot market and instead use a government-backed credit line. That matters because oil is priced in dollars, and refiners are some of the biggest buyers of dollars in the country. When they all go into the market at once to pay for crude, it puts direct pressure on the rupee. That pressure has been building for weeks. The Reserve Bank of India is now stepping in to manage the demand. State refiners, including Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation,…

While most countries manage their nuclear energy as a public sector, controlled and maintained by the state, the United States takes a uniquely American – which is to say, privatized – approach. As the tech sector becomes increasingly involved in nuclear energy and in the energy industry as a whole thanks to the insatiable energy needs of the AI boom, the nuclear energy landscape is changing. While there are some benefits to letting private interests compete in the nuclear energy sector in significant numbers, there are also considerable…

The escalation of conflict across the Middle East and the disruption to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz have introduced a variable into the maritime energy transition that regulatory frameworks were never designed to handle: the possibility that conventional marine fuel becomes unavailable because competing domestic priorities absorb the available supply. This changes the analytical framing for clean shipping in a big way. Until now, the investment case for alternative marine fuels has been driven by compliance – organized around…

Norway could unlock volumes comparable to the Johan Sverdrup field from its existing oil and gas assets—but only if it moves quickly. In a tightening global market, advanced recovery may represent one of the few scalable sources of new supply. Norway’s mature continental shelf still holds hundreds of millions of barrels of recoverable oil and gas—but the window to extract them is closing. New analysis backed by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate suggests that advanced Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery (EOGR) methods could unlock between…

A U.S.-Iran peace deal is not weeks away. Officials in the Gulf region are bracing for a timeline closer to six months. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut. Flows are nowhere near normal. Gulf exporters are unable to move crude, LNG, and refined products at scale. That is already showing up in prices. Brent climbed nearly 5% on Thursday to trade above $99 per barrel and remains roughly 36% higher since the war began in late February. Leaders in the region want the Strait reopened immediately, and their concern goes well beyond energy.…

Bilateral trade between Iran and Tajikistan has skyrocketed during the first quarter of 2026, a timeframe coinciding with the start of the US/Israeli-Iran war. The jump in trade raises questions about whether Iran is trying to open a conduit via Tajikistan to procure technology and goods with military applications, and/or obtain essential goods for civilian use. Iran’s ambassador in Dushanbe, Alirizo Hakikiyon, met with top Tajik Transport Ministry officials on April 14 for discussions on expanding and expediting overland trade between the…

Iraq’s perennial unwillingness to reduce the vast amount of gas that it burns while drilling for oil (‘associated gas’) caused it three major problems over the years. To begin with, by failing to capture this gas for domestic power generation, the country was left reliant on Iran for as much as 40 percent of those needs, supplied through imported gas and electricity. That dependence gave Tehran an enormous lever over Baghdad, reinforcing the political, economic, and security influence it already wielded through its various proxy…

The boss of Britain’s largest industry body has called on the government to green-light extraction from two major North Sea oil fields and slash the windfall tax on domestic oil production in a bid to revitalise the country’s ailing oil and gas industry. CBI chief Rain Newton Smith said the North Sea was a “critical part” of the UK’s energy transition and that removing the additional tax on domestic producer profits and waving through the Jackdaw and Rosebank projects would encourage investment and economic activity.…

Iran has suspended all its petrochemical exports to ensure domestic supply amid reduced local availability following Israeli strikes early this month. The Islamic Republic is halting all exports to prevent a supply crunch for its domestic industries and raw materials, local economic newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported on Thursday. A senior official at the National Petrochemical Company issued the order earlier this week, the Iranian media report. Exports would be halted until further notice, according to the directive. The export halt is intended…

Iran has suspended all its petrochemical exports to ensure domestic supply amid reduced local availability following Israeli strikes early this month. The Islamic Republic is halting all exports to prevent a supply crunch for its domestic industries and raw materials, local economic newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported on Thursday. A senior official at the National Petrochemical Company issued the order earlier this week, the Iranian media report. Exports would be halted until further notice, according to the directive. The export halt is intended…

Who could ever transform a climate activist into a shale gas champion? Apparently, Donald Trump. This is exactly what is happening to President Claudia Sheinbaum, who is finally coming to terms with her country’s worsening imbalance between natural gas production and imports. Domestic demand stands at around 9 Bcf/d, while production covers only 2.3 Bcf/d, leaving roughly 6.8 Bcf/d - or 70–75% of consumption – to be met by imports from the United States. This is not just dependence, it is near-total reliance on a single external…

Australia's fuel crisis in the wake of the Iran war just took a turn for the worse after a fire broke out at one of the only two refineries in the country. Viva Energy’s Corio oil refinery in Geelong, southwest of Melbourne, caught fire late on Wednesday, after reports of explosions. The fire was extinguished on Thursday morning local time after burning for about 13 hours. The Corio refinery, one of Australia’s two remaining processing plants, supplies more than 50% of the fuel in the state of Victoria and 10% of Australia’s fuel.…

Just 48 hours after the United States and Israel launched a massive bombing campaign of Iran, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah entered the fray and backed its patron. Tehran's closest nonstate ally, Hezbollah, has fired hundreds of rockets, missiles, and drones at neighboring Israel since March 2, opening a new front in the war and stretching Israel's military resources. Hezbollah is both a militant group and a political party that controls much of southern Lebanon. It is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, although the European…

Higher oil and gas prices and volatile energy commodity markets are set to more than offset production losses from the Middle East at French supermajor TotalEnergies, which expects significantly higher upstream and LNG trading profits. In the early days of the war, TotalEnergies warned that the conflict had effectively shut in 15% of its global oil and gas output, while the now-offline barrels account for about 10% of the supermajor's upstream cash flow. Oil and gas production for the first quarter of 2026 is expected to be in line with fourth…

Higher oil and gas prices and volatile energy commodity markets are set to more than offset production losses from the Middle East at French supermajor TotalEnergies, which expects significantly higher upstream and LNG trading profits. In the early days of the war, TotalEnergies warned that the conflict had effectively shut in 15% of its global oil and gas output, while the now-offline barrels account for about 10% of the supermajor's upstream cash flow. Oil and gas production for the first quarter of 2026 is expected to be in line with fourth…