A fast thaw in relations between the Kremlin and Azerbaijan occurred in March, enabling a strategic link connecting Russia and Iran to keep functioning, despite the ongoing US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran. Some Western observers believe the route, known as the western branch of the North-South corridor, is being used by Russia to funnel weapons to Iran to keep the war in the Persian Gulf going. Russian-Azerbaijani relations had been tense since Russian air-defense forces accidentally shot down an Azerbaijani civilian airliner in late 2024 and…

South Korea is weighing the possibility to extend driving curbs from civil servants’ use of vehicles to the general public if oil prices hit $120 per barrel, Finance Minister Koo Yun Cheol said. If enacted, such a measure would be the first in South Korea since 1991 during the Gulf war. Early on Monday, oil prices were rising by over 2% with Brent Crude topping $115 per barrel amid an escalating conflict which now involves the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. South Korea has already restricted access by vehicle to government buildings in a rotating…

“Iran’s been waiting for the U.S. to put boots on the ground because it knows that while it’s easy to get into a country militarily, it’s much more difficult to get out, and the longer the U.S. is on the ground, the more likely it is to be forced into making a better peace deal for Tehran,” a senior energy security source working closely with the European Union’s (E.U.) energy security complex exclusively told OilPrice.com over the weekend. “And two events this weekend [28-29 March] have dramatically increased…

Days before it is slated to announce pricing for May-loading cargoes for Asia, the world’s top crude exporter, Saudi Arabia, is unsure how the typical price mechanism could apply and is under pressure from buyers to switch to alternative pricing, as the war is upending oil flows and roiling regional benchmarks. Saudi Arabia typically announces around the fifth of each month its crude pricing for the following month and doesn’t comment on price changes. It also sets the tone for the pricing of the other major oil producers in the Middle…

US President Donald Trump said he wants to “take the oil in Iran” and perhaps seize Kharg Island, while at the same time insisting that Washington is doing “extremely well” in negotiations with Iran and that he is "pretty sure" a peace deal will be reached "soon." The mixing of threats and the possibility of a peace deal with Tehran came in an interview published late on March 29 in the Financial Times and in remarks an hour later to reporters aboard Air Force One. To reporters, Trump hailed progress in talks with Iran,…

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to destroy Iran's power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island, and potentially its desalination infrastructure if no ceasefire deal is reached, even as he claimed talks are moving in the right direction. "Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached...we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully…

The ongoing Middle East conflict has upended global energy markets, cutting off supplies of approximately  8 million barrels of crude per day and 20% of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Brent crude has surged more than 50% to around $110/bbl since the conflict erupted in late February, while the U.S. stock market has lost nearly $4 trillion. Previously, we reported that Russia has emerged as the biggest winner of the war, with the conflict providing a strategic "economic lifeline" to Moscow by elevating oil prices, distracting Western allies from…

Criminals are exploiting weak points across the West Texas oil production region, which accounts for 15% of the world's energy resources. This emerging wave of oil theft is burning a multi-billion-dollar hole in the budgets of oil and gas operators across the Permian Basin and is becoming a national security threat. Bloomberg reports that oil and gas producers are losing at least $1 billion, if not more, per year due to oilfield theft in what the outlet describes as something straight out of a "Mad Max" movie. At the center of the Permian…

Electric vehicle (EV) makers are racing to develop the fastest battery chargers to give them the competitive edge, with Chinese producers once again coming out on top. One of the biggest criticisms consumers have is the length of time it takes to charge EVs, compared to refuelling internal combustion engine (ICE) alternatives. This has led several EV-makers to invest heavily in research and development into charging technology over the last decade. Some EV producers now think they may have the solution - ultrafast chargers. The race to develop…

Africa needs to strengthen its energy sector in a hurry. The continent is the most underdeveloped on the planet, and today approximately 600 million Africans lack access to electricity. These numbers are in danger of skyrocketing if African leadership does not massively expand its energy production capacities and grid infrastructure, as the population is expected to double between now and 2050. In fact, experts predict that by midcentury, a quarter of the global population will be in sub-Saharan Africa. Meeting the needs of this growing population…

Donald Trump’s hatred for wind farms reached a new peak this week. The President announced that the United States will pay $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to a French company to not build planned wind farms in leased federal waters off the coast of New York and North Carolina. Together, those wind projects would have supplied more than 4 gigawatts of clean electricity for households and businesses in the United States. Under the unusual deal, the French energy giant TotalEnergies would abandon its planned wind farms and annul the lease deal…

Brent crude is trading over $100 per barrel, WTI has topped $90, but oil drillers in the world’s largest producer are cautious about their future plans. In fact, they are rather unhappy with the war in the Middle East, because it has made it harder to plan investments. On the face of it, everything is perfect, price-wise. WTI is trading much higher than what shale drillers need to be profitable. According to the latest Dallas Fed Energy Survey, the range of WTI profitable drilling price levels for the oil patch is between $62 per barrel for…

The worst oil and gas supply shock in history has exposed the vulnerability of dependence on fossil fuel imports and is making renewables popular again. As governments scramble to contain the fallout from the energy shock, both in supply and prices, increased electrification in transportation and power generation is once again the talk of the town. As the war in the Middle East laid bare the shock of losing oil and gas supply, policymakers and analysts are once again considering the benefits of fossil fuel importers boosting the share of renewable…

In the face of ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the resulting energy shortages, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is recommending that consumers reduce their energy consumption. This is expected to help people tackle their rising energy bills. Meanwhile, several governments are putting energy restrictions in place to mitigate the risk of shortages, with greater uncertainty around how long the conflict might last. The U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East have caused the biggest oil disruption in history,…

United States President Donald Trump will not stop in his efforts to quash offshore wind energy development, as he offers France’s TotalEnergies almost $1 billion to permanently halt its wind projects. The move follows more than a year of Trump badmouthing wind energy, cutting federal financial support for wind projects, and refocusing energy policy on fossil fuels. Wind contributes around 10 percent of U.S. energy at present, with wind capacity having grown rapidly following the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other…

Europe has “sleepwalked into yet another energy crisis” watching energy prices spike across the continent for the second time in four years due to instability in global politics and energy trade. Four years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent global energy markets reeling, Europe has made significant progress weaning itself off of Russian oil and gas imports and building up its own energy supply chains. But the European Union still relies on imports for more than half of its energy needs, leaving it achingly vulnerable to the…

Argentina no longer faces a $16.1 billion court-ordered payment tied to the 2012 nationalization of state-owned oil company YPF. A U.S. appeals court overturned the 2023 judgment that had awarded damages to minority shareholders, Barrons said on Friday. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled 2–1 that the claims were not recognizable under Argentine law. That removes a potential liability estimated at up to $18 billion, including interest. The case stems from Argentina’s 2012 seizure of a 51% stake in oil company…

The global oil market has been on a rollercoaster since late February, but the price reaction to the largest supply disruption in history has been relatively muted. The calm was not complacency; buffers were there to absorb the shock. But the system that held for four weeks is no longer the system we are operating in today. The oil market did not underreact to the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz; it absorbed it. For nearly four weeks, markets have shown remarkable resilience in the face of disruption, supported by a combination of pre-war surplus,…

A sharp rise in oil prices tied to the US-Israel confrontation with Iran is likely to speed up the global transition to electric vehicles, strengthening a shift that has already helped China overtake Japan as the world’s top car seller, according to South China Morning Post. Crude prices have surged past $100 a barrel amid fears of disruption to energy supplies, particularly through the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump escalated tensions by warning he would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if shipping through…

Russia’s oil exporters are warning buyers that cargoes from its key Baltic ports may not be delivered at all. Russian producers are now saying they may declare force majeure on cargoes from key Baltic Sea ports after a sustained wave of Ukrainian drone strikes knocked out critical infrastructure this week. The epicenter is Ust-Luga, one of Russia’s most important export terminals, where oil loadings have been halted since Wednesday following repeated strikes from Ukraine and a fire that, as of Friday, was still burning. Industry sources…