The Iran war has handed the United States a rare opportunity: a new dawn of energy dominance in an increasingly fractured world. With coordinated US-Israeli strikes disrupting the Strait of Hormuz from late February, roughly 20% of global LNG supply has been stripped from the market since early March. Prices have surged across Asia and Europe. And into that vacuum, American gas has flowed. The numbers speak for themselves. US LNG exports to Asia jumped sharply in April, with nearly a quarter of all American cargoes heading to a region that simply…

Cuba has been experiencing a worsening energy crisis for several years, which previously led it to rely heavily on Venezuela for its fuel. Following the United States’ intervention in Venezuela in February, the energy crisis has grown even worse, as Cubans face regular blackouts and the economy suffers. Cuba requires about 100,000 barrels a day to power its grid and meet the regular transportation demands. It fulfils just 40 percent of this demand domestically. In January, the Trump administration imposed a fuel blockade on Cuba, which led…

Russia and Afghanistan’s Taliban government have signed a military agreement, in a move that signals deepening cooperation between the sides, experts said. The deal was signed on May 27 by Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, and the Taliban’s defense minister, Mohammad Yaqub, on the sidelines of a security forum outside of Moscow, Russian media reported. Neither side has released the text of the military cooperation agreement or offered details about its scope, making it difficult to gauge whether the deal represents…

Morocco is rapidly becoming a renewable energy powerhouse thanks to its favourable weather conditions and proximity to Europe. The North African country has rapidly developed its solar energy sector and is now looking to become a major green hydrogen and sustainable shipping hub. Morocco has long been heavily dependent on fossil fuel imports and continues to use coal to produce around 60 percent of its electricity. However, in recent years, it has been working to develop its renewable energy sources, with high levels of private investment in the…

Three decades ago, I had just graduated from Texas A&M University and taken my first job as a chemical engineer in Corpus Christi, Texas. At the time, few people would have expected that this Gulf Coast city would one day sit at the center of the global energy system. Corpus was an important regional hub—refineries, chemical plants, steady industrial activity—but it wasn't viewed as a strategic asset on the world stage. Today, it is exactly that. The Port of Corpus Christi has become the largest crude oil export hub in the United…

Colombia’s rapidly approaching 2026 presidential election is generating considerable concern about the economy, notably the country’s oil industry. Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla who won the 2022 election to become Colombia’s first left-wing president, introduced policies aimed at reducing the country’s reliance on fossil fuels. While this spurred the development of renewable energy, it is responsible for sparking an energy crisis in Colombia. There is hope that a new president will revive Colombia’s economically…

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Jeffrey Schmid has warned that the current global energy shock cannot simply be dismissed as transitory, given already-elevated baseline inflation. Speaking at a conference in Iceland, Schmid pointed out that inflation has stalled near 3% and remained above the Fed's 2% target for a long time, making it challenging for the central bank to "look through’’ surging oil prices. Schmid has argued that current monetary policy may not be restrictive enough, reinforcing his hawkish stance on monetary…

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Jeffrey Schmid has warned that the current global energy shock cannot simply be dismissed as transitory, given already-elevated baseline inflation. Speaking at a conference in Iceland, Schmid pointed out that inflation has stalled near 3% and remained above the Fed's 2% target for a long time, making it challenging for the central bank to "look through’’ surging oil prices. Schmid has argued that current monetary policy may not be restrictive enough, reinforcing his hawkish stance on monetary…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rig count in the US to 562,  down just 1 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs rose by 4 to 429 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 22 below this same time last year. The number of gas rigs stayed the same at 125, which is 16 more than this time last year. The miscellaneous rig stayed the same at 8. The latest EIA data…

Recently signed deals between Georgia and Azerbaijan are raising fresh questions about Tbilisi’s strategic direction and energy security. The deals flowed out of a May 18 meeting in Baku between Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Those talks occurred just weeks after Aliyev’s visit to Tbilisi, where he also met Georgia’s de facto ruler, Bidzina Ivanishvili. Despite their political significance, the full texts of the agreements signed while Kobakhidze was in Baku remain undisclosed,…

The Philippines has received its first cargo of Iranian crude, Reuters reported on Friday, citing tanker-tracking data from Kpler and Vortexa. A Suezmax vessel capable of carrying up to 1 million barrels of crude that departed from Iran's Kharg Island in late March made a ship-to-ship transfer offshore Singapore onto another tanker, which delivered the oil to the Bataan refinery in the Philippines in the middle of May, according to the data. The delivery was the first Iranian cargo to the Philippines, which is one of the Asian countries worst hit…

Brent crude is heading for its biggest weekly drop in two months as markets bet on a 60-day ceasefire extension and partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. ICE Brent is set to post its largest weekly loss in two months, dropping by almost 10%, as media reports present a 60-day extension of the current ceasefire and a temporary Hormuz navigation deal as close to being a done deal. Whether US President Trump and Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei agree to the deal or not, Brent at $92 per barrel suddenly feels much more comfortable for oil importers.…

The Philippines has received its first cargo of Iranian crude, Reuters reported on Friday, citing tanker-tracking data from Kpler and Vortexa. A Suezmax vessel capable of carrying up to 1 million barrels of crude that departed from Iran's Kharg Island in late March made a ship-to-ship transfer offshore Singapore onto another tanker, which delivered the oil to the Bataan refinery in the Philippines in the middle of May, according to the data. The delivery was the first Iranian cargo to the Philippines, which is one of the Asian countries worst hit…

India's economy remains resilient to the external shocks, but the oil price surge amid the global supply disruption poses near-term downside risks to economic growth and upside risks to inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Annual Report for 2025-26 published on Friday. "Against the backdrop of a moderate global growth, the outlook for the Indian economy in 2026-27 remains positive, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, although a prolonged West Asia conflict may pose downside risk," economists at India's central bank…

Just about two months ago, JPMorgan did the math on "How Long Before The World Hits Crude Oil Operational Minimum." The punchline was that while the market can hold hundreds of millions of barrels, it would still become fragile once working stocks fell too low. Like blood pressure in the human body, the issue is circulation. Then, approximately 4 weeks later, the bank followed up this analysis with some more math, explaining "Why Hormuz Will Reopen By September... One Way Or Another." The bank calculated that of the 8.4 billion barrels in global…

Early on Friday, oil prices were on track to plunge by 19% in May as traders and speculators bet on an extended ceasefire and an eventual U.S.-Iran deal despite the biggest physical supply disruption in history. Brent Crude prices were poised to drop by 19% in May by the end of the trade day on Friday, which would be the steepest monthly decline in prices since 2020. Early on Friday, Brent Crude front-month futures traded flat at $93.84 per barrel, while the U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, was down by 0.12% at $88.94 a barrel. The slump in prices in…

July WTI crude oil suffered its largest weekly decline in months as traders aggressively removed geopolitical risk premium from the market on growing hopes that diplomacy between Washington and Tehran could eventually succeed. Through Thursday, May 28, July WTI crude oil traded between a high of $94.70 and a low of $87.11 before settling at $88.60, down $8.40, or 8.66%, for the week. The selloff was notable because it occurred while many of the bullish supply factors that drove crude sharply higher earlier this year remained in place. Traffic through…

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict Austerity measures in Bolivia have gone too far, too fast, putting the president’s political longevity in question. Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz, who came into office six months ago, backed by Washington and promising market-oriented reforms during a severe economic crisis, is now facing nationwide unrest after scrapping fuel subsidies, pursuing austerity measures, and attempting land reforms that triggered fears of consolidation by larger agricultural interests. What began as protests from small farmers…

Energy is usually seen as quite a conservative sector for investors. Constant demand for the product and relatively high dividend payouts create investments that, while not immune from risk, are often seen as a safe play, as somewhere to hide in troubled times. That, though, is an oversimplification. While there will always be a growing demand for energy as long as we continue to automate and electrify our lives, energy demand is still sensitive to economic conditions. In addition, the ways in which we generate power are constantly changing. The…

Trump is now openly using normalization with Israel as leverage in Iran negotiations, putting the 2020 Abraham Accords back in the spotlight. But today, the region doesn’t look the same as it did six years ago. And Gulf leaders no longer view Washington, or Israel, in the same light.  The UAE has doubled down on security coordination with Israel, including reported joint defense cooperation during the war itself. Saudi Arabia is moving further away from Israel and instead deepening security coordination with Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt.  …