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On Wednesday, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, pausing the 42-day military campaign by the U.S. and Israel against multiple Iranian military and civilian targets. The Pakistan-brokered deal is, however, already being severely tested: whereas direct U.S. strikes on Iran have stopped, Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have continued fighting, with Israel maintaining that Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire, while Iran insists that continued Israeli strikes violate the agreement. Meanwhile, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz…
If you are looking for respite from news of bombings, threats to ancient civilizations, becalmed oil tankers, rising prices, disputes about who can go to which toilets, and sex scandals among the rich and famous, consider these stories that matter for energy folk who would have otherwise noticed but might have been distracted by all the other stuff. Nuclear reactor price—As part of the tariff dispute last year, Japan was strong-armed into announcing billions of dollars of new investments in the USA. As part of the deal, GE Hitachi will partner…
Governments worldwide are racing to find a solution to contend with the severe energy shortages brought about by the war in Iran and the ongoing Middle East conflict. For some, this means accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, which is likely to be a longer-term solution. For others, it means relying on stockpiles of crude, while the oil trade remains limited. And, for many, it means using any type of energy available, including coal. Several countries have reduced their reliance on coal in recent years in favour of oil, gas, and renewable…
A widespread myth in energy circles is that U.S. refineries are “unable” to process the light, sweet crude produced by the shale boom. The claim tends to surface whenever gasoline prices rise or energy independence becomes a talking point. The argument is usually that the U.S. is producing record volumes of oil, yet still imports crude because its refineries were built for heavier foreign barrels. It’s a compelling narrative, but it’s mostly wrong. U.S. refineries can and do process shale crude every day. The issue isn’t…
The European Union is preparing to loosen methane rules on imported oil and gas as the bloc scrambles to secure supply in the wake of the U.S.-Iran war. Brussels is set to introduce “flexibilities” to its methane regulations, allowing importers to comply without tracing emissions data back to individual cargoes. Instead, countries exporting to the EU will only need to show that a sufficient share of their national production meets the standards, according to the European Commission. The change comes ahead of a 2027 expansion of the…
