The White House’s decision this week to step back from a blunt 90-day diesel export ban is one of the most important energy-security signals of 2026. Record pump prices invited a political shortcut. The administration, led by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, instead chose the harder and more honest path: keep the refining system running and […]
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That is the argument Javier Blas is making in his September 23 Bloomberg Opinion column, China Isn’t Buying More Oil, It’s Buying From Different Markets (also framed as “Don’t Believe the Hype About China’s Oil Buying”). The global market treated China’s pre-war appetite as a floor. In 2026 it became a valve. The Blas thesis: […]
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On paper, this looks like an org chart. In practice, it is a financing and accountability decision. Gulf national oil companies have spent the last several years listing or monetizing everything except the core oil barrel. ADNOC listed pieces of gas, drilling, and retail. Aramco already listed SABIC and has raised billions against pipelines and […]
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A diesel export ban is the kind of policy that polls well and trades poorly. With the AAA national average at about $6.53 a gallon as of September 22, 2026 — a record — and California well above $8, the political impulse is obvious: keep more barrels at home. That impulse misunderstands how U.S. refining […]
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The market got a supply headline it has been waiting for. Saudi Arabia has restarted the East-West Pipeline and could resume loadings from Yanbu on the Red Sea as soon as Tuesday, according to sources briefed on the matter. The line is still pumping at a low rate after drone strikes forced a shutdown around […]
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Energy News Beat — President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping meet in Washington on Thursday, September 24. The agenda is broader than energy. For the U.S. LNG industry, the meeting is still one of the most important political events of the year. China is the world’s largest LNG importer. The United States is the […]
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The oil market is no longer one price. It is a map. Javier Blas put the new arithmetic on the table in Bloomberg Opinion on September 21: hiring a Very Large Crude Carrier from the Persian Gulf to Asia has jumped twelvefold in a few months to a record $1.1 million a day. Translate that […]
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Oil and liquefied natural gas moving through the Strait of Hormuz over the past two weeks reached a six-month high, U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Saturday, crediting mine clearance, naval escorts, and coordination with Gulf producers, insurers, and shipowners. The same briefing drew a sharp contrast: Gulf partners have moved more than […]
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Aramco’s East-West pipeline outage leaves European term buyers with a zero allocation for October. Crude is being rerouted to Asia. Products, not barrels, remain the tighter market. Saudi Aramco has told European term customers they will receive no crude in October under long-term contracts, according to people familiar with the decision cited by Bloomberg and […]
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The U.S. Coast Guard and FBI boarded a Liberian-flagged very large crude carrier bound for Galveston, Texas, and a second energy tanker headed for another Texas port in the Gulf of Mexico after investigators found indications that foreign cyber actors had compromised their networks. Iranian state media claimed hackers seized control of propulsion, navigation, cargo, […]
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