Middle East Escalation Meets China’s Return: Dual Chokepoints, Record Tanker Rates, and an Upward Spiral in Crude and Products

The Middle East energy map tightened sharply over the past week even as China resumed heavier crude buying. Houthi forces seized key Red Sea positions including Mocha and Perim Island, tightening control over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and targeting Saudi-linked vessels. Drones originating from Iraq struck Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, prompting a precautionary shutdown of […]

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Russia Hits Odesa Again as Black Sea Shipping Disrupted

Russian forces launched another large missile-and-drone barrage on Ukraine’s Odesa region overnight September 11–12, 2026, hitting residential buildings, energy infrastructure, and the port complex that once moved the bulk of Ukraine’s grain and oilseed exports. Ukrainian officials reported at least 11 people killed and 96 injured nationwide, including a five-month-old infant in Odesa. Air defenses […]

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Saudi Arabia East-West Oil Pipeline Pump Station May Be Hit by Houthis

Energy News Beat | September 11, 2026 Open-source satellite imagery and fire-detection data circulating Friday morning have raised the possibility that Yemen’s Houthis struck a pumping station on Saudi Arabia’s East-West crude pipeline, the kingdom’s main overland route around the Strait of Hormuz. The claim is serious. It is also, as of this writing, unconfirmed […]

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U.S. fuel prices have climbed to their highest levels since the Iran war began in late February, with diesel setting fresh all-time records and wholesale costs now exceeding the peaks seen before the first ceasefires.

How high they go from here, and how long they stay elevated, depends less on crude alone than on a global refining system that is already running near its limits. Energy analyst John Kemp noted Wednesday that the combined cost of U.S. crude and refining margins is now higher than in early April. So far […]

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Canada’s Tariff Strategy Designed To Interfere With U.S. Midterm Elections. How many jobs will be sacrificed for Carney to win?

Late last month, Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled Canadian negotiators from the table and walked away from what the White House called the most preferential market access any country had received. The United States had proposed deep cuts on steel, aluminum, autos, lumber, and more. Carney rejected it. On September 8, Canada’s dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs […]

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CENTCOM Destroys 3 IRGC Oil Tankers After Iran Targets 2 U.S. Navy Warships

U.S. Central Command struck three Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked crude oil tankers on September 5 after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy warships in regional waters. The American ships evaded the attack. No U.S. personnel were harmed. Tehran’s shadow fleet paid the bill. That is the energy war in one exchange: Iran shoots […]

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