Record VLCC rates now equal about $33 a barrel — 27 percent of delivered crude — and history shows that energy shocks plus Fed tightening are how demand destruction turns into recession. Especially after the Fed raises rates during an energy crisis, recessions follow. Patterns in finance matter, just like physics matters to the grid. […]
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ENB Pub note: This article first appeared on the Energy News Beat Substack, and we reached out to Peter Clack about appearing on the Energy Realities or Energy News Beat Podcast. If you want to leave a comment, subscribe to the Energy News Beat Substack. The world is running out of easily accessible high-grade ores, […]
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A worldwide diesel crunch, driven by wartime disruptions, is giving fresh political momentum to Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras and its long-debated push for greater domestic refining. The same supply tightness is exposing the United States’ own refining constraints—constraints that have accumulated for decades and are heavily concentrated in states with stricter environmental rules. In […]
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President Trump’s Midterm Diesel Probability Forecasting Tool ties record distillate prices directly to Senate control odds less than five weeks before the November 3 vote. Retail on-highway diesel sat at $6.382 per gallon for the week of September 28 (EIA), down only modestly from the $6.529 record the prior week and more than $2.60 above […]
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LNG Canada will again source major modules from a Chinese state-owned fabricator for its $33 billion Phase 2 expansion in Kitimat, B.C., even as Canadian primary steel producers idle lines and issue layoff notices under U.S. tariffs and persistent import pressure. Prime Minister Mark Carney has left the steel decision to the project owners while […]
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China is once again withholding refined products from the global market, layering fresh stress onto an already strained diesel complex. On October 1, 2026, trade sources reported that Chinese refiners have suspended oil-product exports for October to destinations other than Hong Kong and Macau, pending new guidance from Beijing. State-owned major PetroChina has canceled planned […]
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Stelco Holdings, owned by Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs since a $3.4-billion acquisition in late 2024, announced it will indefinitely idle cold-rolled and coated operations at its Hamilton Works plant beginning around October 9. The company says the move is required “to help ensure the survival of Stelco.” About 350 workers at Hamilton are expected to be […]
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WTI is hovering near $89 after a sharp September unwind from above $100. Brent is still the more stubborn benchmark, recently trading in the mid-to-high $90s after spending stretches of the month above $100. The market is no longer pricing a clean “Hormuz victory.” It is pricing a split world: more crude is moving again, […]
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Mercedes-Benz is no longer talking about “transformation.” It is talking about survival in Germany. WirtschaftsWoche, citing three people familiar with the talks, reports that Mercedes wants about €800 million in German labor-cost savings — roughly $911 million at current rates. Options on the table include longer hours without extra pay, cuts to holiday and Christmas […]
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On Thursday, September 24, 2026, Bloomberg reported that Oracle sent a force majeure notice to the developer of Project Jupiter — the 1,400-acre AI campus in Doña Ana County, New Mexico — in an effort to defer payments if the facility misses its planned 2028 in-service date. Shares of Oracle fell about 4–5%. Blue Owl […]
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