AI data centers, LNG tankers and the power plants that keep your lights on all want more of the same molecules. The gas is there, but the pipes, the winter weather, competitive price points, capacity/transportation availability and the rules decide who gets it, and at what price. A Special Edition on demand, supply, grid risk, […]
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Oil prices fell about 2% on October 15, 2026, after reports that the Trump administration is considering easing sanctions on vessels in the so-called “shadow fleet.” Brent crude futures dropped about $2.28 (2.2%) to around $103.78 a barrel, while WTI fell about $1.34 (1.4%) to roughly $93.75, reversing prior gains. The move reflected hopes that […]
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Chinese refiners are set to slow the pace of inventory drawdowns this month as crude imports recover, according to Energy Aspects. More overseas crude is expected to arrive from November, allowing China to preserve its substantial stockpile buffer against further supply disruptions. Analyst Jianan Sun of Energy Aspects noted that recent purchases of Iraqi and […]
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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said on Monday, October 12–13, 2026, that it struck a third “violating” or “offending” supertanker in the Strait of Hormuz within roughly 48 hours, sparking an onboard fire. The IRGC stated the vessel had switched off its navigation systems, ignored warnings, and attempted to exit via an unauthorized […]
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Supertankers are racing into the Persian Gulf for record fees, and that single migration is redrawing how crude moves. More than 40 percent of the world’s roughly 850 very large crude carriers are now inside the Gulf or within a couple of days’ sail of it, according to Signal Ocean data cited by Bloomberg. Empty […]
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Crude is moving again through the Strait of Hormuz. The fuel Americans actually buy is not. That is the gap David Blackmon flags in his October 7 Forbes piece, “Oil Is Flowing Again But Gasoline, Diesel Prices Aren’t Cooperating,” and the data behind it explain why pump prices remain stuck near records even as headlines […]
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Russell Hardy did not wake up on October 6 and decide to scare a room full of energy executives. He runs Vitol, the biggest independent oil trader on the planet, and he was describing what his people are actually seeing when they try to move barrels. The seven-month war involving the United States, Israel, and […]
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Crude dipped below $98 Tuesday on recovering Middle East exports and a G7 stockpile release, then climbed back to $100. Gasoline is still $4.37 and diesel $6.32. Nearly 20 ship attacks in a month, “scarily thin” inventories and an SPR at a 44-year low say the relief is fragile. On paper, Tuesday looked like relief. […]
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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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On March 17, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security issued the longest and broadest Jones Act waiver since at least 1950, covering energy commodities and fertilizer inputs. The waiver was extended twice and now runs through November 15, 2026, with a narrower product list and voyage-by-voyage review after August 17. The Cato Institute’s Jones Act […]
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