Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi forces claimed a ballistic missile strike on the Saudi-flagged VLCC Amzan (IMO 9693745, Bahri-owned, approximately 320,926 deadweight tons, built 2014) in the northern Red Sea off Yanbu on August 24, 2026. The attack formed part of the group’s ongoing “siege for siege” campaign enforcing a maritime ban on Saudi-linked shipping, which began […]
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Saudi Arabia is offering to sell crude oil cargoes on a ship-to-ship basis from locations off the coast of Oman, including near Sohar in the Gulf of Oman. This move signals that the kingdom may be ramping up the practice of shuttling barrels through the Strait of Hormuz—often with transponders switched off—mirroring tactics already used […]
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As the Iran-U.S. conflict grinds toward the six-month mark in mid-August 2026, Tehran continues to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz—the critical chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG once flowed—while the United States maintains a naval blockade on Iranian ports and escalates economic pressure. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has signaled […]
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President Donald Trump stated on August 14, 2026, that he plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States once the ongoing conflict with Iran concludes. Speaking at the Nassau County Police Academy (also referenced as the David S. Mack Center) in Garden City, New York, Trump said: “After we finish […]
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Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO has confirmed that Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is among the buyers of its crude, with cargoes exiting via the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing regional conflict and severe disruptions to normal shipping. Ali Nizar, director-general of SOMO, stated in a text message that “Adnoc is one of the […]
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Gulf shipping traffic effectively stalled this week after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed a “precise hit” with several ballistic missiles on the Saudi-flagged products tanker NCC WAFA (also referred to as Wafaa) in the northern Red Sea off the Yanbu area. The Houthi statement, reported via outlets including Al Bawaba, described a military operation targeting the […]
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Energy News Beat Stand Up In a rapidly shifting global energy landscape, the stakes have never been higher. From Texas governors taking unprecedented action on data centers to Houthi attacks disrupting critical shipping lanes, from Europe’s plummeting LNG reserves to the fundamental clash between net zero policies and energy reality, this episode of the Energy […]
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The Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed on or around August 4-5, 2026, that they successfully targeted a Saudi-controlled medium-range (MR) product tanker in the northern Red Sea with ballistic missiles. The vessel, identified as the Bahri-controlled NCC Wafa (also referred to as Wafaa or NCC WAFA; IMO 9688348, approximately 49,990 DWT, built 2014, Saudi-flagged), […]
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The global energy landscape remains highly volatile in early August 2026, shaped by overlapping geopolitical, security, and climate pressures. Disruptions centered on Russia’s refined product exports, ongoing uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz, escalating risks in the Bab el-Mandab Strait, and a severe drought across Europe are tightening supplies of crude oil, petroleum products, LNG, […]
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Global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers is set to be significantly stronger than previously expected over the next decade. French containment-system specialist Gaztransport & Technigaz SA (GTT) has raised its forecast for LNG carrier gas-containment system design orders to about 550 vessels in the 2026–2035 period, up from its earlier estimate of more […]
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