Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed a drone strike on Saudi Aramco’s Jazan (also spelled Jizan) refinery on Sunday, August 9, 2026, just two days after the kingdom signed a major trilateral defense pact. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry reported a fire at a facility within the complex that was extinguished with no injuries. This marks the latest […]
Continue Reading
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, […]
Continue Reading
ENB Pub Note: This article was first published on the Energy News Beat Substack. Head over there to comment. Tough times ahead, and countries are picking sides. The world’s energy system is under simultaneous assault from geopolitics and policy ideology. Critical oil and gas flows through maritime and pipeline chokepoints are disrupted or rerouted at […]
Continue Reading
OPEC+ is preparing to hit pause on its gradual oil production quota increases after a final bump in September 2026. According to delegates, the group plans to ratify a 188,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) hike for September at a virtual meeting on August 2, completing the current tier of increases, with no further hikes planned for the […]
Continue Reading
Tanker traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea has slumped to a multi-month low, underscoring how Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi threats and recent attacks continue to disrupt one of the world’s most critical oil shipping lanes. According to vessel-tracking data, only 11 commodity-carrying vessels—including just seven oil tankers (four […]
Continue Reading
In the escalating conflicts of mid-2026, the world’s most critical maritime energy arteries face simultaneous pressure from military actions, proxy threats, and environmental stresses. The Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Suez Canal, and even the Caspian Sea region have become flashpoints, disrupting flows of oil, LNG, fertilizers, and other commodities. Russian tankers are forced […]
Continue Reading
Saudi Arabia’s carefully constructed workaround for oil exports is hitting severe constraints on two fronts at once: kinetic threats from Yemen’s Houthis and commercial barriers from the London marine insurance market centered on Lloyd’s. The result is a growing bottleneck at the Red Sea that threatens a key remaining outlet for Saudi crude and products, […]
Continue Reading
Rey Trevino, Crude Truth Podcast Host and President at Pecos Operating, stops by. Oil is down this morning as this podcast was recorded yesterday. The world is not out of the woods yet, and we are going to see some volatility. Some are saying $200, but I think demand destruction and problems will kick in […]
Continue Reading
West Texas Intermediate crude hovered near $90 per barrel on July 23, 2026, with Brent trading higher in the mid-to-high $90s amid escalating disruptions across multiple global oil transit routes. Markets are reacting to simultaneous pressures on four critical choke points: the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal corridor, and the […]
Continue Reading
The Refining Capacity Shortage and Demand Destruction Quest Brent crude oil prices surged more than 3% today, breaking above $86 per barrel (reaching $86.06 in early London trading). This extends a sharp ~12% rally since Friday, driven by escalating geopolitical risks across key oil chokepoints and infrastructure. The immediate spark came from Iranian cruise missile […]
Continue Reading