Global energy markets have enjoyed an uneasy calm in recent weeks despite the ongoing conflict in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude has traded in a relatively contained range around $95–110 per barrel rather than exploding past $150 as many initially feared. The reason? China has dramatically slashed its crude […]
Continue Reading
The global aluminum market is confronting what analysts describe as one of the largest base metals supply shocks in the post-2000 era. Missile strikes tied to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East have damaged key Gulf smelters, while the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has created severe logistical bottlenecks. The result: a sharp […]
Continue Reading
Russia is capitalizing on elevated global oil prices triggered by the ongoing Middle East conflict, pushing crude export volumes near 2026 highs while redirecting flows to key Asian buyers—most notably India. According to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, Russia’s four-week average crude shipments reached 3.66 million barrels per day (bpd) in the period ending May […]
Continue Reading
Stu Turley here from the Energy News Beat Podcast. For years on this show, we’ve been hammering home a core truth: energy policy is destiny. Affordable, reliable, abundant energy drives manufacturing, jobs, investment, and GDP growth. Ideological Net Zero pursuits that ignore reality — spiking costs, killing baseload power, and forcing deindustrialization — deliver the […]
Continue Reading
In a recent appearance on Squawk Box Asia, veteran commodities strategist Jeff Currie (Co-Chairman of Abaxx Markets) delivered a stark warning that resonates deeply with current market dynamics. He described an emerging “rare earth moment” — a qualitative shift where markets have been neglecting the physical world (“atoms”) in favor of financial narratives and tech […]
Continue Reading
Oil markets are gripped by a classic battle between headline optimism and physical reality in late May 2026. Brent crude has traded in a volatile $90–$110+ range (recently around $98/bbl as of May 25), well above pre-crisis levels near $60–70, after spiking as high as $126 earlier in the conflict. The driver remains the 2026 […]
Continue Reading
Europe is entering the critical summer injection season with dangerously depleted natural gas storage, leaving the continent vulnerable to even moderate supply disruptions. A recent analysis from OilPrice.com highlights stark warnings from senior Equinor executives: if disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz persist for another 1–3 months, Europe risks a critical shortfall in gas stocks […]
Continue Reading
In a significant escalation of its maritime posture, Iran has formally established a “controlled maritime zone” in the Strait of Hormuz through its newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA). The authority—widely understood to operate under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—has published an official map and set up a social media presence to assert […]
Continue Reading
The United States has stepped into an extraordinary role amid the 2026 Iran conflict and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz: the world’s primary swing supplier of crude oil and refined products. Record exports are helping offset massive global supply shortfalls, but this “filling station” status comes with clear limits—depleting strategic reserves, tightening domestic inventories, […]
Continue Reading
As the conflict between Iran and the U.S.-led coalition intensifies, Tehran is signaling a dangerous new front: the world’s undersea fiber-optic cables. Iranian state-linked media has explicitly warned that the concentration of critical data cables in the Strait of Hormuz creates a “vulnerable point” for the region’s digital economy — and by extension, the global […]
Continue Reading