U.S. Jet Fuel Costs Soar as Iran War Hits Airlines Again

U.S. airlines are grappling with soaring jet fuel costs again after the return of hostilities in the Middle East shattered the three-week-long U.S.-Iran ‘deal to make a deal’ and sent Brent crude oil prices soaring past $100 per barrel again. The U.S. jet fuel market has been tightening since March, although there haven’t been concerns about any shortages in America, unlike in Europe, which in April was supposed to run out of stockpiles within six weeks. Europe didn’t see shortages, but the global markets tightened, and…

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Argentina’s Oil Production Soars as Vaca Muerta Breaks New Records

Argentina’s massive shale oil and gas boom is going from strength to strength. The economically crisis-prone South American country yet again reported record monthly oil and natural gas production for May 2026. This couldn’t come at a better time for Argentina and South America. Rising global geopolitical risks, notably due to war in the Middle East, and domestic economic hazards hold the potential to derail the significant economic gains Argentina has made over the last two years. Ministry of Economy data shows May 2026 oil production…

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Molten Salt Reactors Just Cleared A Major U.S. Regulatory Hurdle

domestic nuclear energy sector is set to bounce back as the technology finds favor among the public and policymakers alike for its ability to provide round-the-clock clean energy. At a time when data center hyperscalers are driving up energy insecurity and climate deadlines are drawing ever closer, the nuclear option is looking better and better. And not only is the United States trying to kickstart the expansion of traditional nuclear energy, it’s also trying to establish a place at the vanguard of next-gen nuclear energy technologies. Just…

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Oil Market’s Glut Narrative Just Blew Up

Less than a month ago, analysts were warning of a looming glut of crude oil as tanker traffic via the Strait of Hormuz began to recover amid a U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Within days of these warnings, the ceasefire was a painful memory, missiles were flying again, and now Yemen’s Houthis are striking tankers in the Red Sea, which makes two blocked oil chokepoints and a very real danger of a global recession. Brent crude this week topped $100 per barrel on reports that the Houthis had struck two Saudi tankers in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which Saudi…

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Australia’s Clean Energy Boom Is Gathering Speed

Australia has big renewable energy ambitions and is well on its way to shifting dependence away from coal to cleaner alternatives. Having long depended on coal, the government now aims to establish a more diverse energy mix to ensure that Australia can be energy self-sufficient in the years to come, while supporting a green transition. This aim is being reflected by market forces, as energy companies invest heavily in a diverse range of energy sources. Australia is home to an extensive ageing coal fleet, meaning the government must decide whether…

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Can an AI Black Box Be Trusted to Run a Nuclear Reactor?

China has unveiled a daring new plan to integrate artificial intelligence throughout the nuclear energy life cycle. This week, at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) revealed a new plan for safely integrating artificial intelligence into the nuclear sector, called ADANES  – the Accelerator-Driven Advanced Nuclear Energy System. The system “fundamentally changes the safety logic that governs conventional nuclear reactors” and marks a major turning…

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The Carbon Capture Boom Is Starting to Crack

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology grew in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic as several governments and private companies pledged to support a green transition. The use of CCS was expected to help decarbonise hard-to-abate industries until a long-term transition to clean energy could be achieved. However, in recent years, many have become more sceptical about the effectiveness of CCS technologies, as several projects have failed to perform. CCS technology is used to capture carbon dioxide at emission sources, so it can be transported…

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UCLA Scientists Turn Plastic Waste Into Pure Hydrogen Fuel

Green hydrogen was supposed to be a silver bullet solution for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors like shipping and steelmaking. It was the buzziest technology out there – and then it fizzled out completely. But after years of languishing in labs without reaching any meaningful level of commercialization, hydrogen is making a roaring comeback thanks to back-to-back scientific breakthroughs and renewed interest in the fossil fuel alternative against the backdrop of the global oil and gas crisis brought on by the United States’ and Israel’s…

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EU Backs Off Methane Rules as Energy Security Fears Mount

The European Commission (EC) has informed EU governments that they should waive penalties for oil and gas companies that breach its methane emissions law for the next three years, owing to pressure from the United States government to scrap the rules. While the decision is not binding, many member states are expected to follow the EC’s advice. The EC made the move after the U.S. and ‌Qatar, as well as oil and gas industry groups and most EU member states, voiced concerns about the strict rules and demanded change. Several states feared…

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The Strait of Hormuz Closure Is Already Hitting Supermarket Prices

Crop prices just hit a three-year high, indicating major downstream pain soon to come at the supermarket. There are two major factors leading to high crop prices and a potential global food crisis: heat waves and intensifying conflict in the Black Sea threatening to disrupt global grain trades, and volatility in fertilizer markets stemming from the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is referring to the unfolding situation in fertilizer supply chains as an “input crisis”…

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