U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has predicted that the Strait of Hormuz will become “irrelevant” within two years, and with Gulf oil producers already building their way around it, millions of barrels may prove him right for a short time.  Months into the Iran war, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar are moving more than 4 million barrels per day through a shadow export network of AIS-dark shuttle tankers and ship-to-ship transfers outside the Persian Gulf, keeping millions of barrels flowing through a waterway that has largely…

Saudi Arabia spent weeks finding ways around the Strait of Hormuz. Now it is starting to send tankers straight back through it. Saudi Aramco resumed crude loadings from its Ras Tanura and Juaymah terminals inside the strait last week, ending a three-week gap in activity at the ports, according to Kpler and Vortexa data cited by Reuters. Three VLCCs—Malaysia Prosperity, Algeria Prosperity and Singapore Prosperity—each loaded roughly 2 million barrels between August 12 and August 16. Six more VLCCs could load Saudi crude from inside Hormuz…

Despite apparent financing difficulties hovering over the construction of nuclear reactors in Uzbekistan, the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom has announced it is developing a training program for Uzbek technicians who will eventually operate the plant. Rosatom specialists need to develop new, specific training modules for what is envisioned as an “integrated nuclear plant” featuring the operation of both large-scale and small modular reactors. “This requires developing training materials tailored to the specifics of small reactors,…

Brent and WTI futures remain below $100 a barrel on Tuesday morning, partly suppressed by governments releasing strategic oil reserves into global markets. But the more serious issue is building downstream, where the Russia-Ukraine war, strikes against energy infrastructure, and continued disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz are fueling the refined-products "perfect storm" we have repeatedly warned about. Oil extended gains this morning, with Brent trading around $91 a barrel after another vessel attack was reported near the Hormuz maritime…

China exported 6.7% more fuel last month than it did in June, although on an annual basis fuel exports dropped by 12.9%, Reuters reported today, citing Chinese customs data. In absolute terms, Chinese refiners exported 4.65 million tons of refined products including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and bunkering fuel. Diesel exports totalled 810,000 tons last month, up by 88% amid a global squeeze on diesel stocks because of the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. This puts them on par with July 2025 export levels and 50% higher than the average monthly…

Libya needs between $36 billion and $40 billion in foreign investment to expand its oil industry and raise output to 2 million barrels daily by the early 2030s, the Financial Times has reported, citing National Oil Corporation chairman Masoud Suleman. The ambition to boost production to 2 million barrels daily has been front and center for the conflict-torn country that remains heavily dependent on oil revenues. Earlier this month, the head of the National Oil Corporation reiterated that this is the plan for the company, after the country’s…

Declarations by Iran and the U.S. earlier this week make the prospect of peace in the Middle East even more distant, driving crude oil prices higher. Meanwhile, the diesel crack spread in the U.S. topped $100 per barrel for the first time in history. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $91.33 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $85.08 per barrel, after Iran said it would adopt a “fully offensive” strategy in the war with the United States, as negotiations have consistently failed to achieve an end to the hostilities.…

Power Metals is advancing what it describes as North America’s only cesium project at a time when America’s defense ambitions are colliding with the reality of critical mineral supply chains. The U.S. imports 100% of its required cesium, a rare mineral used in atomic clocks, GPS systems, aerospace solar technology, advanced communications networks, and high-tech defense equipment. That could make a high-grade cesium discovery in Ontario a potential source of new North American supply. And now it’s moved from a discovery story…

U.S. oil companies dominating the shale patch are planning to trim their spending plans and instead take advantage of higher international oil prices to reduce debt and boost shareholder returns. This is bad news for production growth. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that all the big names in shale had reduced their spending over the first six months of the year. Chevron and ConocoPhillips spent 10% less in the period while Occidental slashed its spending on operations in the Permian by as much as a fifth over the first half of the year.…