With over 90% of Iraq’s annual budget still coming from oil exports and historically around 95% of that crude shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, securing an alternative export route while the Strait remains effectively blockaded has become an existential matter for Baghdad.  Aside from the billions lost in immediate oil revenues for OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, the blockade meant Iraq’s domestic oil storage tanks filled quickly to maximum capacity, forcing the shutdown of several production wells. The longer that…

A Texas-based oil company chaired by an entrepreneur thought to be close to U.S. President Donald Trump is moving drilling equipment in Greenland in preparation for an oil drilling campaign. However, the drilling plans or the moving of the equipment have not been authorized by the Greenland authorities yet, although a process to do so is under review at present. That’s why Greenland’s government has recently said a strong warning would be sent to the licensee “with a warning that all future logistical matters must be advised and…

The strangest part of America's latest offshore-wind retreat is not that several projects have been cancelled. Some were early-stage, expensive and increasingly difficult to permit. Weak projects should be allowed to fail. The strange part is that the U.S. government is paying companies to abandon one energy technology and directing their capital toward another. Between March and August, the Department of the Interior reached a series of agreements worth approximately $3.9 billion with TotalEnergies, Bluepoint Wind, Golden State Wind, Invenergy,…

Complex systems reveal their true characteristics only under stress. Disturbance exposes assumptions that routine operation conceals and becomes the catalyst for adaptation. Capital reassesses risk, governments reconsider policy, and markets establish a new equilibrium. The resulting system may ultimately prove stronger than the one that preceded it, but it is never identical. Recent developments surrounding the Strait of Hormuz provide one such moment. Whether they ultimately prove to be a lasting geopolitical inflection point remains uncertain.…

Bank of America (BoFA) is warning that oil prices could continue climbing into the winter if the U.S. and Iran fail to reach an agreement reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with severe shortages already emerging in diesel, gasoline and global natural gas markets. “We’ve been expecting oil to be in the $70 to $80 a barrel range for Brent on the assumption that we were going to see some resolution,” Francisco Blanch, Bank of America’s head of commodities and derivatives research, told CNBC on Monday. “But if we don’t,…

Iran has reportedly hit another tanker in the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Oman, setting it on fire, Gulf News reported earlier today, noting the information had yet to be verified. The information first emerged on social media, with video footage showing a vessel on fire. These reports follow earlier ones by Reuters and the Associated Press on another tanker that was hit by Iran on August 8. The vessel was Emirati and prompted condemnation from the UAE and other Gulf governments. That attack was confirmed by ADNOC and by the United Kingdom Maritime…

Crude oil prices began this week with a gain following a statement by Iran setting six demands for a peace deal with the United States and claims from the Houthis that they had struck an Aramco refinery in Jazan. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $84.24 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate changing hands for $78.70 per barrel. Both benchmarks are off their spring peaks but still elevated from pre-war times. Iran said over the weekend that it will only reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the United States meets six sweeping demands,…

U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing another suspension of the Jones Act as gasoline prices above $4 a gallon threaten to become a liability for Republicans heading into the midterm elections. The move would again open domestic oil and fuel shipments to cheaper foreign-flagged vessels, extending an emergency waiver Trump imposed after the Iran war sent crude prices sharply higher in March. The problem is that the first waiver barely moved gasoline prices. Shipping costs account for only a small part of what Americans pay at the pump, leaving…

In the United States, President Trump aims to expand the country’s nuclear power capacity by developing new projects and restoring old reactors. However, restarting disused reactors is not as simple as just turning them back on, as rigorous safety standards must be considered. In May 2025, President Trump published an executive order entitled “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base”, in which he outlined plans to start construction of 10 new large reactors and add 5 GW of power to existing nuclear reactors by 2030. Several…