Month: June 2026

While ships are beginning to trickle through the Strait of Hormuz after months of near-total closure, it will be a very long time before the effects of this year’s energy crisis fade from the global economy – if they ever do. This latest round of turmoil in global oil and gas markets has catalyzed clean energy adoption to a degree that may permanently alter the global energy landscape, as well as the way that we conceive of energy security and geopolitical strategy. It is extremely telling that, against the backdrop of the United States…

Nobody, especially not Iraq, wants to be caught relying on Hormuz ever again. Iraq is preparing to export crude oil and naphtha through Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas, expanding an emergency workaround that emerged after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted the country’s primary export routes and left storage tanks filling up. According to Reuters, Iraqi officials say the strategy will remain in place even after shipping through Hormuz returns to normal. That alone says plenty. Iraq normally exports around 3.6 million barrels of…

The data centre industry has taken off in the last few years, as tech companies look to develop the massive computing power needed to run complex operations, such as artificial intelligence. Thousands of data centres are being developed on land, but now, some countries are looking to establish innovative models in alternative locations, such as underwater. In May, China launched the world’s first wind-powered underwater data centre off the coast of Shanghai, with an investment of around $238 million. The 24 MW-capacity Shanghai Lingang undersea…

For decades, energy policy in Washington was debated on the basis of economics, climate change, and domestic politics. That era is over. The United States is entering a period where energy security must be recognized as a  core pillar of national security and military readiness. The global competition underway with China is not just about trade or tariffs. It is about industrial capacity, technological dominance, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor manufacturing, and defense production – all of which depend on a foundational requirement:…

A high-stakes push-and-pull is taking place in the United States clean energy sector as state-level laws, federal-level policy, and that infamous invisible hand all tug in different directions. A staggering amount of different legal actions on the part of the Trump administration, the judicial system, and state politicians have created an incredibly complex landscape for clean energy adoption across the country. And while the economics of renewables are looking better than ever, the political positioning of the clean energy transition is looking…

When it comes to Helium-3, the biggest cost divide is between Earth and the Moon. Potential sources range from tritium decay and terrestrial helium wells on Earth to lunar regolith on the Moon. Today, Earth-based sources remain far easier and cheaper to access. This graphic, created by Visual Capitalist’s Cody Good in partnership with Pulsar Helium, compares major potential sources of Helium-3 by cost, scalability, and accessibility. It’s part three of four in the Helium 3: From Theory to Opportunity series, delivering key He-3 insights for…

BP is still considering a sale of all or part of its UK upstream portfolio, which could fetch around £2 billion ($2.7 billion), though talks of a sale to Ithaca Energy fell through earlier this month, according to reports by Bloomberg and the Financial Times. We think the information is credible. A sale would fit the group’s strategic direction, and the company is an outlier in the UK, where other majors have either sold down or formed joint ventures. At the same time, BP has been pushing aggressively on the exploration front since…

The Middle East’s latest peace deal just got a peace deal of its own. Israel and Hezbollah agreed Friday to halt fighting in southern Lebanon after days of escalating clashes threatened to derail the fragile US-Iran peace process, reducing the risk that the first major test of the U.S.-Iran agreement would turn into its first major failure. Negotiations between Washington and Tehran are supposed to begin under a 60-day framework agreement designed to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and eventually restore millions of barrels per day of…

Russia, one of the world’s largest oil producers and exporters, is now rationing gasoline in its own capital. After months of increasingly successful Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, gasoline shortages have emerged in Moscow, forcing major fuel retailers to limit sales while authorities scramble to keep supplies flowing. The shortages follow repeated attacks on refineries and fuel infrastructure that have steadily chipped away at Russia’s refining system. The latest blow came this week when Ukraine struck Gazprom Neft’s Moscow…

The U.S. dollar is cracking—and the market knows it. After years of monetary excess, swelling deficits, and policy uncertainty, the world’s reserve currency is losing its grip as a store of value. Capital is fleeing paper promises and piling into hard assets at a pace not seen in decades. Nowhere is this more visible than in precious metals: Gold has surged to above $4,100 per ounce, silver has ripped past $70, and palladium—once written off—has clawed its way back to $1,350. Add an unstable geopolitical backdrop stretching…