Month: October 2026

What happened today is best described, despite much more dramatic categorizations coming out of Tehran and Washington, is a 60-day ceasefire extension, now reportedly signed by both parties, that reopens the Strait of Hormuz, while the original alleged reason for going to war, the nuclear weapons issue, stays open on the negotiating table. Both sides are buying time in order to get the oil flowing through Hormuz.  So, today’s deal is an oil deal, first and foremost. It’s not a victory for anyone. It’s just bringing things…

In the immediate aftermath of the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that prompted the latter to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, most reports dealt with numbers—numbers showing the amount of oil supply lost due to the closure. Those numbers varied by source, but were all above 10 million barrels daily. Now, traders are saying the loss in supply may be much smaller. “After an initial disruption at the onset of the conflict, flows strengthened as alternative logistics scaled up,” analytics provider Kpler explained, as quoted by Reuters,…

Patrick De Haan, a petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, wrote on X that the national average price of gasoline has finally slipped below the politically sensitive $4-a-gallon level for the first time in many months. Per De Haan: The nation’s average price of gasoline has fallen 9.3 cents over the last week and stands at $3.99 per gallon, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The national average is down 52.4 cents from a month ago and…

Venezuela’s oil production and exports are set to increase in the coming months as the United States further eases the rules of operating in the world’s biggest crude resource holder after taking control over the industry following the capture of Nicolas Maduro. The rise of Venezuela’s oil supply is good news for South America’s oil producers and sellers, which have stepped up shipments so far this year amid the disruption in the Middle East. It’s also good news for the U.S., whose refineries are taking increased volumes…

Oil prices plunged in early Monday trading in Asia after the U.S. and Iran announced a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz more than 100 days after its closure. At the time of writing, Brent crude had dropped 3.95% to trade at $83.88 per barrel, while WTI had fallen 4.62% to $80.96 per barrel. Oil prices, which peaked in mid-May, have been slowly but surely trending downward in recent weeks on rumors of a deal, even after multiple escalatory strikes. On Sunday night, President Trump declared that a deal with Iran was complete, writing on social…

Japan plans to rebuild over a dozen nuclear reactors by 2050; China is building seven new ones this year alone; in the U.S., two companies are building a hybrid nuclear-and-gas power plant; Germany admitted killing nuclear was a big mistake. Nuclear is back—and it makes the backbone of a new approach to energy security. “We clearly need more nuclear power and we’re bullish on it,” the president of Microsoft, Brad Smith said recently, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal, which reported that nuclear is back in favor with…

Alaskan oil and gas production has always been a complicated issue, as energy companies want to tap the region’s vast reserves and environmentalists fear irreparable damage to the vulnerable ecosystem. The Biden administration introduced far-reaching protections in Alaska, aimed at preventing new oil and gas exploration and protecting the environment and wildlife. However, since President Trump came into office last year, he has encouraged new fossil fuel development in the region. Yet the response to the most recent energy auction suggests…

Most discussions about artificial intelligence focus on chips, data centers, power plants, and electricity demand. Those are all important. But another bottleneck is beginning to emerge, and it may prove to be an underappreciated challenge. The AI boom needs electricians. It also needs line workers, substation technicians, grid engineers, mechanical contractors, welders, construction crews, and commissioning specialists. These are not jobs that can be filled instantly with a software update or a new financing round. They require training, experience,…

Fiji has rejected Australia’s proposal to ship waste to the South Pacific country to burn and produce energy, with Fiji’s ambassador to the UN, Filipo Tarakinikini, saying, “[We] must not become the Pacific’s ashtray.” The idea of exporting rubbish to Fiji to be burned for energy has quickly become known as “waste imperialism”, a concept that Fijians staunchly oppose due to health and environmental concerns. In June, the Fijian government rejected a plan proposed by Australian billionaire Ian Malouf to…

Oil markets extended their decline on Friday, with crude prices falling sharply after U.S. President Donald Trump said a peace agreement with Iran was close and canceled previously threatened military strikes. Brent crude slipped below $90 per barrel, trading around $88–$89, while WTI fell to roughly $85–$87, as traders priced in the possibility of de-escalation in the Middle East and a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The decline allowed motorists to enjoy some reprieve at the pump, with national average gas prices falling…