One of the debates since the start of the Iran war has been whether crude oil futures are accurately reflecting the stresses in physical markets for both oil and refined products, or if they are blindly optimistic that peace is around the corner. The Iran war between the United States and Iran continues along its volatile and unpredictable path, with renewed hope that a fresh pause in the mutual strikes is possible. That flicker of optimism was enough to lead global benchmark Brent futures [Read more]

Expand Energy said on Monday it would buy privately held natural gas marketer Twin Eagle Holdings from Five Point Infrastructure for $1.25 billion to expand its marketing business across North America. With U.S. natural gas demand expected to grow, producers are increasingly expanding into marketing and logistics businesses to improve margins and gain greater control over how gas reaches end-users. Founded in 2010, Twin Eagle is an independent natural gas and power marketer, with operations [Read more]

Ukrainian forces are striking Russia's energy infrastructure in what Kyiv says is an effort to deprive Russia of resources to fund its military. Following is a summary of the attacks — starting with the most recent — and their impact: TYUMEN A Ukrainian drone strike sparked a fire at the Tyumen refinery in western Siberia, more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Ukraine, but the blaze was later extinguished, local Russian authorities said on July 25. The refinery has a nominal capacity of [Read more]

Iran said on Monday it was still in control of the Strait of Hormuz and not seeking to resume peace talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump halted a two-week bombing campaign that his top brass told him had run its course. Following 13 successive nights of intensifying bombing that provoked Tehran to fire on U.S. bases in response, Trump halted the campaign over the weekend. Iran said it would pause its own attacks for as long as the U.S. pause in bombing endures. Trump's [Read more]

Ship traffic through Bab el-Mandeb fell on Sunday after Yemeni Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, while transit through the Strait of Hormuz stayed low over the weekend, shipping data from Kpler showed on Monday. Eleven commodity vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Sunday, the lowest level in months, the data showed. Red Sea traffic has been disrupted off the coast of Yemen since last week by the Tehran-aligned Houthis, who want to blockade [Read more]

Iran will halt its own attacks as long as the United States maintains its latest pause on air strikes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday, after President Donald Trump abruptly called off his two-week-old bombing campaign. After 13 nights of intensifying U.S. air strikes on Iran, the Pentagon abruptly suspended the campaign late on Friday, with no U.S. attacks reported on either Saturday or Sunday. Iran, which had been following each night of U.S. attacks with its own strikes [Read more]

Signs of the Iran war's spread emerged this weekend despite a pause in U.S. strikes, as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast and Iran accused Ukraine of targeting an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea. The U.S. military said on Saturday that its naval blockade against Iran "remains in full effect" but did not explain why it halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes. Asked about the pause, a senior official in President Donald Trump's [Read more]

Air defence systems in Saudi Arabia intercepted two ballistic missiles from Yemen on Saturday targeting oil refineries in Yanbu, Greek security sources told Reuters, a day after U.S. forces launched fresh air strikes on Iran. Saudi civil defence had issued several warnings for Yanbu, on the Red Sea, and later said the danger had passed. Civil defence also issued a warning for the port city of Jizan about 1,000 km (620 miles) to the south, close to the Yemeni border. There were no immediate [Read more]

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) has signed a $16 billion deal to lease and lease back its crude oil pipeline network with a consortium comprising global funds Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR, the state-owned Gulf firm said on Saturday. It said it was the largest foreign direct investment in the country's history. Under the investment called Project Peregrine, KPC's unit Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is establishing a joint venture with the three global investors in a lease and leaseback [Read more]