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The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed by almost $1 a barrel on Monday, as the Iran war disrupted Middle Eastern output. WCS for April delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $12.70 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared to $13.65 on Friday. * Global oil and gas prices surged on Monday following Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran and retaliation by Tehran that forced shutdowns [Read more]

The U.S. will take action to mitigate rising energy prices due to a spike in the price of oil caused by the Iran conflict, Secretary of State Rubio said on Monday. Speaking to reporters at Capitol Hill, Rubio said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright would announce the plans on Tuesday. "Starting tomorrow, you will see us rolling out those phases to try to mitigate against that... We anticipated this could be an issue," Rubio said. President Donald Trump is [Read more]

Container ships account for roughly 100 of the 750 ships ensnared in the Strait of Hormuz backups following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, Jeremy Nixon, CEO of container carrier Ocean Network Express (ONE), said on Monday. "About 10% of the container ship global fleet is caught up in this," Nixon said at S&P Global Market Intelligence’s TPM26 container shipping conference in Long Beach. Maritime insurers ceased covering voyages through the strait between Iran and Oman, which carries [Read more]

LETHBRIDGE - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the war in Iran underscores the need for a new pipeline connecting her province's oil reserves to the West Coast. The threat of shipping disruptions have seen global oil prices jump since American-Israeli attacks on Iran over the weekend. Smith says any disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil choke point at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, only underscores the need for a new pipeline that could bring her province’s pivotal export to [Read more]

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said a fuel tanker was burning in the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by two drones, Iranian news agencies reported on Monday. The strait is the world's most vital oil export route, connecting the biggest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. A Guards statement named the vessel as Athen Nova, an apparent reference to Honduras-flagged asphalt tanker Athe Nova, which it said [Read more]

While the U.S. has no plans yet to sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the world's largest emergency oil stockpile, presidents have long tapped it during times of crisis in attempts to control fuel prices for U.S. consumers. The administration of President Donald Trump is not currently discussing selling oil from the SPR, a U.S. source said on Monday. But if oil prices continue to rise following the U.S.-Israeli attacks on OPEC-member Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei [Read more]

Selling oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve after the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran is 'not currently being discussed', a U.S. source said on Monday. "Oil markets remain well supplied", the source said. The SPR, held on the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, is the world's largest emergency oil stockpile, currently hold more than 415 million barrels of crude. Former President Joe Biden ordered the biggest sale ever from the reserve, 180 million barrels over six months, after [Read more]

The insurance cost of shipping goods through the Middle East Gulf has surged as much as five times in the past 48 hours since the U.S. and Israeli began airstrikes on Iran, with most underwriters not offering cover for any sailings through the Strait of Hormuz, insurance industry sources said on Monday. War risk premiums have risen up to 1% of the value of a ship, from around 0.2% last week before the latest operations began, the sources said, adding that rates excluded the Strait of [Read more]