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Iran promised to retaliate against expanded U.S. sanctions that the Americans said would cut Iran's economic lifeline, with Tehran expressing confidence that major trading partners would resist Washington's pressure campaign. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled the measures on Monday but stopped short of the most punishing sanctions, saying countries that continued trading with Iran risked being forced out of the dollar-based financial system. Bessent declined to identify the [Read more]

Japan plans no additional releases of crude oil from its national reserves in September or October, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa said on Tuesday. Crude oil procurement in September is expected to fall to about 80% of last year's average monthly volume from 100% in August, as tankers that would normally transit the Bab el-Mandeb Strait are being rerouted via the longer Suez route, he said. * Japan expects August procurement to match last year's monthly average, but [Read more]

WASHINGTON - Members of the Trump administration on Monday fanned across cable news stations and in front of crowds of loyal supporters to make the case for Donald Trump's latest tariffs on Canada as the president himself moved to escalate the trade war. Trump posted on social media that he intends to double tariffs on Canadian automobiles and auto parts to 50 per cent on Jan. 1. Later in the day he escalated that further, threatening to shut off the pipes which carry natural gas and oil from [Read more]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump is taking aim at Canadian energy flowing through the United States in another escalation of his trade war with Canada. In a post on his Truth Social account Trump warns of "consequences" if Canadian officials didn't "fall in line." The post specifically calls out Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who earlier in the day told an Ontario radio talk show program that Trump could "kiss my ass" and said Ontario should leverage energy and critical minerals in trade [Read more]

LONDON, Aug 24 - U.S. threats to impose "the toughest sanctions in history" to force Iran to buckle to its demands after nearly six months of war have raised the prospect of a new round of escalation in the Gulf. How could Iran respond to the economic pressure? CAN IRAN STOP MORE OIL GETTING OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST? Mohsen Rezaei, the former Revolutionary Guards chief and secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, has already threatened to shut down oil exports — one of [Read more]

Stocks of crude oil in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by about 3.7 million barrels to 289.7 million barrels last week, the lowest level since November 1982, according to data from the Department of Energy. The drawdowns are part of a U.S. agreement to release 172 million barrels from the facility. (Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru) [Read more]

The U.S. Treasury is expected on Monday to broaden the scope of secondary sanctions it can impose on entities and countries that maintain business ties with Iran as the Trump administration seeks to increase economic pressure on Tehran, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters. The action is aimed at giving a final warning to countries to sever their business ties with Iran in an effort to force an end to the nearly six-month conflict that has bottled up the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf [Read more]

The crude oil market is currently engaged in the wrong debate over how much oil is actually moving via the Strait of Hormuz. It should be debating the constrained flows of refined products around Asia. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has repeatedly claimed that much more crude is getting through the disputed strait than vessel-tracking analysts such as Kpler can see. One of Wright's claims was that about 15 million barrels per day (bpd) exited the Strait of Hormuz on a day last week, [Read more]