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China managed to add a small volume of crude oil to inventories in July, as weak refinery processing outweighed a sharp drop in imports. China's surplus crude for July amounted to 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) and came after the world's biggest oil importer drew on stockpiles in both May and June amid supply constraints caused by the Iran conflict. The return to a surplus in China's crude availability in July comes as a surprise given the huge decline in imports, with seaborne arrivals of [Read more]

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend, data showed on Monday, following attacks on tankers, while U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the Middle East conflict stalled. Five commodity vessels transited the strait on Saturday, with none registered for Sunday, shiptracking data from Kpler showed, versus 31 in the prior weekend. Ships entering the strait on Saturday included an empty Very Large Crude Carrier with its Automatic Identification System switched off and an Indian-flagged [Read more]

OTTAWA - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the federal government should give Canadians at least another 10 months of relief at the pumps.  The Liberals suspended the federal fuel excise tax in April in response to the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and rising prices.  At the time, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the measure would stay in place until Labour Day.  The government says the move brings gas prices down by 10 cents a litre, and diesel by four cents a [Read more]

Palantir chair and co-founder Peter Thiel has bought a 1% stake in Argentina's Vista, one of the largest oil companies operating in the country's Vaca Muerta shale formation, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The filing, published on Friday, comes four months after the tech billionaire met with Argentine President Javier Milei in the presidential palace, after which Milei told a local media outlet they discussed economic policies and his opposition to wealth [Read more]

Iran has not decided to resume talks with the United States, and messages being exchanged via Qatar and Pakistan do not amount to negotiations, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview published on Saturday. Araqchi told Iranian news outlet Shahrara News that separate talks with Oman were focused on defining a sea route through the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States would have to meet conditions for shipping to resume through the waterway. (Reporting by Eman Abouhassira and [Read more]

Iran called on the U.S. to accept defeat while President Donald Trump blasted Iran as "evil" and urged Americans to brace for continued high fuel prices. The comments suggested the warring parties remained far apart, with progress toward peace talks and oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway both halted. "This strait will be opened and closed only under Iran's command, and so long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and stop indulging in fantasies, Iran will [Read more]

UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said on Saturday that one of its vessels came under attack while transiting the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported. The state oil company said no injuries were reported, with the situation now under control, according to WAM. The attack was the third such incident involving ADNOC vessels in less than a week. The UAE had accused Iran of being behind the earlier attacks, but there was no official comment from the UAE on [Read more]

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said early Saturday that Tehran would not be intimidated by threats or a show of force by Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory. Commenting on Trump's statements, Gharibabadi said in a post on X that the strategic waterway would only be opened or closed under Iran's authority. (Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Enas Alashray, Editing by Franklin Paul) [Read more]