IEA Head Warns Iran War Sparked Energy Crisis Worse Than 1970s Oil Shocks, Ukraine Fallout

G-7 Leaders Reject SPR Release Plan, But 'Stand Ready' After Initial Jawbone Efforts Fade Update (1055ET): G-7 finance ministers used headlines in Asia, including calls for a meeting to discuss an SPR release, as a purely performative attempt to calm chaotic energy markets. Now that the emergency meeting is over, the group of leaders failed to agree on releasing crude supplies. Those headlines briefly hit Brent down from around $119/bbl to near $100, but once again, it appears to have been little more than a circus act as world leaders stare directly...

Having amassed the heaviest US air power in the Middle East since the disastrous 2003 Iraq invasion, President Trump is now considering an initial, limited strike on Iran to force it to bow to the maximalist demands of Israel and the United States. The idea is based on two deeply questionable premises: Reported by the Wall Street Journal, the single-strike scenario […]

U.S. To Begin 86-Million-Barrel SPR Dump Next Week Via Exchange Program The speed of the energy shock rippling out from the U.S.-Iran conflict in the Middle East and the near-paralysis of the Strait of Hormuz forced the 32-member IEA last week to approve a 400-million-barrel release from Strategic Petroleum Reserves to help cushion the blow to the global economy. The bulk of that supply will come from the U.S., with the Trump administration preparing a request to exchange 86 million barrels of crude oil as soon as next Wednesday. The planned...