Energy
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Iran proved it can close the Strait of Hormuz, but the U.S. is advertising very loudly that the world’s top superpower can at least punch open a hole
Regardless of a ceasefire deal that reopens the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s demonstrated ability to shut it down will continue to hang over the global economy, rendering the narrow waterway a contested space. But while the U.S. has failed to restore freedom of navigation in the strait, a steady drumbeat of messaging recently suggests an…
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Pump pain, Wall Street gain: Iran war sends U.S. oil profits, stocks soaring as the big winners
Consumer frustration may be running high as drivers pay well above $4 a gallon at the pump, but the big winners from the Iran war are U.S. oil producers and refiners whose profits and share prices have soared. The stock values of leading U.S. oil players have jumped 20%-70% this year as crude prices and…
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Inside the race to rebuild America’s fuel supply chain for a ‘second nuclear age’
Nuclear startup firm Antares successfully flipped the switch on its Mark-0 microreactor in June, first to the finish line in the Trump administration’s pilot program race—with a July 4 deadline—for the next generation of reactors to achieve criticality. With the U.S. on the verge of a potential “second nuclear age,” a bevy of projects are…
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U.S. energy secretary says 7 million barrels of oil exiting Persian Gulf daily, but Chevron CEO rebuts the claim
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said nearly 7 million barrels of oil are now exiting the Persian Gulf daily—about half of the volumes that were stranded by the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint—thanks to U.S. military assistance, but Chevron CEO Mike Wirth rebutted the assertion, arguing that smaller, albeit rising, volumes are trickling out. More oil…
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Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
In the early days of the Iran war, analysts held the grim prediction that crude oil prices would top $200 a barrel, nearly triple pre-war prices. But more than three months into the conflict, their fears have not materialized, and analysts have China’s trade activity to thank for it. “As the conflict enters its fourth…
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America’s emergency oil reserve is about to hit its lowest level since Reagan was in office
The nation’s emergency reserve for oil and fuel supplies is slipping below Biden-era lows to its most exhausted level since the Reagan era—when the nearly 50-year-old U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was still being filled up. The SPR will hit its lowest volumes since 1983 any day now—if not already—and continue sinking lower as the Trump…
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Tesla cofounder: ‘We should be really worried’ about the U.S. grid as China speeds ahead in the power race
China is building new power generation at an unprecedented pace to power the AI boom as the U.S. grid struggles to keep pace with the development of data centers, triggering more delays and project cancelations. “I think we should be really worried,” said Tesla cofounder JB Straubel at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen on…
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America’s grid is reeling. General Motors offers itself as a distributed utility in disguise
America’s electric grid is buckling under extreme weather, aging infrastructure, and an AI buildout that is quietly rewriting U.S. power demand—and General Motors wants to turn that crisis into a business. At a San Francisco event Tuesday called GM Empower, the automaker is pitching itself not just as an EV seller but as a de facto…
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BP’s new CEO Meg O’Neill rips up the energy giant’s playbook—and the ‘green’ era with it
New BP CEO Meg O’Neill is making fast work restructuring the struggling Big Oil giant, simplifying the organizational chart and eliminating the “low carbon energy” business unit as it reemphasizes its core oil and gas businesses. Fresh off BP’s controversial axing of chairman Albert Manifold for “unacceptable” conduct, O’Neill is demonstrating the transformation of the…
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The global airline industry’s profits could be cut in half as it braces for its worst year since the pandemic
Even as travelers keep flying, airlines’ profits could be cut in half, thanks in part to the stranglehold Iran has imposed on the global oil supply, according to a global trade group for the industry. The airline sector’s net profit for the year is projected to collapse to $23 billion from $45 billion in 2025,…