oil prices up by most since Russia attacked Ukraine after Israel attacked Iran; US refinery utilization at an 11 month high

US oil prices jumped by the most in 32 months after Israel launched an unprovoked attack on Iran, targeting their nuclear facilities, weapons factories and residences of military commanders and scientists, but not the Ayatollah….after rising 6.2% to $64.58 a barrel last week on growing supply concerns, resumption of US-China trade talks, and what the market perceived as a better than expected US jobs report, the contract price for the benchmark US light sweet crude for July delivery traded lower ​overnight ​Sunday on news that China’s export growth​ had slowed to a three-month low​ in May  as U.S. tariffs reduced ​their shipments, while factory gate deflation deepened to its worst level in two years​​​. but rose early Monday ahead of the scheduled trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials intended to resolve ongoing disputes and get assurances for critical rare earth resources, and settled 71 cents higher at $65.29 a barrel, buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar and hopes ​that a U.S.-China trade deal could boost the global economic outlook and subsequently fuel demand…oil traded higher in Asia on Tuesday morning as the market awaited the outcome of the US-China trade talks, and were on track for the fourth consecutive daily gain Tuesday morning in New York as the US and China continued negotiations Tuesday, sparking hopes of easing trade tensions, but moved lower a​s traders weighed the hopes that the continuing talks between the U.S. and China would result in a deal that could support global economic growth against a ​0.4% global growth forecast cut by the World Bank​, and settled 31 cents lower at $64.98 a barrel as the market awaited direction from trade talks between the U.S. and China…oil prices slipped in early Asian trading on Wednesday amid ongoing assessments of U.S.-China trade talks and concerns over weak crude demand from China, coupled with increased output from OPEC and its allies, but rallied to a two-month high Wednesday morning in New York, after U.S. President Trump announced a trade deal between the United States and China, and settled $3.17 or nearly 5% higher at a two month high of $68.15 a barrel after sources said the U.S. was preparing to evacuate its Iraqi embassy due to heightened security concerns in the Middle East….oil prices fell on global markets Thursday, giving up some of the gains made earlier in the Asian trading session, as markets digested the U.S. decision to withdraw some personnel from the Middle East ahead of planned talks with Iran over its nuclear activities, then gapped higher at the open in New York, supported by the news of a potential military strike against Iran by Israel, but gave up its sharp gains to settle 11 cents lower at $68.04 a barrel as traders booked their profits from a 4% rally in the prior session, and tried to gauge if worsening tensions in the Middle East could cause supply disruptions…oil prices spiked across global markets on Friday, ris​i​ng by as much as 12% on some markets, after Israel launched strikes on Iran, escalating tensions in the Middle East and raising concerns over potential oil supply disruptions, and settled the New York session up $4.94, or 7.62% ​higher at $72.98 a barrel, as Israel and Iran traded air strikes, feeding market worries that the combat could widely disrupt oil exports from the Middle East, and leaving oil prices 13% higher for the week, the biggest one week jump since the beginning of Russia's incursion into Ukraine in October 2022…

natural gas prices, on the other hand, finished lower for the second time in three weeks on swelling supplies, mild weather, and ​LNG plant maintenance…after rising 9.8% to $3.784 per mmBTU last week as traders looked past short term weakness to higher LNG demand and greater demand for cooling expected by the end of the month, the price of the benchmark natural gas contract for July delivery opened 7 cents lower on Monday and fell to an intraday low of $3.581 at 10:15 AM, as ongoing LNG maintenance and steady production overshadowed impending cooling demand, before stabilizing to settle 14.9 cents lower at $3.635 per mmBTU on an increase in output over recent days, and a drop in the amount of gas flowing to LNG export plants due to ongoing spring maintenance at several facilities….July natural gas opened 4.7 cents lower on Tuesday, weighed down by the delayed arrival of summer cooling demand and ongoing LNG maintenance, then traded sideways around $3.550 through midday before setting 10.2 cents lower at $3.533 per mmBTU, as rising inventories and unsupportive near-term weather forecasts drove selling.…but natural gas prices started Wednesday 4.5 cents higher and rose to an intraday high of $3.623 during morning trading, as traders continued to struggle in the balance between a near-term demand lull and imminent summer heat, before selling resumed and left prices 2.5 cents lower on the day at $3.507 per mmBTU, despite tighter conditions expected over the coming weeks…the front month contract opened 9.1 cents higher on Thursday and rose to an intraday high of $3.626 at 9:10 AM​, as short-term forecasts added demand and some LNG production picked up after maintenance, then hiccupped on the release of a storage report that aligned with consensus expectations and marked the seventh consecutive 100-plus billion cubic feet increase, and settled 1.5 cents lower at $3.492 per mmBTU, as swelling supply outweighed strengthening LNG demand…natural gas prices edged higher early Friday after Israel’s airstrikes on Iran triggered broad gains across energy markets and shifted traders’ attention away from a slow start to the Lower 48’s cooling demand season, and settled 8.9 cents higher at $3.581 per mmBTU as escalating conflict in the Middle East roiled markets and late June forecasts remained steamy for the Lower 48, but still left the July contract price 5.4% lower for the week…

The EIA’s natural gas storage report for the week ending June 6th indicated that the amount of working natural gas held in underground storage rose by 109 billion cubic feet to 2,707 billion cubic feet by the end of the week, which left our natural gas supplies 256 billion cubic feet, or 8.6% below the 2,963 billion cubic feet of gas that were in storage on June 6th of last year, but 139 billion cubic feet, or 5.4% more than the five-year average of 2,568 billion cubic feet of natural gas that had typically been in working storage as of the 6th of June over the most recent five years….the 109 billion cubic foot injection into US natural gas storage for the cited week in line with the 108 billion cubic foot addition to storage that analysts forecast in a Reuters poll ahead of the report, but was substantially more than the 77 billion cubic foot that were added to natural gas storage during the corresponding week of 2024, as well as more than the average 87 billion cubic foot addition to natural gas storage that has been typical for the same early June week over the past five years…

The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA

US oil data from the US Energy Information Administration for the week ending June 6th indicated that after a modest increase in oil flows to US refineries, we again had to withdraw oil from our stored crude supplies for the seventh time in nineteen weeks, and for the 29th time in fifty weeks, even after a sizable decrease in our oil exports…Our imports of crude oil fell by an average of 170,000 barrels per day to average 6,176,000 barrels per day, after falling by an average 5,000 barrels per day over the prior week, while our exports of crude oil fell by an average of 621,000 barrels per day to average 3,286,000 barrels per day, which, when used to offset our imports, meant that the net of our trade of oil worked out to a net import average of 2,890,000 barrels of oil per day during the week ending June 6th, an average of 451,000 more barrels per day than the net of our imports minus our exports during the prior week. At the same time, transfers to our oil supplies from Alaskan gas liquids, from natural gasoline, from condensate, and from unfinished oils averaged 585,000 barrels per day, while during the same week, production of crude from US wells was 20,000 barrels per day higher at 13,428,000 barrels per day. Hence, our daily supply of oil from the net of our international trade in oil, from transfers, and from domestic well production appears to have averaged a total of 16,903,000 barrels per day during the June 6th reporting week…

Meanwhile, US oil refineries reported they were processing an average of 17,226,000 barrels of crude per day during the week ending June 6th, an average of 228,000 more barrels per day than the amount of oil that our refineries reported they were processing during the prior week, while over the same period the EIA’s surveys indicated that a net average of 487,000 barrels of oil per day were being pulled out of the supplies of oil stored in the US… So, based on that reported & estimated data, the crude oil figures provided by the EIA appear to indicate that our total working supply of oil from net imports, from storage, from transfers, and from oilfield production during the week ending June 6th averaged a rounded 136,000 barrels per day more than what what our oil refineries reported they used during the week. To account for that difference between the apparent supply of oil and the apparent disposition of it, the EIA just plugged a [ -136,000 ] barrel per day figure onto line 16 of the weekly U.S. Petroleum Balance Sheet, in order to make the reported data for the supply of oil and for the consumption of it balance out, a fudge factor that they label in their footnotes as “unaccounted for crude oil”, thus indicating there must have been a error or omission of that size in the week’s oil supply & demand figures that we have just transcribed…(for more on how this weekly oil data is gathered, and the possible reasons for that “unaccounted for” oil supply, see this EIA explainer….also see this old twitter thread from an EIA administrator addressing these ongoing weekly errors, and what they had once hoped to do about it)

This week’s rounded 487,000 barrel per day average decrease in our overall crude oil inventories came as an average of 521,000 barrels per day were being pulled out of our commercially available stocks of crude oil, while 34,000 barrels per day were being added to our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the seventy-fifth SPR increase in the past eighty-five weeks, following nearly continuous SPR withdrawals over the 39 months prior to that… Further details from the weekly Petroleum Status Report (pdf) indicate that the 4 week average of our oil imports rose to 6,240,000 barrels per day last week, which was 13.3% less than the 7,199,000 barrel per day average that we were importing over the same four-week period last year. This week’s crude oil production was reported to be 20,000 barrels per day higher at 13,428,000 barrels per day as the EIA’s estimate of the output from wells in the lower 48 states was 16,000 barrels per day higher at 12,989,000 barrels per day, while Alaska’s oil production was 4,000 barrels per day higher at 439,000 barrels per day.….US crude oil production had reached a pre-pandemic high of 13,100,000 barrels per day during the week ending March 13th 2020, so this week’s reported oil production figure was 2.5% higher than that of our pre-pandemic production peak, and was also 38.4% above the pandemic low of 9,700,000 barrels per day that US oil production had fallen to during the third week of February of 2021.

US oil refineries were operating at 94.3% of their capacity while processing those 17,226,000 barrels of crude per day during the week ending June 6th, up from their 93.4% utilization rate of a week earlier, and the highest utilization rate since July 5th of last year…. the 17,226,000 barrels of oil per day that were refined this week were 1.1% more than the 17,047,000 barrels of crude that were being processed daily during the week ending June 7th of 2024, and were 0.9% more than the 17,064,000 barrels that were being refined during the prepandemic week ending June 7th, 2019, when our refinery utilization rate was at 93.2%, close to normal for this time of year…

With the increase in the amount of oil being refined this week, gasoline output from our refineries was higher, increasing by 681,000 barrels per day to 9,718,000 barrels per day during the week ending June 6th, after our refineries’ gasoline output had decreased by 714,000 barrels per day during the prior week.. This week’s gasoline production was still 3.6% less than the 10,086,000 barrels of gasoline that were being produced daily over the week ending June 7th of last year, and 5.4% less than the gasoline production of 10,276,000 barrels per day during the prepandemic week ending June 7th, 2019….at the same time, our refineries’ production of distillate fuels (diesel fuel and heat oil) decreased by 97,000 barrels per day to 4,897,000 barrels per day, after our distillates output had increased by 182,000 barrels per day during the prior week. With that production decrease, our distillates output was 2.7% less than the 5,032,000 barrels of distillates that were being produced daily during the week ending June 7th of 2024, and 8.6% less than the 5,358,000 barrels of distillates that were being produced daily during the pre-pandemic week ending June 7th, 2019…

With this week’s increase in our gasoline production, our supplies of gasoline in storage at the end of the week rose for the fifth time in fifteen weeks, increasing by 1,504,000 barrels to 229,804,000 barrels during the week ending June 6th, after our gasoline inventories had increased by 5,219,000 barrels to a twenty-three week low during the prior week. Our gasoline supplies rose by lessthis week because the amount of gasoline supplied to US users rose by 907,000 barrels per day to​ 9,170,000 barrels per day, and even though our exports of gasoline fell by 81,000 barrels per day to 857,000 barrels per day, while our imports of gasoline rose by 69,000 barrels per day to 914,000 barrels per day while ….But after thirteen gasoline inventory withdrawals over the past seventeen weeks, our gasoline supplies were 1.6% lower than last June 7th’s gasoline inventories of 233,512,000 barrels, and were about 2% below the five year average of our gasoline supplies for this time of the year…

Even with the decrease in this week’s distillates production, our supplies of distillate fuels rose for the 7th time in 21 weeks, increasing by 1,246,000 barrels to 108,884,000 barrels during the week ending May 30th, after our distillates supplies had increased by 4,230,000 barrels during the prior week.. Our distillates supplies increased by less this week because the amount of distillates supplied to US markets, an indicator of domestic demand, rose by 225,000 to 3,376,000 barrels per day, and even as our exports of distillates rose by 42,000 barrels per day to 1,447,000 barrels per day, while our imports of distillates fell by 62,000 barrels per day to 104,000 barrels per day...After 43 inventory withdrawals over the past 73 weeks, our distillates supplies at the end of the week were 11.7% below the 123,366,000 barrels of distillates that we had in storage on June 7th of 2024, and were about 17% below the five year average of our distillates inventories for this time of the year…

Finally, with the increase in our oil refining , our commercial supplies of crude oil in storage fell for the 13th time in twenty-six weeks, and for the 28th time over the past year, decreasing by 3,644,000 barrels over the week, from 436,059,000 barrels on May 30th to 432,415,000 barrels on June 6th, after our commercial crude supplies had decreased by 4,304,000 barrels over the prior week… After that decrease, our commercial crude oil inventories fell to 8% below the recent five-year average of commercial oil supplies for this time of year, while they were still about 22% above the average of our available crude oil stocks as of the first weekend of June over the 5 years at the beginning of the past decade, with the big difference between those comparisons arising because it wasn’t until early 2015 that our oil inventories had first topped 400 million barrels. After our commercial crude oil inventories had jumped to record highs during the Covid lockdowns in the Spring of 2020, then jumped again after February 2021’s winter storm Uri froze off US Gulf Coast refining, but then fell sharply due to increased exports to Europe following the onset of the Ukraine war, only to jump again following the Christmas 2022 refinery freeze-offs, our commercial crude supplies have somewhat leveled off since, and as of this June 6th were 5.9% below the 459,652,000 barrels of oil left in commercial storage on June 7th of 2024, and 7.4% less than the 467,124,000 barrels of oil that we had in storage on June 9th of 2023, but were 3.3% more than the 414,733,000 barrels of oil we had left in commercial storage on June 10th of 2022…

This Week’s Rig Count

The US rig count decreased by four during the week ending June 13th, the eleventh decrease in thirteen weeks, as three rigs targeting oil were removed, while a single rig targeting natural gas was shut down...for a quick snapshot of this week's rig count, we are again including below a screenshot of the rig count summary pdf from Baker Hughes…in the table below, the first column shows the active rig count as of June 13th, the second column shows the change in the number of working rigs between last week’s count (June 6th) and this week’s (June 13th) count, the third column shows last week’s June 6th active rig count, the 4th column shows the change between the number of rigs running on Thursday and the number running on the Friday before the same weekend of a year ago, and the 5th column shows the number of rigs that were drilling at the end of that reporting period a year ago, which in this week’s case was the 14th of June, 2024…

the 439 oil directed rigs that were drilling this week was the lowest oil rig count since October 2021

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New Columbiana County Wells Boost Oil Production –Youngstown Business Journal– Two horizontal wells that began production in March helped boost oil production in Columbiana County to more than 300,000 barrels during the first quarter of 2025, according to data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The most recent production figures from ODNR show that Columbiana County’s 187 wells exploring the Utica/Point Pleasant shale formation in eastern Ohio produced a total of 327,137 barrels of oil during the quarter ended March 31. EAP Ohio, a subsidiary of Houston-based Encino Energy and Encino Acquisition Partners, placed two wells into production in early March at the Kitzmiller well pad in Knox Township. The Kitzmiller 10H well yielded 67,646 barrels in just 29 days, while a second well at the pad produced 60,961 barrels within the same period. All of Columbiana County’s oil-producing wells are owned and operated by EAP Ohio, data show. The company operates 87 wells in the county and recently drilled its first well in Mahoning County. Oil production in Columbiana County during the first three months of 2025 was down 28% compared with same period in 2024, records show. However, production increased 19.2% compared with the previous quarter. Mahoning County produced just 1,022 barrels during the period from four wells owned by Pin Oak Energy Partners and Northwood Energy Corp. Trumbull County wells – all owned by Pin Oak – yielded 339 barrels. Last year, Encino’s wells produced nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil in Columbiana County, a segment of the Utica/Point Pleasant that was historically known for its rich natural gas reserves. Encino has emerged as the single-largest oil producer in Ohio, accounting for nearly half of all oil produced from the Utica/Point Pleasant in the first quarter. According to ODNR, Encino’s wells yielded 5.3 million barrels across the state, or 48%, of the total 11 million barrels pumped in Ohio during the period. The largest oil well in Ohio was EAP’s Akers well in Harrison County, which produced 154,985 barrels over a 90-day period. Last week, EOG Resources announced it had reached a deal to acquire Encino Acquisition Partners’ assets in the Utica/Point Pleasant for $5.6 billion. The transaction is expected to close sometime in the second half of this year.

OH Approves Williams Gas-Fired Plant to Power Facebook Data Center - -Marcellus Drilling News -In early April, MDN brought you the exciting news that pipeline giant Williams, via its subsidiary, Will-Power, is planning to build two Utica/Marcellus gas-fired power plants in the New Albany International Business Park in Licking County, Ohio (see Williams Subsidiary Unveils Plans for Gas-Fired Power Plant in Ohio). The two projects are called the Socrates North and Socrates South power plants. Our previous post focused on Socrates North, as that seemed to be the one closest to construction. However, yesterday, the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) authorized and approved construction for the Socrates South project.

Ohio regulators approve construction of 200MW gas power plant to serve Meta data center - A natural gas power plant set to provide behind-the-meter power to a Meta data center in New Albany, Ohio, has been approved for construction. The 200MW Socrates South Power Generation Project was approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) on Monday (June 9).Midstream natural gas firm, Williams & Co. subsidiary Will-Power, will construct and operate the plant.The power plant will be located along the north side of Morse Road in the Licking County portion of New Albany and will be directly supplied by two 24-inch pipelines, which will be detailed in separate applications to the OPSB.The plant is expected to cost approximately $1.6 billion to construct and, at full build-out, will comprise two generation sites, each with a capacity of 200MW. In addition to the power plant, Williams also plans to construct an electrical substation to power the adjacent data center. Construction on the power plant is slated to commence in Q3 2025, with an estimated completion date in Q3 2026.The power generated will directly supply a data center under construction on a 740-acre industrial campus within the New Albany International Business Park. According to the filing, the facility is being constructed by Sidecat LLC, an affiliate of Meta.Meta has had a presence at the business park since 2017 and launched a data center campus there in 2020. In April 2022, the company reported that it was set to expand the site, adding two buildings totalling around 1 million sq ft (92,900 sqm)Further details on the data center were not immediately available. DCD has reached out to Meta for further information.New Albany is home to several major data center developments, with Microsoft, AWS, and Google all with a presence.Earlier this year, EdgeConneX submitted a proposal to construct a 120MW natural gas power plant to serve a planned data center at the state's New Albany International Business Park. The plant is expected to power the data center behind-the-meter.

Ohio Utica 1Q25 Production – Top O&G Wells, Drillers, Counties -Marcellus Drilling News -The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) recently released production numbers for the first quarter of 2025. The top natural gas producer in the state, by far, was Ascent Resources, with 195,139,574 Mcf (or 195.14 Bcf) of production during the quarter, which works out to an average of 2.17 Bcf/d. Ascent’s production accounted for 40% of the state’s natural gas production. The top oil producer in the state, by far, was Encino Energy, with 5,360,199 barrels of oil during the quarter, which works out to an average of 59,557 barrels per day. Encino’s oil production was 49% (nearly half!) of Ohio’s entire oil production during 1Q25. Of course, Encino’s days as a standalone producer are numbered as EOG Resources is buying the company.

Encino Led Ohio's 11% Utica Oil Output Growth in 1Q25 | Hart Energy - Ohio’s oil producers surfaced 122,518 bbl/d in the first quarter, up 10.6% from fourth-quarter 2024 output, according to a Hart Energy analysis of newly released Ohio state data.The bulk of the growth was from Encino Energy, posting nearly 60,000 bbl/d, up from 52,000 bbl/d, according to Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ONDR) files.Encino’s output going forward will join EOG Resources’ 14,000 bbl/d from the state upon EOG closing its $5.6 billion acquisition of the No. 1 producer.Their combined roughly 73,500 bbl/d will leave privately held Ascent Resources’ 29,000 bbl/d in the No. 2 position, while newly public Infinity Natural Resources advances to the No. 3 position EOG currently holds, producing some 11,000 bbl/d.The EOG-Encino deal’s read-through is positive on Infinity’s valuation, reported John Raymond, an analyst with Raymond James.Freeman raised his target on the stock to $28 June 11 and reiterated his “strong buy” recommendation on the shares, which closed June 10 at $17.17.“The transaction multiple implies that Infinity’s valuation is nearly 50% higher than current levels,” Freeman wrote before markets opened.Encino’s production and operations in the Utica are larger, but Infinity “is growing more rapidly than Encino and maintains virtually zero debt,” he wrote.Also, EOG taking Encino out of play among competitors for leasehold in the area means “the path for Infinity to improve their scale got much easier.”EOG’s deal to buy Encino will consolidate 60% of Ohio’s daily horizontal oil output, leaving another 49,062 bbl/d up for grabs in continued M&A among Utica operators, according to ONDR data.Also up for grabs are 4.4 Bcf/d of gas and NGLs as EOG-Encino holds 1 Bcf/d of the state’s output.EOG’s bid for Encino backs up its May 2024 statement that the Utica oil play “can compete with the best plays in America.”Ascent, the state’s No. 1 gas producer in addition to being its No. 2 oil producer, told public debt-holders in a call in March that it is considering an IPO.Publicly held Gulfport Energy, which focuses on the Utica’s wet-gas phase along the eastern side of the oil window, signaled to investors last month that M&A might be in its own plans this year.Zack Arnold, Infinity president and CEO, told Hart Energy before the EOG-Encino deal announcement, “It would be really interesting to see if something breaks free.”A deal among any of the top Utica producers would “start driving some of the efficiencies that a larger-scale company could have in developing the play.”The ONDR data is for Ohio operators’ horizontal wells’ production only. The ONDR did not release a summary of 2024 vertical production from vintage wells yet. But a report on 2023 vertical output shows non-horizontal production from the state was 6,060 bbl/d oil and 85 MMcf/d gas and NGL that year.

EOG Resources doubles fracking holdings with purchase of Encino - The Times Leader - — EOG Resources announced it will buy Encino Acquisition Partners for $5.6 billion.Encino Acquisition Partners is a joint venture between the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Encino Energy of Houston, one of the largest oil and gas producers in Ohio with operations focused on the Utica Shale. CPP Investments is 98% owner of EAP. EAP has obtained bids to frack several Ohio public lands, including:∫ Valley Run Wildlife Area in Carroll County

• ∫ Zepernick Wildlife Area in Columbiana County
• ∫ Leesville Wildlife Area in Carroll County (along with other bids for fracking near Leesville Lake in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District)
• ∫ Ohio Department of Transportation land on Ohio 151 in Harrison County.
• EAP also bid on fracking thousands of acres of Salt Fork State Park in 2023, but withdrew those bids after the Ohio Department of Natural Resources placed additional conditions on the leases.

The acquisition of EAP’s 675,000 acres in Ohio will significantly increase EOG Resources’ Utica holdings to 1.1 million acres, representing 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, EOG said.“This acquisition combines large, premier acreage positions in the Utica, creating a third foundational play for EOG alongside our Delaware Basin and Eagle Ford assets,” said Ezra Y. Yacob, chairman and CEO of EOG. “Encino’s acreage improves the quality and depth of our Utica position, expanding EOG’s multi-basin portfolio to more than 12 billion barrels of oil equivalent net resource.According to a release by EOG, the transaction transforms EOG into a leading Utica producer. The acquisition expands EOG’s core acreage in the volatile oil window, which averages 65% liquids production, by 235,000 net acres for a combined contiguous position of 485,000 net acres. In the natural gas window, the acquisition adds 330,000 net acres along with existing natural gas production with firm transportation exposed to premium end markets. In the northern acreage, where the company has delivered outstanding well results, EOG increases its existing average working interest by more than 20%.“This is a great development for Canadian pensioners, who do not want their retirement savings based on making Ohio a fracking sacrifice zone,” said Cathy Cowan Becker, board president of Save Ohio Parks, a statewide citizens group whose mission is to educate Ohioans about the harms of fracking public lands.“Unfortunately for Ohioans, it means more of the same: fracking that threatens our health, pollution that harms our wildlife and protected lands, carbon emissions that worsen the climate crisis, and billions of gallons of our fresh water turned into toxic and radioactive waste,” Cowan Becker said.Save Ohio Parks and allied organizations collected signatures of over 1,300 Ohioans and others opposed to CPP Investments’ ownership of EAP operations that frack public lands. Save Ohio Parks asked to meet with the CPP Investment Board about the petition in September 2024 but did not receive a response. Meanwhile, Canadian organizations such as Environmental Defence and Shift Action had also pressured CPP Investments to divest from its 98% stake in Encino Acquisition Partners.CPP Investments and Encino formed Encino Acquisition Partners in 2017 with a $1 billion investment from CPPIB. In 2018, EAP bought all of Chesapeake Energy’s Utica shale assets in Ohio. CPP Investments announced it was selling its entire stake in Encino Acquisition Partners to EOG Resources on May 30. Encino Energy will also be exiting from EAP, representing a full sale to EOG, CPP Investments said.EAP’s holdings in Ohio, including EAP’s leases and permits to frack public lands, will be transferred to EOG Resources. Leases may be transferred from one lessee to another, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ standard lease form. Permits can also be reissued to a new owner through an application process with ODNR.EAP’s leases and permits to frack public land will be added to EOG Resources’ own awarded bids, including Keen Wildlife Area in Harrison County and the Ohio Department of Transportation Malvern Outpost in Carroll County Houston-based EOG Resources was formed in 1999 when it declared independence from Enron Corp, where it had been known as Enron Oil and Gas. Over time the company obtained oil and gas holdings in the Delaware Basin, Eagle Ford, Bakken, Powder River Basin, DJ Basin and Eastern Anadarko Basin. EOG moved into the Utica shale of Ohio in 2022.

Might as Well Jump! - EOG Resources, Upbeat on Utica Condensate, Doubles Down with Encino Deal - RBN Energy -- There’s been a surge in E&P interest in the Utica Shale’s volatile oil window the past couple of years, and EOG Resources has been particularly optimistic about its potential for producing large volumes of condensate, the lightest of superlight crude oils. A few days ago, EOG — known for growing its business organically, not via M&A — announced one of the largest acquisitions of the year so far: the planned purchase of Encino Acquisition Partners (EAP), the Utica’s #1 condensate producer by far, for $5.6 billion, including the assumption of EAP’s debt. As we discuss in today’s RBN blog, the deal will give EOG its third “foundational” focus area (the others are the Eagle Ford and the Permian's Delaware Basin) and supports the view that the Utica really is an up-and-comer. In our three-part Hit the Lights blog series a few months ago, we took an in-depth look at condensate production growth across a swath of eastern Ohio, as well as the leading E&Ps in the play and the pipelines and other infrastructure on which they depend. In Part 1, we said that while the broader “wet Marcellus/Utica” is famous for producing vast quantities of natural gas and NGLs, a handful of dogged, innovative E&Ps have concentrated primarily on producing fast-rising amounts of superlight crude — better described as condensate (condy or conde for short) — in the Utica Shale’s volatile oil window, focusing primarily on Ohio’s Carroll, Columbiana, Guernsey, Harrison and Noble counties. Most of the condensate has an API gravity of 55 to 59 degrees, but an increasing share is “heavy condensate” with an API closer to 50. We noted that after ups and downs through the 2010s, Ohio’s crude oil production — almost all of it condy — is up nearly 3X from July 2022, when it averaged only 48 Mb/d; the state produced 136 Mb/d in March, Admittedly that’s only a small fraction of what the Permian is churning out (about 6.5 MMb/d lately, according to RBN’s weekly Crude Oil Permian report) and barely one-tenth of Bakken production. But EOG has said the eastern Ohio wells it’s drilled over the past couple of years have IP30 (initial production over 30 days) rates that compare favorably with the best wells in the Permian: 1,425 b/d to 3,250 boe/d, with crude oil/condensate’s share of the Utica wells’ production ranging as high as 70% on a boe/d (barrels of oil equivalent per day) basis.In Part 2, we discussed the six largest condensate producers in eastern Ohio, starting with #1 EAP and followed by #2 Ascent Resources, #3 EOG, #4 Infinity Natural Resources (which launched a well-received initial public offering, or IPO, in January), #5 Expand Energy (the recently merged Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy) and #6 GulfPort Resources. Part 3 focused on the uses for condensate produced in eastern Ohio and other parts of the Marcellus/Utica and how the condy is transported from wellsites to refineries and other end users. Long story short (see Part 3 for details), Utica condensate is in demand — it can either be run as a feedstock at refineries, condensate splitters or petchem plants, blended into heavier crude or (in a pinch) used as diluent. As for infrastructure, a couple of things are worth pointing out. First, a good bit of the condensate emerging from eastern Ohio wells needs to have its light ends (propane/butanes) removed; some producers do this themselves at the well pad with heater treaters and some turn to centralized condensate stabilizer sites in Ohio (like MPLX’s at Cadiz, Williams Companies’ at Scio and Ergon Inc.’s at Marietta). Second, there are no condy gathering pipelines in the Utica — the volumes are too small (at least so far) to justify investments in them. Instead, condensate is stored at or near the wellhead in tank batteries, then loaded onto tanker trucks and driven either to the end user (typically a refinery or condensate splitter) or, more frequently, to the next mode of transport (a rail terminal, a marine terminal or a pipeline intake point). Part 3 discusses these takeaway options in depth.Which brings us to EOG’s landmark announcement on May 30 that it has reached a definitive agreement with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CCPIB) and Encino Energy under which EOG will acquire their jointly owned EAP for $5.6 billion, inclusive of EAP’s debt. EOG said it plans to fund the purchase through $3.5 billion of debt and $2.1 billion of cash on hand. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025.EAP is an eight-year-old joint venture (JV) of CPPIB and privately held Encino Energy, formed to pursue oil and gas development opportunities. In 2018, EAP purchased then-Chesapeake Energy’s Utica Shale assets in Ohio for $2 billion. The JV subsequently added more acreage in the play and worked to perfect its well designs and completion techniques to maximize production. In April 2024, CPPIB announced a follow-on equity investment of $300 million to “support EAP’s accelerated development of the Utica oil play.” As for EOG, it’s been around since 1999, and for the most part it’s grown organically rather than through big-dollar M&A, the obvious exception (until now) being its $2.5 billion acquisition of Yates Petroleum in 2016, which more than doubled the company’s holdings in the Delaware Basin and expanded its position in the Powder River Basin (PRB). While EOG is still active in the PRB, the vast majority of its production is in two plays: the Delaware (310 Mb/d of crude oil production, 185 Mb/d of NGLs and 1.04 Bcf/d of natural gas in 2024) and the Eagle Ford (134 Mb/d of crude, 31 Mb/d of NGLs and 448 MMcf/d of gas). The Utica Shale is now poised to become EOG’s “third foundational play,” Chairman and CEO Ezra Yacob said during the company’s call announcing the EAP deal a few days ago. EOG’s first big push in the Utica occurred in the fall of 2022 (see Searchin’), when the E&P announced it had acquired 395,000 net acres in the play, mainly in the volatile oil and black oil windows (light- and dark-green-shaded areas, respectively, in Figure 1 above), and had completed four delineation wells that confirmed its model and the economic viability of the area. By late last year, EOG executives were detailing the stellar IP30 results from six multi-well developments and one single-well development in 2023-24 (noted above) and touting the significant gains the company had been making in its drilling-and-completion productivity. In buying EAP, EOG went counter to its nearly decade-old focus on organic development because the eastern Ohio assets were so darn tempting. And — a major factor — EOG was sitting on $6.5 billion in cash, which enabled it to make the Utica the E&P’s third foundational play overnight without diluting shareholder value or denting its fortress balance sheet. It would have taken EOG many years to scale the Utica play organically or via small bolt-on deals. So, what is EOG buying? As shown in the left column in Figure 1 above, the E&P already controls 460,000 net acres in eastern Ohio and is producing 40 Mboe/d, with 40% (or ~16 Mb/d) of that output in the form of crude oil/condensate, 35% natural gas and 25% NGLs. EAP, in turn, has 675,000 net acres and a whopping 235 Mboe/d of production — nearly 6X EOG’s output in the play — with 20% (or ~47 Mb/d) of that production crude oil/condensate, 50% gas and 30% NGLs. Each company estimates its undeveloped net resource in the Utica at more than 1 billion boe, suggesting the possibility of nearly 20 years of inventory at current production levels.Notably for EOG, the EAP deal won’t just double its net acreage in the Utica’s volatile oil window (light-green area outlined by dashed black line in left map in Figure 2), it also will add 330,000 net acres in the wet gas and dry gas windows to the east (yellow and pink areas outlined by dashed black line in right map). During their May 30 call, EOG executives noted that the company is acquiring EAP’s gas-focused assets just as gas demand is picking up within the Marcellus/Utica region and along the Gulf Coast (see Don’t Stop Believin’ for more on that), and pointed out that EAP has about 800 MMcf/d of firm gas transportation locked up, three-quarters of it to premium-price markets.They also said that EOG and EAP have a lot of overlapping acreage in the Utica Shale’s volatile oil window (yellow-and-gray striped areas in maps), which will enable EOG to reap savings by sharing pad locations and running longer laterals. Economies of scale, in turn, will help to reduce equipment, frac sand and other costs, and EOG’s lower average total well cost ($650/ft compared to EAP’s ~$750/ft) and 10% edge over EAP in cumulative condensate production per foot will provide additional benefits. EOG noted, finally, that it expects EAP will continue running three to four rigs and two completion crews on its acreage through the rest of 2025 and that EOG will increase the number of rigs on its acreage to two from the current one while continuing to run a single completion crew.The pace at which EOG will increase its Utica condy production beyond the pro forma ~63 Mb/d (47 Mb/d from EAP plus 16 Mb/d from EOG) remains to be seen, of course. But given that EOG is talking up the Utica and adjoining Marcellus as its third big focus area, we expect to see a lot more production growth — and maybe even more consolidation — in eastern Ohio through the rest of the 2020s.

Utica Shale Academy Gets $250K Grant for Interior Welding Lab - Youngstown Business Journal– The Utica Shale Academy was awarded $250,000 to complete an interior welding lab at its newest facility. Construction is underway on a second building next to the current exterior welding lab at 83 E. Main St., and the grant will finance the interior welding site. The 5,000-square-foot structure will feature 40 welding labs, a CNC plasma cutter and classroom. PDDM Solutions of Canonsburg, Pa., was awarded the initial $907,000 bid, with FMD Architects Inc. of Fairlawn performing the work, but the extra welding labs increased costs to nearly $1.5 million. Most of the construction funding – roughly $1.3 million – came through an Appalachian Community Grant, and the latest funding will come from the Appalachian Regional Commission and Governor’s Office of Appalachia. “The welding lab we’re building is in two phases,” said Bill Watson, Utica Shale Academy superintendent. “The first phase is the building itself, and the second phase is the welding lab inside. We applied several months ago, and there are multiple stages to it. We have a project with one-time funds, and the daily budgets are tough to keep up with. So we were pleased when this funding came through.” Ground was broken in March for the site, while the foundation and roofing were completed with plumbing and other utility lines being placed. Watson said the project is expected to be completed by mid-August, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony possibly on Oct. 3. “We plan on pushing [the project completion] towards the end of July and hope to be up and running in September when the students return to school,” he said. Utica Shale Academy became the first recipient of Gov. Mike DeWine’s $500 million ARC grant to expand the welding, heavy equipment and robotics programs and provide modern, state-of-the-art opportunities for its students.

Ohio GOP Bait-and-Switch on Revenue from Fracking Under State Parks --Republicans in the Buckeye State (Ohio) are treading on thin ice with a proposed change in the upcoming state budget. When GOP members began advocating for drilling under (not on) state-owned land and state parks in 2011, one of the arguments was that the revenue it would generate would improve state parks. A change in plans is underway with the latest two-year state budget, which would shift those revenues from park improvements to general operations instead. Is this a bait-and-switch?’

Marcellus/Utica Set to Grow Thanks to LNG, Data Centers, Southeast -Marcellus Drilling News-It’s been no secret that natural gas production in the Marcellus/Utica has stalled over the past few years. Since 2021, the M-U has been rangebound in producing somewhere between 34 and 37 Bcf/d (see the chart). The main reason we haven’t expanded our production is the lack of transportation (pipelines) to move our molecules to the markets that can use them. However, the ceiling for M-U production appears to be shattering. New pipeline projects to move more of our molecules are one, but not the only, factor in what may be another growth spurt in M-U production. Another factor is a growing market adjacent to the M-U (the Southeastern U.S.) with extra volumes needed for utility companies to distribute to new customers.

Stalling Pipelines Threatens Natural Gas Supply for Data Center Surge, Execs Say - A decade ago, the natural gas market likened the LNG buildout to a gold rush. Today, the same is being said for data centers. Line chart showing NGI’s Northeast Regional Key Forward Basis Curves as of June 10, 2025, comparing natural gas forward prices for Algonquin Citygate, Iroquois Zone 2, and Transco Zone 6 NY. The chart highlights sharp winter price spikes for Algonquin and Iroquois peaking near $10/MMBtu in early 2026 and 2027, indicating strong seasonal demand and infrastructure constraints in the Northeast U.S. gas market. Source: NGI’s Forward Look. There is a wide range of estimates regarding the amount of natural gas required for power generation to fuel these massive facilities. Projections as high as 20 Bcf/d by 2030 have been touted, according to NRG Energy Inc.’s Rock Graham, manager of origination for the power generation company.

21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 2 – 8 - Marcellus Drilling News -- For the week of Jun 2 – 8, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica fell from the previous week. There were 21 new permits issued across the three M-U states last week, down 14 from 35 issued two weeks ago. The Keystone State (PA) issued 11—half—of the new permits. Seneca Resources scored six permits for a single pad in Tioga County. EQT (under the name Rice Drilling) received four permits for two pads in Greene County. Sabre Energy received a single permit in Sullivan County. ARSENAL RESOURCES | ASCENT RESOURCES | BELMONT COUNTY | EQT CORP | GREENE COUNTY (PA) | GULFPORT ENERGY | HARRISON COUNTY | HARRISON COUNTY | MARION COUNTY | MARION NATURAL ENERGY | MONROE COUNTY | SENECA RESOURCES | SULLIVAN COUNTY | TIOGA COUNTY (PA)

Court Ruling Allows MVP’s $500 Million Southgate Pipeline Extension to Proceed A U.S. federal appeals court has rejected a legal bid to block the Southgate Extension, a proposed 31-mile addition to the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) that would expand the natural gas network from Virginia into North Carolina, according to WV Public Broadcasting. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling June 6 denying a petition brought by environmental and community groups seeking to overturn a three-year extension of the project’s federal authorization. The extension was granted in 2023 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), allowing the MVP Southgate project to move forward after years of delays. The court’s decision marks the latest chapter in the long-running saga of the Mountain Valley Pipeline — a 303-mile natural gas line stretching from West Virginia to southern Virginia. Although the mainline was completed last year after years of regulatory and legal hurdles, the Southgate segment remains under development and is projected to cost up to $500 million. That’s in addition to the $10 billion already spent on the original project. EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the Appalachian region, acquired MVP in 2023. EQT CEO Toby Rice has since indicated that more infrastructure will be needed to support rising regional energy demand driven by data center growth and electricity needs. Environmental groups have long opposed the Southgate expansion. Peter Anderson, director of state energy policy at Appalachian Voices — one of the organizations behind the court challenge — criticized the ruling, citing continued concerns over potential harm to land, waterways, and communities along the pipeline route, WV Public Broadcasting reported.

Cheniere Seeks FERC Approval to Expand Sabine Pass LNG Facility (Reuters) — Cheniere Energy, the largest liquefied natural gas exporter in the U.S., has applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to expand its Sabine Pass plant, according to a FERC document. Cheniere filed a joint application, dated June 6, to FERC for authorization to construct and operate the Sabine Pass Stage 5 Expansion Project, which would grow the existing Sabine Pass LNG facility in Louisiana. The Sabine Pass terminal, with an annual capacity of 30 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa), is the largest LNG terminal in the U.S. with six liquefaction trains in service. The proposed expansion will include an addition of three natural gas liquefaction trains, each with a maximum LNG production capacity of about 300 billion cubic feet per year, the FERC document showed. Cheniere Chief Executive Officer Jack Fusco said in February that the company plans to aggressively pursue new regulatory permits to expand capacity now that U.S. President Donald Trump is in office. On Trump's first day in office, he declared an energy emergency and restarted approvals for LNG export permits to countries without a free trade agreement with the U.S.

Natural Gas Demand Seen Surging as Plaquemines LNG Development Accelerates -- Venture Global LNG Inc. last week clinched two key approvals from federal regulators for its Plaquemines export facility, meaning another boost in Gulf Coast feed gas demand is imminent this summer. FERC staff on Wednesday (June 4) authorized Venture to begin introducing natural gas to its 12th liquefaction block, marking 26 trains that have entered the commissioning phase. It could also be the final block of the first phase of construction at Plaquemines LNG, depending on Venture’s commissioning process. At the beginning of May, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a request to introduce natural gas to Block 13, the first pair of trains in the second phase of commissioning. Feed gas nominations to the facility on the Gator Express pipeline increased in mid-May, according to Wood Mackenzie pipeline data, indicating the trains began processing gas consistently.

NextDecade Locks in $9 Billion EPC Deals with Bechtel for Rio Grande LNG Trains (P&GJ) — NextDecade Corp. has finalized a refreshed construction contract with Bechtel Energy for Train 4 and signed a new engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement for Train 5 at its Rio Grande LNG facility in Brownsville, Texas, the company announced on June 12. The company said Bechtel will construct Train 4 for approximately $4.77 billion and Train 5 for about $4.32 billion. The fixed-price contracts remain valid through September 15, 2025. In addition to EPC costs, NextDecade expects to incur up to $2 billion in additional expenses per train, including owner’s costs, contingencies, financing fees, and interest during construction. The Train 4 project is fully commercialized, and financing efforts are underway. The company said it aims to reach a final investment decision (FID) before the pricing window expires. For Train 5, NextDecade recently secured a 20-year, 2 million tonnes per annum LNG offtake agreement with Japan’s JERA and is in talks to commercialize another 2.5 MTPA. Financing for Train 5 has also begun, and the company is targeting FID within the same timeframe as Train 4. Both trains are part of the broader expansion of the Rio Grande LNG facility, which began construction on its first three trains in 2023.

Jera Goes Big on U.S. LNG as Tokyo Works Toward Trade Deal with Trump -- Jera Co. Inc., Japan’s largest power generator, announced a series of deals to buy 5.5 million tons/year of U.S. LNG during an event in Washington, DC, late Wednesday. The agreements include two that are nonbinding and one that was disclosed last month. The company said it would buy 1 Mt/year from the Commonwealth LNG plant proposed for Louisiana over a 20-year term. The Commonwealth deal was first announced Wednesday at the U.S. Department of Energy as the Trump administration continues to promote efforts to expand American energy dominance across the globe.

Maintenance Curbs Global Natural Gas Supplies, Pressures Prices — LNG Recap -Global natural gas supplies remain tight heading into the week, with seasonal maintenance underway across all major markets in Asia, Europe and North America. Chart and map of Lower 48 LNG export facilities tracking daily natural gas feedstock flows to sites for market intelligence. The prompt Title Transfer Facility (TTF) contract in Europe slipped by 2% on Monday to close at $11.91/MMBtu after gaining 3% last week. The decline is likely to be short-lived. Planned maintenance at U.S. LNG terminals and seasonal work offshore Norway is cutting into supplies.

US natgas prices drop 4% to 1-week low on rising output, lower flows to LNG plants — U.S. natural gas futures fell about 4% to a one-week low on Monday on an increase in output in recent days and a drop in the amount of gas flowing to liquefied natural gas export plants due to ongoing spring maintenance at several facilities. Gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 14.9 cents, or 3.9%, to settle at $3.635 per million British thermal units, their lowest close since May 30. Fast-growing volumes of gas in storage have also helped keep futures prices in check in recent weeks. Gas stockpiles are about 5% above normal for this time of year and analysts forecast energy firms made a record-tying, seventh triple-digit injection during the week ended June 6. The last time energy firms added 100 bcf or more of gas into storage for seven weeks in a row was in June 2014, according to federal energy data going back to 2010. Another factor keeping pressure on futures prices over the past month or so has been low cash prices. Next-day gas prices at the U.S. Henry Hub benchmark (in Louisiana were trading around $2.68 per mmBtu, a six-month low, keeping spot contracts below front-month futures every day since late April. Analysts have said that so long as spot prices remain far enough below front-month futures to cover margin and storage costs, traders should be able to lock in arbitrage profits by buying spot gas, storing it and selling a futures contract. Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states has held at 105.2 billion cubic feet per day so far in June, the same as in May. That is down from a monthly record high of 106.3 bcfd in March due primarily to normal spring maintenance. Output so far this month is higher than LSEG projected on Friday when the average was just 104.8 bcfd in June. Energy firms usually work on gas pipes and other equipment in the spring and autumn when demand for the fuel for heating and cooling is low. Meteorologists project weather across the Lower 48 states will remain mostly warmer than normal through June 24. LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, would rise from 98.6 bcfd this week to 100.7 bcfd next week. The forecast for this week was higher than LSEG's outlook on Friday. The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants fell to 13.8 bcfd so far in June, down from 15.0 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 16.0 bcfd in April. Traders said LNG feedgas reductions since April were primarily due to spring maintenance, including work at Cameron LNG's 2.0-bcfd plant in Louisiana and Cheniere Energy's LNG 4.5-bcfd Sabine Pass in Louisiana. Energy traders have noted that LNG maintenance would likely continue through mid-June at Cameron and late-June at Sabine.

US natgas prices ease to one-week low on lower demand, big storage builds — -- U.S. natural gas futures eased to a one-week low on forecasts for lower demand this week, a slight increase in daily output and a record-tying seventh triple-digit injection of gas into storage last week. That small decline came despite expectations gas flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants will rise now that Cameron LNG's plant in Louisiana was set to take in more fuel as it exits a maintenance reduction. Gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 1.5 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $3.492 per million British thermal units, their lowest close since May 30 for a fourth day in a row. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said energy firms added 109 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage during the week ended June 6. That was in line with the 108-bcf injection analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compared with an increase of 77 bcf during the same week last year and a five-year average build of 87 bcf for this time of year. The last time energy firms added 100 bcf or more of gas into storage for seven weeks in a row was in June 2014, according to EIA data going back to 2010. So far this year, energy firms have pulled a monthly record high of 1.013 bcf of gas out of storage during a brutally cold January and added a monthly record high of 497 bcf into storage in May when mild weather kept both heating and cooling demand low, according to federal energy data. The prior all-time monthly injection high was 494 bcf in May 2015. Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states eased to 105.1 billion cubic feet per day so far in June, down from 105.2 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 106.3 bcfd in March due primarily to normal spring maintenance. Output so far this month, however, was higher than the 105.0 bcfd projected on Wednesday. Meteorologists forecast weather across the Lower 48 states will remain mostly warmer than normal through June 27. LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, would rise from 98.1 bcfd this week to 99.9 bcfd next week. The forecast for this week was lower than LSEG's outlook on Wednesday. The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants fell to 14.0 bcfd so far in June, down from 15.0 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 16.0 bcfd in April. Traders said LNG feedgas reductions since April were primarily due to spring maintenance, including work at Cameron LNG's 2.0-bcfd plant in Louisiana and Cheniere Energy's LNG 4.5-bcfd Sabine Pass in Louisiana and 3.9-bcfd Corpus Christi in Texas, and short, unplanned unit outages at Freeport LNG's 2.1-bcfd plant in Texas on May 6, May 23, May 28 and June 3.

US natgas prices climb 3% on soaring oil futures after Israel strikes Iran (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures climbed about 3% on Friday, tracking gains in oil prices after Israel launched strikes against Iran, raising worries the conflict could disrupt Middle Eastern oil and gas supplies. U.S. crude futures jumped $4.94, or 7.3%, to settle at $72.98 a barrel, their highest close since February. Gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 8.9 cents, or 2.5%, to settle at $3.581 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). On Thursday, the contract closed at its lowest level since May 30 for a fourth day in a row. For the week, the front-month was down about 5% after gaining about 13% over the prior two weeks. So far this year, energy firms have pulled a monthly record high of 1.013 trillion cubic feet of gas out of storage during a brutally cold January and added a monthly record high of 497 billion cubic feet into storage in May when mild weather kept both heating and cooling demand low, according to federal energy data. The prior all-time monthly injection high was 494 bcf in May 2015. Analysts expect energy firms will set another storage record this week with an eighth triple-digit injection. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release the June 13 storage report a day ahead of usual on Wednesday, June 18, due to the U.S. Juneteenth holiday on June 19. During the week ended June 6, energy firms added 100 bcf or more of gas into storage for seven weeks in a row, tying the seven-week triple-digit injection record set in June 2014, according to federal energy data going back to 2010. Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states eased to 105.1 billion cubic feet per day so far in June, down from 105.2 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 106.3 bcfd in March due primarily to normal spring maintenance. Meteorologists forecast weather across the Lower 48 states will remain mostly warmer than normal through June 28. With hotter summer weather coming, LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, would rise from 98.5 bcfd this week to 98.8 bcfd next week and 102.1 bcfd in two weeks. The forecast for this week was higher than LSEG's outlook on Thursday, while its forecast for next week was lower.

Specter of Broader Middle East War, LNG Supply Disruptions Push Global Natural Gas Prices Higher --Global natural gas prices surged on Friday after Israel launched an attack against Iran, threatening a broader conflict in the Middle East that could disrupt energy flows in the region. Map showing key maritime chokepoints around the Arabian Peninsula, including the Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb, and the Suez Canal. Also highlighted are the SUMED pipeline, the East-West crude oil pipeline, and regional nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, and Qatar. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Optimized for understanding global energy transport risks. Israel targeted Iranian nuclear infrastructure and top military officials in a marked escalation of a conflict between the two nations that has simmered in recent years. Iran responded by launching missile and drone attacks, while the United States positioned war ships to defend Israel and American assets in the region. “What makes this situation different is that, unlike the previous incidents where Iran struck first and Israel responded, this time Israel launched the initial attack,” said Rystad Energy analyst Jorge León. “This reversal could have a significant impact on how markets assess the risk of further escalation.”

Natural Gas Prices to Rally on LNG Demand Momentum in Back Half of 2025, EIA Forecasts -- Natural gas spot prices are expected to rise amid summer cooling demand and continue to advance through the balance of 2025 as export activity ramps up, according to an updated federal forecast. Line chart titled "US Natural Gas Prices" showing Henry Hub bidweek prices, residential prices, and forward-looking forecasts from 2020 through 2026. The graphic highlights seasonal volatility in residential prices and projected increases in Henry Hub forward prices through mid-2025, based on data from NGI and the U.S. Energy Information Administration's June 2025 Short-Term Energy Outlook. In the June release of its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), published Tuesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that Henry Hub spot prices would average $4.00/MMBtu for all of this year and $4.90 in 2026. The estimates compare with an actual average of $2.20 in 2024 and shoulder season prices this year that hovered around $3.00. “We expect natural gas prices will rise in the coming months as the United States exports more LNG and demand for natural gas from the electric power sector increases seasonally,” EIA researchers said in the latest STEO.

Cleanup continues into the weekend after 5,000 gallon diesel fuel spill — Crews returned to Harbor East Saturday to continue cleaning up lingering fuel that spilled into the harbor Wednesday. What was initially thought to be a 2,000-gallon spill is actually a 5,000-gallon spill, according to Johns Hopkins on Friday evening. The red tint seen across the harbor earlier this week is now hard to spot after crews spent the last few days cleaning up the harbor. Though streaks of fuel in the water could still be seen on Saturday. “I was just walking around. I heard about the oil spill,” said Baltimore resident Matthew Aubourg. “Just wanted to check it out for myself and see what some of the impacts might be in the area.” Aubourg said he’s thinking ahead, hoping Johns Hopkins does everything to make things right. “That they also pay for and account for the externalities of the impacts,” he said. “So, not just the cleanup but the things that the spill has impacted, and putting in the necessary precautions so that this doesn’t happen again.” On Friday, Governor Wes Moore and Mayor Brandon Scott wrote in a joint statement that there continues to be no impact on drinking water or air quality in the area. They said the operation is transitioning from an emergency response to a remediation response. “Contractors hired by Johns Hopkins will continue work to clean the remaining spill onsite,” the statement reads. “As the scope of the cleanup remains fluid, the scene is expected to remain active over the weekend.” The Baltimore Water Taxi did not operate on Saturday due to the containment boom at multiple locations. That includes harbor trolley services and harbor cruises. The water taxi service said it did not include any private charter bookings, as that vessel was out of the area of containment prior to the boom being placed. Service along the Harbor Connector Route 1 Line from Maritime Park to Locust Point is suspended until further notice. Harbor Connector Routes 2 and 3 will continue to operate. The Charm City Circulator is starting to run a shuttle service from Fleet and Caroline to Key Hwy and Hull Street for Harbor Connector passengers in need of transport. All watercraft should avoid the area between Harbor Point and Henderson’s Wharf until further notice. The Central Avenue roadway will remain closed between Lancaster and Point Street as operations continue. These closures include pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Aging caverns imperil Trump push to refill petroleum reserve - President Donald Trump pledged to replenish the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve after the Biden administration sold nearly 200 million barrels of its stock — but that won’t be as simple as buying more oil. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy this week that SPR drawdowns under former President Joe Biden resulted in structural damage to facilities. More than $100 million of repairs are needed to bring the storage facilities back to full capacity, Wright said. And nearly filling it back up could cost billions of dollars. “The immediate thing we need to do is finish the repairs on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It was drawn down so quickly, and that causes some damage to the infrastructure itself,” Wright said in testimony. “Those repairs are ongoing, and it costs a nontrivial amount of money to repair the SPR.” Wright did not specify what was damaged or what repairs were being made. Neither the White House nor the Department of Energy responded to questions from POLITICO’s E&E News about the damage. But maintenance issues with the SPR began long before the 2022 drawdowns, records show. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, established because of the 1970s energy crisis, was created to ensure that the U.S. had emergency fuel if global or domestic fuel supplies were disrupted. Fears of possible new disruptions sent crude prices higher Thursday night as Israel launched an attack against Iran’s nuclear program. The Biden administration released nearly 200 million barrels of oil from the reserves in 2022, when oil prices spiked globally after Russia invaded Ukraine. That decision provoked fierce criticism from Republicans, who said Biden was trying to keep fuel prices low in efforts to be reelected in 2024. Trump returned to the White House this year after winning the 2024 election, in part based on his pledge to lower the cost of energy and other goods.The SPR is made up of four geologic sites, two along the Texas Gulf Coast and two in Louisiana. The four sites have 60 salt caverns combined — each of which is large enough to hold Chicago’s Willis Tower. Together, they had a storage capacity of up to 713.5 million barrels as of August 2024, according to the Department of Energy The reserves stood at 401.8 million barrels on May 30 of this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Wright said he would seek $20 billion in funding to pump reserves up to about 700 million barrels, according to an interview with Bloomberg in March.

U.S. Pipeline Expansion to Add 99 Bcf/d, Mostly for LNG Export, Report Finds | Pipeline and Gas Journal — A new report by the Center for Energy & Environmental Analysis (CEEA) highlights a dramatic surge in U.S. natural gas pipeline construction, with more than 100 projects either planned or under development. The report finds that the vast majority of this infrastructure—roughly 80% of activepipeline capacity—is intended to support liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, not U.S. energy independence.According to the data, 104 natural gas transmission pipeline projects are in the works, totaling 99 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in potential new capacity. That figure nearly matches the total U.S. gas production in 2024, estimated at 103 Bcf/d. Of the 99 Bcf/d, about 67 Bcf/d is expected to be added between 2025 and 2027—more than double the capacity added in the last three years.CEEA's analysis shows that nine of the ten largest projects in development run through Texas and Louisiana, positioning them to feed LNG export terminals located in those states. These projects are driving what the report describes as a “tidal wave” of capacity intended for international markets—particularly in Asia and Europe—rather than meeting domestic heating, manufacturing, or power generation needs. The report argues this export-driven buildout could raise natural gas prices for U.S. consumers and businesses while locking in long-term fossil fuel emissions, particularly from methane leaks and flaring. Although only a small percentage of methane emissions occur during transmission, the report warns that pipeline expansions will increase upstream production, where the bulk of methane leakage happens.Communities along the Gulf Coast—especially in Louisiana and Texas—are expected to bear the brunt of this buildout, with added emissions from construction, flaring, and operations compounding existing environmental and public health concerns. CEEA cites studies showing these areas are already overburdened by petrochemical infrastructure and pollution. The report also flags concern that such large-scale buildouts are incompatible with U.S. climate goals and net-zero pledges. Despite permitting challenges and market uncertainty, the current regulatory environment could accelerate pipeline approvals, especially under deregulatory policies.

Glenfarne Advances to Next Phase of Search for Alaska LNG Partners More than 50 companies from North America, Asia and Europe have expressed interest in partnering to advance the long-delayed Alaska LNG project, according to lead developer Glenfarne Group LLC. The company launched a strategic partner selection process for the 20 million ton/year project in May. It said after completing the first round of the process that companies in Japan, the European Union, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States have formally expressed interest. The companies are interested in supplying equipment, material, services, investment and signing offtake agreements, among other things, Glenfarne said.

Coast Guard responds to waste oil spill at Tinian harbor THE U.S. Coast Guard responded to a 30-gallon waste oil spill from the 145-foot U.S.-flagged freight ship Mariana at the Tinian Harbor on Friday, June 6, 2025. The USCG is the lead federal agency for oil spills in coastal waters. According to USCG Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam Public Affairs Officer Sarah Muir, “The responsible party took immediate action on detection of the spill from the vessel’s waste oil containment and notified the U.S. Coast Guard on the morning of June 6. The operator of the Mariana reported the source secure, no additional leak or discharge, and an estimate around 30 gallons of waste oil. The response team is working diligently to contain and clean up the waste oil.” The Mariana, she said, is carrying general cargo, and holds a valid Certificate of Inspection issued in March 2024. “An investigation into the cause of the spill is underway, led by the U.S. Coast Guard, given the commercial nature of the vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard is collaborating with local agencies, including the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, to monitor environmental impacts and ensure a thorough response. There are no immediate reports of wildlife or shoreline impacts, but monitoring continues,” Muir added. The waste oil spill was contained by Friday afternoon, Variety learned A Tinian resident, who requested anonymity, said: “Top notch response. For many locals, the biggest concern is the impact on marine life. We feed our families fishing these waters.” The Coast Guard responders deployed containment and sorbent booms to prevent the spread of oil in accordance with the vessel’s approved response plan, prioritizing the protection of Tinian’s marine ecosystems. Additional response supplies arrived on Tinian from Saipan. A marine science technician from U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Saipan oversaw operations, ensuring compliance with federal regulations and effective containment strategies, the Coast Guard said.

Clean up complete for oil spill in Tinian Harbor - Responders completed the cleanup of a waste oil spill from the 145-foot U.S.-flagged freight ship Mariana in Tinian Harbor, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The U.S. Coast Guard monitored the response, ensuring swift action to protect Tinian’s marine ecosystems with no recoverable oil product remaining. The U.S. Coast Guard’s role focused on oversight, not a federalized response, with Marine Safety Unit Saipan personnel ensuring compliance and an effective response. “The rapid response by the Mariana’s operator and responders demonstrates the actions we expect from vessel operators,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Jon Kramer, Marine Safety Unit Saipan. “Our commitment to the public and Tinian’s environment drives us to ensure thorough, effective spill response.” The U.S. Coast Guard collaborated with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality and CNMI Division of Fish and Wildlife, confirming no significant wildlife or shoreline impacts. An initial investigation into the cause of the spill was conducted, given the Mariana’s commercial status. The team determined this incident did not meet the established criteria to classify it as a serious marine incident requiring further investigation. The operator of the Mariana acted promptly upon detecting the spill on June 6, securing the source and notifying the U.S. Coast Guard. Responders, including personnel from the Mariana and motor vessel Galide, deployed containment and sorbent boom following the vessel’s approved response plan. The spill, estimated at 30 gallons of waste oil, was initially addressed with booms and sorbent material. The wind pushed the remaining waste oil to the harbor’s corner before it evaporated or responders removed it. Cleanup concluded ahead of schedule, with Cabras Marine Corporation resupplying Tinian and the Mariana’s response equipment before departure.

Alberta Proposes New Oil Pipeline to BC’s Prince Rupert Port (Reuters) — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on June 11 the province is working to present Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with a proponent and route for a potential new crude pipeline from Alberta to the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia. Smith told reporters at an energy conference in Calgary that her government is in talks with Canada's major pipeline companies in the hope that a private sector proponent will take the lead on Alberta's vision of a new, 1-million-barrel-per-day crude oil conduit to B.C.'s northwest coast. She said Alberta aims to gauge private companies' interest in coming together as a consortium to build the pipeline. "Or if one (company) emerges as being a principal proponent, then we'll be interested in talking to them too," Smith said. Canada currently sends approximately 90 per cent of its oil exports to the U.S., but has been seeking to diversify due to trade tensions and tariff threats from President Donald Trump. Alberta, Canada's main oil-producing province, is keen to see construction of a new export pipeline, to give Canada's oil industry the ability to boost production long-term. No private company has publicly expressed interest in building such a project. Smith said she hopes Carney, who won a minority government in April, will make good on his pledge to speed permitting times for major infrastructure projects. Companies will not commit to building a pipeline, Smith said, without confidence in the federal government's intent to bring about regulatory reform. Alberta is proposing that a new oil pipeline be built in tandem with the Pathways Alliance's carbon capture and storage project, which has been proposed by a consortium of oil sands companies to reduce emissions from Canada's energy sector. The companies have not been successful in negotiating an agreement with both levels of government over funding support for the project. Smith said the Pathways project, which could cost between $10 billion and $20 billion to build, would be more likely to be green-lit by oil companies if they had the assurance of revenue growth that a new crude export pipeline would bring. Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil producer. The country achieved record oil production last year as the opening of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in May 2024 tripled the country's oil export capacity off the B.C. west coast to 890,000 barrels per day. However, construction of that project was marred by regulatory delays and costs soaring to more than four times the pipeline's original budget.

Methane leaks from dormant oil and gas wells in Canada are seven times worse than thought, study suggests --Methane emissions from Canada's non-producing oil and gas wells appear to be seven times higher than government estimates, according to a new study led by researchers at McGill University. The findings spotlight a major gap in the country's official greenhouse gas inventory and raise urgent questions about how methane leaks are monitored, reported and managed."Non-producing wells are one of the most uncertain sources of methane emissions in Canada," said Mary Kang, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at McGill and senior author on the paper. "We measured the highest methane emission rate from a non-producing oil and gas well ever reported in Canada."Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Over a 20-year period, it traps about 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than the same amount of carbon dioxide. It's also associated with air pollution and health risks. Kang's team directly measured methane emissions from 494 wells across five provinces using a chamber-based method and analyzed well-level data such as age, depth and plugging status.The national emissions estimate they arrived at—230 kilotonnes per year—is sevenfold higher than the 34 kilotonnes reported in Canada's National Inventory Report. The study was published in Environmental Science & Technology.There are more than 425,000 inactive oil and gas wells across Canada, most of which are in Alberta and Saskatchewan. This means that the number of measured wells is very small, at only 0.1 percent."One surprising finding was just how much the drivers of emissions varied between provinces," said Kang. "We thought geological differences within provinces would matter more, but the dominant factors appear to be at the provincial scale, likely due to variations in policy and operational practices." (a) Non-producing well distribution across Canada with two pie charts for each province/territory (left pie chart shows well status, right pie chart shows well type). The size of the pie chart is indicative of well counts in each province/territory (Table S5). (b) Undocumented well count estimates for each province/territory in Canada The results reveal that a small fraction of wells—especially unplugged gas wells—are responsible for the vast majority of non-producing well methane emissions. Kang says targeting these high emitters would be an efficient way to reduce emissions."Rather than just measuring more wells at random, we can use well attributes to identify where emissions are likely to be highest, and focus monitoring and mitigation efforts there," she said.The study serves as a reminder of the need to rethink how old wells are managed.

Argentina, Brazil LNG Imports Drop as Market Fundamentals Offset Demand — LatAm Recap =LNG prices in Latin America have remained in check in early June, but that has not led to a spot market buying spree. Chart showing delivered ex-ship LNG prices specific to the Latin American LNG market. July delivered ex-ship (DES) prices to the Bahia Blanca terminal in Argentina were $11.81/MMBtu on Monday (June 9), up slightly on the day. August DES prices at Argentina's sole import terminal dropped 29 cents to $11.20. DES prices at the Pecém terminal in Brazil were $11.62, while in Colombia they were $11.47.

The Rosebank oilfield: Why more UK oil means more global emissions -The UK government will soon face a momentous decision over whether to approve production in the Rosebank oilfield off the coast of Shetland. Rosebank is the UK's biggest undeveloped field. Its proponents—the largest of which is the Norwegian state-owned petroleum company Equinor—estimate that it will produce the equivalent of up to 500 million barrels of oil between 2026 and 2051. When burned, this oil will generate up to 200 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is more than the combined annual emissions of 28 low-income countries. Thanks to recent court cases, the climateeffects of those "combustion emissions" will need to be taken into account by the government when it decides whether to approve production at Rosebank. In a new report, two colleagues and I reviewed the evidence concerning the implications of new oil and gas fields in the UK. There is a rapidly dwindling global carbon budget for holding temperature increases to below 1.5°C of warming (the more conservative end of the Paris agreement's temperature goal). Globally, the emissions from burning the fossil fuels in oil and gas fields and coalmines that are already operating or under development far exceed that budget. In this context, Rosebank's combustion emissions are highly significant, as they add considerably to that excess. We also found that the projected production from existing fields is sufficient to meet or exceed global oil and gas demand in modeled economic scenarios in which climate warming is restrained to within 1.5°C. This is further evidence that new fields are not consistent with achieving globally agreed temperature goals.However, it is often asserted by supporters of new fields that keeping UK oil in the ground won't reduce global emissions, because another producer will supply the demand and reap the benefits. This is a gross and dangerous oversimplification, which—according to the United Nations Environment Programme—"defies the basic economics of supply and demand". Allowing a new field like Rosebank would increase the supply of oil globally, resulting in a fall in its price, which—though small—would cause more oil to be consumed. As UK government advisers at the Climate Change Committee haveacknowledged, new petroleum projects "support a larger global market overall" for petroleum. Stopping Rosebank would have the opposite effect, and lead to less oil consumed.

New oil and gas fields incompatible with Paris climate goals --Opening any new North Sea oil and gas fields is incompatible with achieving the Paris Climate Agreement goals of limiting warming to 1.5°C or holding warming to "well below 2°C" relative to preindustrial levels, finds a new report published by UCL academics.Researchers behind the study, based at the UCL Energy Institute, UCL Department of Political Science and UCL Policy Lab, are now calling on the UK Government to stop licensing new oil and gas exploration, and refuse development consent for already-licensed fields.On a practical level, this would mean an end to issuing new licenses to explore for oil and gas. The researchers also urge the Government to decide against allowing the development of already-licensed North Sea oilfields. This includes the controversial Rosebank and Jackdaw oilfields, whose previous approvals were deemed unlawful by a Scottish court in January this year. "Climate impacts are already threatening people's homes, our farming and our economy, so reducing emissions is now urgent. We've brought together the peer-reviewed scientific literature on oil and gas, which sends a clear message: there's no room for new fields to be opened. When you're in a hole, you have to stop digging."For the report, the researchers analyzed the latest scientific evidence and literature on the climate implications of new oil and gas extraction projects.The report draws on the authors' recent peer-reviewed research papers published in journals, including Science and Nature, as well as hundreds of other peer-reviewed studies, reports and datasets.They found that if the world burns all the oil and gas in existing fields, the resulting carbon dioxide emissions would warm the planet in excess of the 1.5°C limit established by the Paris Climate Agreement. Any new oil and gas fields would further exacerbate that excess.The latest estimate of the world's "committed emissions"—the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions created by burning the fossil fuels to be extracted from oil and gas fields that are currently operating or under development—would amount to 469 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide. This is approximately three times the amount of carbon dioxide needed to push the planet past 1.5°C of warming.Researchers say the timing of the study is important because the UK Government is facing at least two significant decisions about new oil and gas fields in the North Sea. First, how to implement its policy of ending new exploration licensing. Second, whether to re-approve development of the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields.In the UK, there's typically a two-stage process for the full development of a new oil field. Companies first receive an award of a license that gives them the right to explore for oil and gas in an area. Upon the discovery of a field, the company can then apply for a development consent to begin to extract oil and gas from the field.In the report, the UCL researchers recommend stopping all future licenses to explore, and not granting new development consents to fields that have been explored but not yet tapped.

Equinor Signs $27 Billion Natural Gas Supply Agreement with Centrica to Bolster UK Energy Security - Equinor has entered into a landmark agreement with UK-based energy company Centrica to supply natural gas to the United Kingdom over the next decade. The deal, valued at approximately £20 billion ($27.11 billion), will deliver 55 terawatt-hours (TWh) of natural gas annually—equivalent to around five billion cubic meters (bcm)—beginning Oct. 1, 2025. The gas will be priced according to market conditions at the time of delivery. This new contract reinforces a long-standing relationship between Equinor and the UK that began in 2005. It also significantly enhances the UK’s energy security by securing stable supplies from Norway, one of the country’s key energy partners. According to Equinor, the volume covered by the agreement will account for nearly 10% of the UK’s total natural gas demand each year. “I am very pleased to strengthen the energy partnership with the UK and our long-standing partner and customer Centrica,” said Anders Opedal, Equinor’s president and CEO. “This agreement will continue to support the UK’s energy security with reliable gas supplies from the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The flexibility that natural gas offers will play a key role in enabling further development of renewable power and decarbonization in the UK.” The UK remains heavily dependent on imported gas to meet its energy needs. In 2024, 66.2% of the country's gas requirements were met through imports, with Norway providing approximately 50.2% of those imports. This marks a notable increase from 2022, when around one-third of UK gas imports originated from Norway. The latest agreement not only cements Norway's role as a principal gas supplier but also supports the UK’s broader energy resilience goals. In a forward-looking component, the contract includes a provision for transitioning from natural gas to hydrogen as market conditions and infrastructure evolve. This supports both countries’ ambitions to advance the development of hydrogen as a clean energy source and aligns with the UK’s net-zero targets. “The UK and the North Sea is a core area in our long-term ambitions to remain a supplier of reliable energy and to help decarbonize societies and industries,” said Alex Grant, Equinor’s UK country manager. “The new gas sales agreement with Centrica will be a key element in this. Energy security and decarbonization must go hand in hand, and I am proud that Equinor is actively delivering both.” The deal comes as Equinor continues to expand its upstream activities in the region. In March, the company began production at the Halten East field in the Norwegian Sea. Operated by Equinor Energy, which holds a 69.5% interest, the project is developed in partnership with Vår Energi (24.6%) and Petoro (5.9%). 10:23 PM

Egypt Signs LNG Supply Deals Worth $8 Billion Through 2026 (Reuters) — Egypt has reached agreements with several energy firms and trading houses to buy between 150-160 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to cover power demand from now until the end of 2026, industry sources aware of the matter told Reuters. The gas purchases, costing over $8 billion based on current prices, will add more pressure on government coffers which are already under strain to keep the lights on amid falling gas production and a cost of living crisis. Egypt’s hard currency crunch has delayed payments to international oil firms, curbing exploration and slowing oil and gas output. Agreements have been reached with global energy companies and trading houses including Saudi Aramco, Shell, Vitol, Trafigura, BGN, SOCAR, and PetroChina, the sources said. Between 50-60 cargoes will be used to cover this year's demand. This is on top of 75 cargoes the country has already purchased earlier this year. The rest will be for deliveries through end-2026. The cargoes were priced at a premium of $0.70-$0.75 above the gas price at the Dutch TTF hub, with a nine-month deferred payment. Cairo has the flexibility to defer cargoes and some of the companies have the option to provide Cairo with additional LNG cargoes if needed. Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) did not immediately respond to Reuters' quest for comment. Over the past two years, Egypt has endured rolling blackouts as natural gas supply fell short of demand. Egypt's own gas output in February hit its lowest level in nine years. The world's most populous Arab country returned to being a net importer of gas last year, buying dozens of cargoes and abandoning plans to become a supplier to Europe as its production tumbled. Egypt has bought 1.84 million tons (mt) of LNG this year, data from S&P Global Commodity Insights shows. That's almost 75% of its total for 2024.

Iraq's oil export volume to US falls by 21,000 bpd - Iraq’s crude oil exports to the United States dropped last week, according to data released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Sunday.The EIA reported that total US crude imports from nine major suppliers averaged 5.491M barrels per day (bpd) during the past week—down by 309,000 bpd from the previous week’s 5.800M bpd.Iraqi oil exports to the US averaged 214,000 bpd, a decline of 21,000 bpd compared to the 235,000 bpd recorded the previous week.Canada remained the top exporter to the US, shipping an average of 3.519M bpd, followed by Saudi Arabia (578,000 bpd), Brazil (409,000 bpd), and Mexico (387,000 bpd). Both Colombia and Iraq each contributed 214,000 bpd.Other import sources included Venezuela at 107,000 bpd, Nigeria at 59,000 bpd, and Ecuador at just 4,000 bpd.

Kenya Plans to Launch Crude Oil Exports in 2026 --Kenya hopes it will begin commercial crude oil production and exports next year, Opiyo Wandayi, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, said on Monday, as companies are finalizing an asset sale and development project plans for an onshore resource basin.The East African country has oil and gas resources, but development has stalled after UK-listed Tullow Oil failed to secure investor partners for a major oil project that has been years in the making.Tullow Oil and its minority partners sought to develop the South Lokichar project for years. However, French supermajor TotalEnergies and London-listed Africa Oil decided two years ago to withdraw from the project in Kenya, leaving Tullow Oil the sole owner of the blocks and further complicating Kenya’s oil dream.Plans have been made for the development of the oil fields discovered in the South–Lokichar Basin in Kenya’s north. The partners had sought to secure financing for a pipeline to ship the crude out of the landlocked northern region.Earlier this year, Tullow Oil plc said it had signed a heads of terms agreement with Gulf Energy Ltd to sell all its working interests in Kenya for at least $120 million.Currently, Gulf Energy is finalizing the acquisition of Tullow Oil’s assets, while the Field Development Plan (FDP) for the South Lokichar basin is pending approval, Kenyan media reported on Monday.The project is expected to produce between 60,000 and 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) initially, with an estimated 560 million barrels recoverable over 25 years.This could position Kenya as a player in the global oil market, Wandayi said today.The cabinet secretary said in March that Kenya expects to launch an oil and gas exploration round for 10 blocks in September.The Kenyan government has renewed its efforts to launch an oil and gas industry and is offering tax incentives, among other incentives.

Pipeline rupture causes oil spill in Thailand - On the night of June 5, a crude oil spill occurred off the coast of Sriracha in Thailand’s Chonburi Province due to a raptured pipeline. The incident happened at the SBM-2 (Single Buoy Mooring) terminal while the Phoenix Jamnagar, a Singapore-registered supertanker, was offloading oil during severe weather. High waves and strong winds caused the ship’s emergency breakaway system to activate, leading to a rupture in the pipeline and a leak of approximately 10,000 to 20,000 litres of crude oil over a 30-minute period. Thai Oil Public Company Limited, which operates the terminal, immediately halted the transfer and enacted its emergency response plan. The company deployed three containment booms and dispersant chemicals, and dispatched the clean-up vessel Chonthara Anurak to the spill site. By 6:05 a.m. on June 6, Thai Oil had alerted the Thailand Maritime Enforcement Coordinating Center (ThaiMECC) to the incident. A coordinated multi-agency response followed, involving the Royal Thai Navy, the Marine Department, the Pollution Control Department, and aerial surveillance units using UAVs, helicopters, and a Dornier 228 aircraft. Despite rough sea conditions, the leak was contained and no further oil was visible on the evening of June 6. No injuries or environmental damage to marine life have been reported so far, though monitoring continues.

Saudi, Russia, Iraq, UAE boost oil supply to India, capture 78% market share - India’s top four oil suppliers Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, and the UAE all key OPEC+ members, have sharply increased crude shipments to India, collectively supplying an additional 375,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May compared to April. Their combined market share in India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, has now reached about 78%. According to energy tracker Vortexa, these four nations exceeded their OPEC+ commitment of 359,000 bpd production increase under the alliance’s expansion plan of 409,000 bpd. Russia remained India’s largest crude supplier, benefiting from ongoing barrel discounts. In May, Saudi Arabia boosted output by 166,000 bpd and increased exports to India by 135,673 bpd, raising its market share to 13.1%. Russia, Iraq, and the UAE raised output by 79,000 bpd, 37,000 bpd, and 77,000 bpd respectively, exporting 114,016 bpd, 66,642 bpd, and 58,365 bpd to India. Their combined share climbed 8.1 percentage points to 77.5%. Conversely, African suppliers’ share dropped from 11.8% to 4.9%, and US crude exports to India declined to 5.7% from 7%. Saudi Arabia’s increased supply to India came with significant price cuts to Asian buyers, with Saudi Aramco lowering the May official selling price for Arab Light crude by $2.30 per barrel — its lowest in nearly four years. This pricing strategy has made Middle Eastern crude more competitive versus Brent-linked grades, analysts say. Looking ahead, eight OPEC+ countries plan to increase output by an additional 411,000 bpd in June and July, keeping crude prices steady between $60-$65 per barrel, well below the 2024 average of $80. An Indian refinery executive said, “Saudi is offering attractive prices to gain share in India,” underscoring the growing competition for India’s expanding crude market.

OPEC oil output in May rises less than planned, Reuters survey finds - OPEC oil output rose in May by less than the volume planned, a Reuters survey found, as Iraq made further cuts to compensate for earlier pumping above target and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates made smaller hikes than allowed. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 26.75 million barrels per day last month, up 150,000 bpd from April's total, the survey showed on Monday, with Saudi Arabia making the largest increase. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 26.75 million barrels per day last month, up 150,000 bpd from April's total, the survey showed on Monday, with Saudi Arabia making the largest increase. OPEC+, which comprises OPEC and its allies, including Russia, is accelerating its plan to unwind its most recent layer of output cuts. At the same time, some members are required to make extra cuts to compensate for earlier overproduction, in theory limiting the impact of the hikes. Under an agreement by eight OPEC+ members covering May output, the five of them that are OPEC members - Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - were to raise output by 310,000 bpd. According to the survey, the actual increase by the five was 180,000 bpd, as compensation cuts by Iraq and lower exports by Saudi Arabia limited the increase. The biggest hike of 130,000 bpd came from Saudi Arabia, the survey found.

IEA Ready to Tap Oil Reserves After Israel-Iran Strikes; OPEC Pushes Back (Reuters) — The West's energy watchdog said on June 13 it was ready to release oil stocks should the market experience shortages following Israel's attack on Iran, drawing criticism from rival OPEC which said the statement would only create fear in the market. The International Energy Agency, representing oil consumers, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, representing some of the world's top oil producers, have in recent years clashed on global oil demand trajectories and the pace of the energy transition. The IEA's head Fatih Birol said that while the oil market was well supplied, the agency would be ready to act if needed, adding that the agency's oil security system held 1.2 billion barrels of oil in strategic and emergency reserves. OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais criticized Birol's statement, saying it "raises false alarms and projects a sense of market fear through repeating the unnecessary need to potentially use oil emergency stocks". He said there were no developments in supply or market dynamics that "warrant unnecessary measures". Oil prices jumped sharply after Israel launched a barrage of strikes across Iran on Friday, saying it had attacked nuclear facilities and missile factories and killed a swathe of military commanders in what could be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran building an atomic weapon. Oil prices were trading 7% higher, their biggest daily spike since 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. The United States and its allies, in coordination with the IEA, last tapped emergency oil stocks in early 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a decision that OPEC heavily criticized at the time. While Israel has stopped short of targeting Iran's energy facilities, market participants are wary the situation may escalate further leading to damage to energy infrastructure in Iran or its neighbors, as well as a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. In September 2019, Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen launched a drone attack on Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil processing plant, knocking 5.7 million bpd of Saudi oil production offline and sending the oil market into a frenzy. Iran's diplomatic relations with its Gulf neighbors Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have improved significantly since that attack, though there are still some concerns in the region of a repeat of the Abqaiq scenario. "Oil has already spiked ... and its ultimate landing point will likely hinge on whether Iran revives the 2019 playbook and targets tankers, pipelines, and key energy facilities across the region," RBC Capital Markets analyst Helima Croft said in a note following the Israeli attack.

China's Export Growth in May Slowed to a Three-Month Low - The oil market traded higher on Monday as U.S.-China trade talks resumed after U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping had a phone conversation on Thursday. The market traded lower in overnight trading on news that China’s export growth in May slowed to a three-month low as U.S. tariffs cut shipments while factory gate deflation deepened to its worst level in two years. The crude market posted a low of $64.20 before it retraced its losses. The crude market extended its gains to $65.27 by mid-day. The market later gave up some of its gains and traded sideways before it rallied to a high of $65.38 ahead of the close. The July WTI contract settled up 71 cents at $65.29 and continued to trend higher in the post settlement period to a high of $65.43. The August Brent contract settled up 57 cents at $67.04. The product markets ended the session higher, with the heating oil market settling up 2.11 cents at $2.1464 and the RB market settling up 1.84 cents at $2.0952.Top U.S. and Chinese officials were meeting in London on Monday to try to defuse a high-stakes trade dispute that has widened beyond tit-for-tat tariffs to restrictions over rare earths. Officials from the two superpowers were meeting to try to get back on track with a preliminary agreement struck last month in Geneva that had briefly lowered the temperature between Washington and Beijing. Attending the talks in London are U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and a Chinese contingent headed by Vice Premier He Lifeng. The second round of meetings comes four days after U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping spoke by phone, their first direct interaction since President Trump’s inauguration. Earlier, White House economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, said the three top U.S. trade negotiators are seeking a handshake in London to seal the agreement on rare earths agreed to by Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. He said the expectation is that immediately after the handshake, export controls will be eased and rare earths will be released in volume.ING analysts said WTI’s discount to Brent has been narrowing on a combination of increased OPEC+ output, modest U.S. crude oil supply growth and the potential for output declines next year.According to a new projection by S&P Global Commodity Insights, oil prices could fall below $50/barrel this year as new supply from OPEC and its allies comes onto the market in the coming months. However, global head of crude oil research at S&P Global Commodity Insights, Jim Burkhard, said don’t expect the momentum to last. According to a Reuters survey, OPEC oil output increased in May by less than the volume planned, as Iraq made further cuts to compensate for earlier pumping above target and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates made smaller increases than allowed. OPEC produced 26.75 million bpd in May, up 150,000 bpd from April’s total, with Saudi Arabia making the largest increase.

Oil prices hit multi-week highs amid US-China trade talks (Reuters) - Oil prices hit multi-week highs on Monday, buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar, while investors awaited news from U.S.-China trade talks in London in hopes a deal could boost the global economic outlook and subsequently fuel demand. Brent crude futures settled 57 cents higher, or 0.9%, to $67.04 a barrel. During the session, the benchmark rose to $67.19 a barrel, the highest since April 28. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 71 cents, or 1.1%, to $65.29. The contract reached $65.38 a barrel during the session, the highest since April 4. A weaker U.S. dollar gave some support to oil prices, as the dollar index dropped 0.3%, making oil cheaper for holders of other currencies. Last week, Brent rose 4% and WTI gained 6.2% as the prospect of a U.S.-China trade deal boosted risk appetite for some investors. "Much of this advance appears technically driven and such rallies can easily subside without new bullish headlines," a"Much attention will be given to the ongoing U.S.-China trade talks." U.S. President Donald Trump and China's leader Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Thursday before U.S. and Chinese officials met in London on Monday to calm trade tensions between the two nations. A trade deal between the United States and China could support the global economic outlook and in turn boost demand for commodities including oil. Monday's talks could dampen the impact on prices of Chinese data releases, Chinese export growth slowed to a three-month low in May as U.S. tariffs curbed shipments while factory gate deflation deepened to its worst in two years, heaping pressure on the world's second-largest economy at home and abroad. "Bad timing for crude oil, which was testing the top of the range and knocking on the door of a technical break above $65," referring to WTI prices. The data also showed that China's crude oil imports declined in May to the lowest daily rate in four months as state-owned and independent refiners began planned maintenance. The prospect of a potential China-U.S. trade deal outweighed concern over the price impact from increased output by the OPEC+ group of oil producers next month. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' oil output rose in May by less than the volume planned, a Reuters survey found, as Iraq made further cuts to compensate for earlier pumping above target and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates made smaller hikes than allowed. OPEC pumped 26.75 million barrels per day last month, up 150,000 bpd from April's total, the survey showed on Monday, with Saudi Arabia making the largest increase.

Oil up 1% at 7-week high on hopes of positive US-China trade talks - Oil prices edged up 1% to a seven-week high on Tuesday on hopes trade talks between the U.S. and China - the world’s two biggest economies - will result in a deal that could support global economic growth and boost oil demand. Brent crude futures rose 81 cents, or 1.2%, to $67.85 a barrel by 11:22 a.m. EDT (1522 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 83 cents, or 1.3%, to $66.12. Those gains pushed both crude benchmarks into technically overbought territory for the first time since early April and put Brent on track for its highest close since April 17 and WTI on track for its highest close since April 3. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said trade talks with China were going well as the two sides met for a second day in London, seeking a breakthrough on export controls that have threatened a fresh rupture between the superpowers. “There’s a sense of optimism around these trade talks; the market is waiting to see what this will produce, and that is supporting prices,” s On the supply side, allocations to Chinese refiners showed that Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Saudi Aramco will ship about 47 million barrels of oil to China in July, 1 million barrels less than June’s allotted volume, Reuters reported. The Saudi allocations could be an early sign that the unwinding of OPEC+ production cuts might not result in much additional supply, Tchilinguirian said. OPEC+, which pumps about half of the world’s oil and includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies like Russia, put forward plans for an output increase of 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) for July as it looks to unwind production cuts for a fourth straight month. A Reuters survey found that OPEC’s May increase to oil output was limited, with Iraq, the second biggest OPEC producer behind Saudi Arabia, pumping below target to compensate for earlier overproduction, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates making smaller increases than agreed. Elsewhere, Iran said it would soon make a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal in response to a U.S. offer that Tehran deems “unacceptable”, while U.S. President Donald Trump made clear that the two sides remained at odds over whether Tehran would be allowed to continue enriching uranium on Iranian soil. Iran is the third-largest OPEC producer and any easing of U.S. sanctions on Tehran should allow Iran to export more oil, which should reduce crude prices. In Europe, meanwhile, the European Commission proposed an 18th package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, aimed at Moscow’s energy revenues, banks and military industry. Russia was the world’s second biggest crude producer in 2024 behind the U.S., and any increase in sanctions will likely keep more of that oil out of global markets, which could support oil prices. US oil inventories and exports The American Petroleum Institute (API) trade group and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) are due to release U.S. oil inventory data on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Analysts forecast energy firms added about 0.1 million barrels of oil to U.S. stockpiles during the week ended June 6. If correct that would be the first storage increase in three weeks and compares with an increase of 3.7 million barrels during the same week last year and an average increase of 2.8 million barrels over the past five years (2020-2024).

Hopes Continuing U.S. and China Talks Will Result in a Deal Supporting Global Economic Growth - The crude oil market on Tuesday traded lower after it weighed the hopes that the continuing talks between the U.S. and China will result in a deal that could support global economic growth against the World Bank cutting its global growth forecast for 2025 by 0.4 percentage point to 2.3%. Early in the session, the crude market traded higher as the U.S.-China trade talks were continuing for a second day in London. U.S. President Donald Trump, on Monday, said the talks with China were going well. The market was also supported by allocations to Chinese refiners that showed Saudi Aramco will ship about 47 million barrels of oil to China in July, 1 million barrels less than June’s volume. The oil market extended its gains to almost $1 as it posted a high of $66.28 by mid-day. However, the market later retraced its gains and sold off to a low of $64.57. The July WTI contract settled down 31 cents at $64.98 and the Brent contract settled down 17 cents at $66.87. The product markets ended the session lower, with the heating oil market settling down 48 points at $2.1416 and the RB market settling down 72 points at $2.0880. The EIA said in its monthly Short Term Energy Outlook report that U.S. crude oil production will fall next year to about 13.37 million bpd from about 13.42 million bpd this year. The forecast marks the first time that the U.S. Department of Energy’s statistical arm has predicted a decline in U.S. crude oil output by next year, having previously forecast record output in both 2025 and 2026. Its output estimate for 2025 was unchanged from a previous forecast, while its forecast for 2026 was cut by 0.89% from a previous forecast. The EIA forecast 2025 U.S. oil demand at 20.4 million bpd, down from a previous forecast of 20.5 million bpd, while output in 2026 is expected to remain unchanged at 20.4 million bpd, which was unchanged from a previous estimate. The EIA also reported that world oil output in 2025 is estimated at 104.4 million bpd, up 0.29% from a previous forecast, while output in 2026 is expected to increase by 0.67% to 105.1 million bpd, which is down 0.28% from a previous estimate. World oil demand in 2025 is forecast at 103.5 million bpd, down 0.2% from a previous forecast, while demand in 2026 is expected to increase by 1.06% to 104.6 million bpd, which is unchanged from a previous estimate. The EIA forecast 2025 WTI will average $62.33/barrel, up from a previous forecast of $61.81/barrel, while the 2026 price is forecast at $55.58/barrel, up from a previous forecast of $55.24/barrel. The price of Brent crude in 2025 is forecast at $65.97/barrel, up from a previous forecast of $65.85/barrel, while Brent crude is expected to fall to $59.24/barrel in 2026, unchanged from a previous forecast. Trade sources said Saudi Arabia’s crude oil supply to China is set to fall slightly in July but remain strong for a third consecutive month as the country regains its market share supplying the world’s top crude importer. Saudi Aramco will ship about 47 million barrels to China in July, 1 million barrels less than June’s allotted volume. Iranian lawmakers said the United States and Israel are seeking to turn nuclear talks into a “strategic trap” for Iran, days before a planned sixth round of Iran-U.S. nuclear talks. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump highlighted that the two sides remained at odds on the issue of uranium enrichment in Iran, which Iranian lawmakers say is a non-negotiable part of the country’s nuclear program. While President Trump said the next round of talks would take place on Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said it was planned to take place on Sunday in Oman.

Oil falls as investors monitor U.S.-China trade talks -Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday as traders monitored trade talks between the U.S. and China. Brent crude futures fell 17 cents, or 0.25%, to close at $66.87 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 31 cents, or 0.47%, to $64.98. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said trade talks with China were going well as the two sides met for a second day in London, seeking a breakthrough on export controls that have threatened a fresh rupture between the superpowers. "There's a sense of optimism around these trade talks; the market is waiting to see what this will produce, and that is supporting prices," said Harry Tchilinguirian, group head of research at Onyx Capital. On the supply side, allocations to Chinese refiners showed that Saudi Arabia's state oil company Saudi Aramco will ship about 47 million barrels of oil to China in July, 1 million barrels less than June's allotted volume, Reuters reported. The Saudi allocations could be an early sign that the unwinding of OPEC+ production cuts might not result in much additional supply, Tchilinguirian said. OPEC+, which pumps about half of the world's oil and includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies like Russia, put forward plans for an output increase of 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) for July as it looks to unwind production cuts for a fourth straight month. A Reuters survey found that OPEC's May increase to oil output was limited, with Iraq, the second biggest OPEC producer behind Saudi Arabia, pumping below target to compensate for earlier overproduction, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates making smaller increases than agreed. Elsewhere, Iran said it would soon make a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal in response to a U.S. offer that Tehran deems "unacceptable", while U.S. President Donald Trump made clear that the two sides remained at odds over whether Tehran would be allowed to continue enriching uranium on Iranian soil. Iran is the third-largest OPEC producer and any easing of U.S. sanctions on Tehran should allow Iran to export more oil, which should reduce crude prices. In Europe, meanwhile, the European Commission proposed an 18th package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, aimed at Moscow's energy revenues, banks and military industry. Russia was the world's second biggest crude producer in 2024 behind the U.S., and any increase in sanctions will likely keep more of that oil out of global markets, which could support oil prices. The American Petroleum Institute (API) trade group and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) are due to release U.S. oil inventory data on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. , Analysts forecast energy firms added about 0.1 million barrels of oil to U.S. stockpiles during the week ended June 6. If correct that would be the first storage increase in three weeks and compares with an increase of 3.7 million barrels during the same week last year and an average increase of 2.8 million barrels over the past five years (2020-2024).

Oil Prices Edge Down Slightly; Brent at $66.60 per Barrel...Oil prices slipped in early trading on Wednesday amid ongoing assessments of U.S.-China trade talks and concerns over weak crude demand from China, coupled with increased output from OPEC and its allies. As of 01:19 GMT, Brent crude futures fell by 24 cents, or 0.36%, to $66.63 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped by 21 cents, or 0.32%, to $64.77 per barrel. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday, following two days of intensive negotiations in London, that American and Chinese officials had agreed on a framework to halt mutual trade measures and address China’s export restrictions on rare earth elements and magnets. Lutnick added that the outcome would be presented to President Trump for approval. Earlier this week, weak Chinese oil import data and the continued rise in output from the OPEC+ group—which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia—put downward pressure on prices. OPEC+ plans to increase oil production by 411,000 barrels per day in July.

Oil Jumps on US-China Trade Deal -- Oil futures rallied to a two-month high Wednesday morning after U.S. President Trump announced a trade deal between the United States and China. While details remained sparse, the agreement reached after two days of negotiations in London signaled a significant de-escalation in current trade tensions. NYMEX-traded WTI for July delivery was up $1.53 bbl to trade near $66.51 bbl, and ICE Brent for August delivery rose $1.31 bbl to $68.18 bbl. July RBOB gasoline futures jumped $0.0342 to $2.1222 gallon, and the front-month ULSD futures contract gained $0.0214 to trade near $2.1630 gallon. The U.S. Dollar Index softened by 0.345 points to 98.725. The trade deal will likely freeze tariffs at current lower rates, formalizing the 90-day pause implemented last month, and include provisions on rare earth shipments from China to the United States. Oil prices also experienced tailwinds on the geopolitical front. The President uttered fresh skepticism overreaching an agreement with Iran in ongoing nuclear talks, easing oversupply concerns which were fueled by slowed demand growth and OPEC ramping up production. At the same time, the EU Commission proposed fresh sanctions on Russia, including lowering the oil price cap to $45 bbl and banning additional so-called "shadow vessels" which participate in illicit oil trade.

Oil prices jumps 4% to 2-month high as tensions rise in Middle East (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 4% on Wednesday, to their highest in more than two months, after sources said the U.S. was preparing to evacuate its Iraqi embassy due to heightened security concerns in the Middle East. Brent crude futures settled $2.90, or 4.34%, higher to $69.77 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $3.17, or 4.88%, to $68.15. Both Brent and WTI reached their highest since early April. Surprised traders bought crude futures on reports the U.S. was preparing to evacuate its embassy in Iraq, OPEC's No. 2 crude producer after Saudi Arabia. A U.S. official said military dependents could also leave Bahrain. Earlier, Iran's Minister of Defense Aziz Nasirzadeh Tehran will strike U.S. bases in the region if nuclear talks fail and conflict arises with Washington. Trump said he was less confident that Iran would agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal with Washington, according to an interview released on Wednesday. Ongoing tension with Iran means its oil supplies are likely to remain curtailed by sanctions. Supplies will still increase, as OPEC+ plans to boost oil production by 411,000 barrels per day in July as it looks to unwind production cuts for a fourth straight month. "Greater oil demand within OPEC+ economies – most notably Saudi Arabia – could offset additional supply from the group over the coming months and support oil prices," said Capital Economics' analyst Hamad Hussain in a note. Also keeping prices elevated was news of a trade deal between the U.S. and China, which could boost energy demand in the world's two biggest economies. Trump said Beijing would supply magnets and rare earth minerals and the U.S. will allow Chinese students in its colleges and universities. Trump added the deal is subject to final approval by him and President Xi Jinping. The trade-related downside risk in oil has been temporarily removed, although the market reaction has been tepid as it is not clear how economic growth and global oil demand will be affected, PVM analyst Tamas Varga said. In the U.S., crude inventories fell by 3.6 million barrels to 432.4 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a draw of 2 million barrels. Product supplied for motor gasoline, a proxy for demand, rose by about 907,000 barrels per day last week, to 9.17 million bpd. U.S. consumer prices increased only marginally in May, deepening the conviction in financial markets that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates by September. Lower interest rates can spur economic growth and demand for oil.

Global Oil Prices Drop Amid Middle East Tensions and Pre-Iran Talks -Oil prices fell on Thursday, giving up some of the gains made earlier in the Asian trading session as markets digested the U.S. decision to withdraw some personnel from the Middle East ahead of planned talks with Iran over its nuclear activities. Brent crude futures dropped by 49 cents (0.7%) to $69.28 per barrel as of 06:30 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 41 cents (0.6%) to $67.74 per barrel. Both benchmarks had risen over 4% in the previous session, reaching their highest levels since early April. U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the U.S. is relocating staff because the Middle East "could be a dangerous place," affirming that Washington would not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran, however, insists its nuclear activities are peaceful. The heightened tensions have increased fears of potential oil supply disruptions, especially with upcoming U.S.-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday. Vivek Dhar, Director of Mining and Energy Research at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, noted: “Some of the rally that pushed Brent above $70 was likely overdone. The U.S. hasn’t identified any direct Iranian threat.” He added that Iran’s response would depend on any U.S. escalation, stating: “The price correction makes sense, but a geopolitical risk premium is likely to keep Brent above $65 until the outcome of the talks becomes clear.” U.S. and Iraqi sources told Reuters that Washington is preparing for a partial evacuation of its embassy in Iraq, and will allow families of U.S. military personnel to leave various sites in the Middle East, including Bahrain, due to rising security concerns. Iraq is OPEC's second-largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia. Kelvin Wong, Chief Market Analyst at OANDA, said the price pullback followed a technical resistance level hit on Wednesday, with some traders speculating that Sunday’s U.S.-Iran meeting might ease tensions. President Trump reiterated that if negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program fail, particularly regarding uranium enrichment, the U.S. may launch military strikes. Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh warned on Wednesday that Iran would retaliate against U.S. bases in the region if talks collapse and conflict ensues. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to meet Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Amman on Sunday to discuss Iran’s response to a proposed U.S. agreement. Separately, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 3.6 million barrel drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, to 432.4 million barrels, surpassing analysts’ expectations of a 2 million barrel decline.

Oil settles lower as traders gauge Middle East tensions (Reuters) - Oil prices settled slightly lower on Thursday as traders booked profits from a 4% rally in the prior session, driven by concerns that worsening tensions in the Middle East could cause supply disruptions. Brent crude futures settled down 41 cents, or 0.6%, at $69.36 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 11 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $67.97 a barrel. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said an Israeli strike on Iran "could very well happen," but added that he would not call it imminent and prefers to avoid conflict. The U.S. had earlier decided to move personnel out of the Middle East, sending both crude oil benchmarks up more than 4% to their highest since early April on Wednesday. The surge put the market in overbought territory based on several technical indicators, so it was likely due for a brief correction, StoneX Energy analyst Alex Hodes said. U.S. and Iranian officials were scheduled to hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran's uranium enrichment programme in Oman on Sunday, according to officials from both countries and their Omani mediators. Trump has repeatedly threatened strikes against Iran if the nuclear talks fail to reach an agreement. Tehran, which asserts its nuclear activity is for peaceful purposes, has said it would retaliate against strikes by hitting U.S. bases in the region. Rising tensions in the region have oil traders worried about possible supply disruptions. Britain's maritime agency warned on Wednesday that increased tensions in the Middle East may escalate military activity and impact shipping in critical waterways. "For the oil market, the absolute nightmare is a closure of the Strait of Hormuz," "If Iran blocks this narrow chokepoint, it could affect up to 20% of global oil flows," he added. JPMorgan said oil prices could surge to $120-$130 a barrel if the Strait of Hormuz were to be shut, a scenario the bank considered to be severe but a low risk. Still, oil traders were growing cautious. "We are still higher than two days ago as some short investors prefer to stay on the sidelines amid the uncertainty," said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff plans to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Sunday to discuss Iran's response to a U.S. proposal for a deal. The U.N. nuclear watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations on Thursday for the first time in almost 20 years, raising the prospect of reporting it to the U.N. Security Council.

The Oil Market Erased Its Sharp Gains Following a Geopolitical Risk Fueled Rally - The oil market erased its sharp gains on Thursday following a geopolitical risk fueled rally on Wednesday. The crude market gapped higher on the opening from $68.37 to $69.03 and quickly posted a high of $69.29 following the U.S. decision to move personnel from the Middle East ahead of talks with Iran over the country’s nuclear program. The market was well supported amid the news of a potential military strike against Iran by Israel. However, the oil market backfilled its opening gap and retraced more than 50% of its move from Wednesday’s low of $64.60 to its high of $69.29 as it posted a low of $66.72 early on Thursday morning. The market later retraced some of its losses and traded back towards the $68.50 level, where it held resistance during the remainder of the session. The July WTI contract settled down 11 cents at $68.04 and the August Brent contract settled down 41 cents at $69.36. The product markets also ended the session lower, with the heating oil market settling down 1.66 cents at $2.1887 and the RB market settling down 2.39 cents at $2.1429. The Omani Foreign Minister said the sixth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks will be held on Sunday in Muscat, after U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. On Wednesday, President Trump said U.S. personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because “it could be a dangerous place”. Reuters reported that the U.S. was preparing an evacuation of its Iraqi embassy and would allow military dependents to leave locations around the Middle East due to heightened security risks in the region. U.S. and Iraqi sources did not say what security risks had prompted the decision. A U.S. official said the State Department had authorized voluntary departures from Bahrain and Kuwait. On Wednesday evening, the State Department updated its worldwide travel advisory to reflect the latest U.S. posture. On Thursday, a senior Iraqi official overseeing operations in southern oilfields, said foreign energy companies were continuing their operations as usual. U.S. President Donald Trump said that an Israeli strike on Iran “could very well happen” but he would not call it imminent and that he would prefer to avoid conflict with Tehran and reach a peaceful solution over its nuclear program. A senior Iranian official said Iran will not abandon its right to uranium enrichment because of mounting frictions in the region, adding that a “friendly” regional country had alerted Tehran over a potential military strike by Israel. The official said the tensions were intended to “influence Tehran to change its position about its nuclear rights” during talks with the United States on Sunday. He did not disclose the name of the regional country that warned Iran about the Israeli attack. Meanwhile, a senior Iranian security official said U.S. military dependents leaving the region does not constitute a threat, amid concerns that evacuation of non-essential personnel may be the preamble to regional escalation. During Sunday’s meeting in Oman’s capital, Iran is expected to share a counterproposal to a U.S. offer to bridge the gaps. Israel launched large scale strikes against Iran early Friday, saying it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders at the start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iran promised a harsh response.

J.P. Morgan predicts oil price on potential attack on Iran --An attack on Iran could send oil prices soaring to $120 a barrel, according to J.P. Morgan, and reignite US inflation pressures. As tensions escalate in the Middle East, the bank warned that a military strike on Iran would likely trigger a spike in crude prices and push US consumer inflation back toward 5%. “An attack on Iran could spike oil prices to $120, driving US CPI inflation to 5%,” J.P. Morgan analysts wrote. Such a scenario would directly undercut one of the top policy goals of the Trump administration. President Trump has repeatedly prioritized lowering energy prices as a key lever to contain inflation. A renewed oil shock would complicate that mission and could even force the Federal Reserve to reconsider its current stance on interest rates. Oil markets are already on edge. After falling sharply earlier this year, prices have started to rebound amid growing geopolitical risks. WTI crude is currently trading near $66.50, with downside looking increasingly limited as Middle East tensions flare. Brent crude has also climbed back toward $69 a barrel, its highest level since March 2025. The looming threat of military action is keeping traders on high alert and could drive further volatility in global energy markets. Adding to the bullish case for oil, optimism is growing around energy demand as US-China trade tensions appear to be easing. Any resolution in global trade disputes would likely improve the outlook for global growth, and in turn, boost demand for oil. For now, markets are caught between opposing forces. Recent weakness in crude prices has been driven by demand concerns, but the risk of a sudden supply shock is rising fast. Should Israel proceed with an attack on Iran, supply fears would likely dominate market sentiment , potentially sending oil prices sharply higher in a matter of days. With inflation still elevated and the Federal Reserve watching oil markets closely, a surge toward $120 would dramatically alter the policy landscape and could force central banks to reassess their path forward.

Oil Prices Surge 8.8% After Israel’s Attack on Iran -Oil prices spiked on Friday, June 13, by 8.8% after Israel launched strikes on Iran, escalating tensions in the Middle East and raising concerns over potential oil supply disruptions. Oil prices hit their highest point since January, according to data from Bloomberg Terminal at 1:42 p.m. Kyiv time. Brent crude futures jumped more than 8%, rising to $75.21 per barrel, the data showed. Brent price was at the same level in January this year. US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged to $73.91. The jump marked the biggest single-day move for both benchmarks since the beginning of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to the data from Bloomberg Terminal. However, there’s still room for a price increase. Brent crude futures reached $83 per barrel in June 2022, five months after Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. WTI futures reached $78.48 back then, according to Bloomberg Terminal. On Friday, Israel’s strike damaged parts of Iran’s nuclear facility in Natanz. According to Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, radioactive or chemical contamination has been reported outside the site, Reuters wrote.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also confirmed on platform X the Israeli strike on the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. “The Agency is in contact with Iranian authorities regarding radiation levels. We are also in contact with our inspectors in the country”, the IAEA said. Israel said it hit Iranian nuclear facilities, missile sites, military leaders, and nuclear scientists. It described the attack as the start of a longer campaign to block Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed “harsh punishment.” He said the strike killed several military commanders.Oil analysts and traders are watching for Iran’s response, Reuters wrote. A key concern is whether Iran will retaliate only against Israel or widen the conflict. Traders in Singapore said the strike has not yet affected oil shipments. But they warned that closure of the Strait of Hormuz could change that. Around 20% of global oil flows through the strait – nearly 19 million barrels per day.However, shipping companies have already reacted to the attack. Two maritime security firms warned vessels to avoid waters near Israel, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Cyprus, and the Suez Canal, Bloomberg reported.They advised crews to run emergency drills, stay in contact with authorities, and change routes if connected to Israeli interests, due to the risk of Iranian retaliation.Prices might surge more if the attacks impact oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb strait, Bloomberg wrote. Barclays analyst Amarpreet Singh said oil markets are alarmed, but fundamentals remain unchanged. The price surge hasn’t reflected any drop in Iranian production so far, Reuters wrote. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the strike a “unilateral action” and said Washington was not involved. He urged Iran not to target US interests or personnel in the region.

Oil prices: Oil jumps more than 12% as Israel strikes Iran, rattling investors - Oil prices surged more than 12 percent Friday after Israel said it carried out strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites, fuelling fears of war in the crude-rich Middle East.West Texas Intermediate, the main US oil contract, soared 12.6 percent to $76.61 per barrel, while Brent North Sea crude jumped 12.2 percent at $77.77.Israel said early on Friday that it struck Iran, and Iranian media said explosions were heard in Tehran as tensions mounted over U.S. efforts to win Iran's agreement to halt production of material for an atomic bomb. "The Israeli attack on Iran has heightened the risk premium further," MST Marquee senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic said. "The conflict would need to escalate to the point of Iranian retaliation on oil infrastructure in the region before oil supply is actually materially impacted," he said, adding that Iran could hinder up to 20 million barrels per day of oil supply via attacks on infrastructure or limiting passage through the Strait of Hormuz in an extreme scenario. Israel's strikes on Iran are aimed at hurting its nuclear infrastructure, its ballistic missile factories and many of its military capabilities, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday called Israel's strikes against Iran a "unilateral action" and said Washington was not involved while also urging Tehran not to target U.S. interests or personnel in the region. "Iran has announced an emergency and is preparing to retaliate, which raises the risk of not just disruptions but of contagion in other neighbouring oil producing nations too," "Although Trump has shown reluctance to participate, U.S. involvement could further raise concerns."

Oil settles up 7% as Israel, Iran trade air strikes (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped on Friday and settled 7% higher as Israel and Iran traded air strikes, feeding investor worries that the combat could widely disrupt oil exports from the Middle East. Brent crude futures settled at $74.23 a barrel, up $4.87, or 7.02%, after earlier soaring over 13% to an intraday high of $78.50, the strongest level since January 27. Brent was 12.5% higher than a week ago. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $72.98 a barrel, up $4.94, or 7.62%. During the session, WTI jumped over 14% to its highest since January 21 at $77.62. WTI climbed 13% to its level a week ago. Both benchmarks had their largest intraday moves since 2022 when Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused a spike in energy prices. Israel said it had targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders on Friday at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iran has promised a harsh response. Shortly after trading ended on Friday, Iranian missiles hit buildings in Tel Aviv, Israel, according to multiple media reports. Explosions were also heard in southern Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to make a deal over its nuclear program to put an end to the "next already planned attacks." The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said oil refining and storage facilities had not been damaged and continued to operate. Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), currently produces around 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd), and exports over 2 million bpd of oil and fuel. Spare capacity among OPEC and its allies, including Russia, to pump more oil to offset any disruption is roughly equivalent to Iran's output, according to analysts and OPEC watchers. The latest developments have also stoked concerns about disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping passage. "Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran are wholly locked into one tiny passage for exports," said Rabobank in a note, regarding the Strait. About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait, or some 18 to 19 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, condensate and fuel. "Israeli action has so far avoided Iranian energy infrastructure, including Kharg Island, the terminal responsible for an estimated 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports," "This raises the possibility that any further escalation could follow an 'energy-for-energy' logic where an attack on one side’s oil infrastructure might invite a retaliatory strike on the other’s," Hoff said. Iran could pay a heavy price for blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, analysts said on Friday. "Iran's economy heavily relies on the free passage of goods and vessels through the seaway, as its oil exports are entirely sea-based. Finally, cutting off the Strait of Hormuz would be counterproductive to Iran's relationship with its sole oil customer, China, said analysts with JP Morgan. Money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to June 10, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday. The speculator group raise its combined futures and options position in New York and London by 15,157 contracts to 121,911 during the period. Baker Hughes said the number of U.S. oil and natural gas rigs fell for seventh week in a row with the total count down by 35 rigs or 6% below this time last year. The oil rig count fell by three to 439 this week, its lowest since October 2021, while gas rigs slipped by one to 113.

Iran Says It Obtained Trove of Israeli Nuclear Documents - Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib said on Sunday (ie June 8) that Tehran had obtained a “treasure trove” of sensitive Israeli documents related to Israel’s secret nuclear weapons program and its relations with the US and Europe.“The transfer of this treasure trove was time-consuming and required security measures. Naturally, the transfer methods will remain confidential, but the documents should be unveiled soon,” Khatib said.The intelligence minister was responding to a question about a Saturday report from Iranian media that first alleged Iran had obtained a significant number of Israeli documents. So far, there’s been no official response from Israel about the Iranian claims. Khatib said that members of Iranian intelligence had “achieved an important treasury of strategic, operational and scientific intelligence of the Zionist regime and it was transferred into the country with God’s help.”The claim from Iran comes as Tehran’s nuclear program is under intense scrutiny from Israel and the West despite a recent US intelligence report that said there’s no evidence Iran is working toward a bomb. In contrast, Israel’s nuclear program gets virtually no attention, even though it’s an open secret that Israel has a stockpile of nuclear weapons, and the program operates with no oversight.Israel is estimated to have somewhere between 90 and 300 warheads. Neither Israel nor the US acknowledges the existence of the arsenal, and Israel is under no pressure to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty and bring its nuclear program under the oversight of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Israel Strikes Iran's Nuclear Program, Killing Top Military Officials: Live Updates - Israel launched a stunning series of strikes Friday morning on Iranian nuclear sites and killed several of the nation’s security chiefs, in a remarkable coup of intelligence and military force that decapitated Tehran’s chain of command. President Trump warned that further attacks would be “even more brutal” and redoubled pressure on Iran to reach a new deal to curb its nuclear program. The Israeli military said that its strikes were continuing on Friday afternoon, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the assault as a last resort to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, which Israel views as an existential threat. The attacks also killed top Iranian officials and nuclear scientists and hit Tehran’s long-range missile facilities and aerial defenses. For years, Israel fought Iran’s proxy forces across the Middle East and more recently it has exchanged previous volleys of strikes with Iran. Yet Friday’s strikes were the first time it successfully hit Tehran’s nuclear facilities, including Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz, which a military spokesman said had suffered “significant damage.” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that Israel “should anticipate a harsh punishment.” Later on Friday morning, the Israeli military announced that Iranian forces had fired about 100 drones at Israel, as Mr. Netanyahu vowed the fighting would last “as many days as it takes.” The Israeli military said it was working to intercept the Iranian attack, and there were no immediate indications of significant damage caused by the drones. Mohammad Bagheri, the commander in chief of the military and the second-highest commander after the supreme leader, was killed, according to the Israeli military and Iranian media, as well as other top security officials. Ali Shamkhani, a leading politician who was overseeing the nuclear talks with the United States, was also killed, officials said. Mr. Khamenei moved quickly to appoint replacements, aiming to avoid the appearance of a leadership vacuum. In targeting the Natanz nuclear site, Israel struck at the beating heart of the Iranian nuclear program. The Israeli military said it had “caused significant damage” at Natanz and hit an underground compound housing centrifuges. Rafael Grossi, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that there were no indications of attacks at two other major Iranian nuclear sites, the deep-underground uranium enrichment center at Fordow or the Isfahan nuclear fuel site. Residents of Tehran, the Iranian capital, reported hearing huge explosions, and Iranian state television broadcast images of smoke and fire billowing from buildings. Long lines were forming at gas stations and grocery stores. The Iranian government said that a number of civilians had been killed, including children, and dozens injured. Footage shared by Iranian news agency WANA showed crowds of student-led protesters rallying in Tehran on Friday, calling for retaliation for the Israeli strikes on Iran. Israel’s wide-ranging strike against Iran on Friday was years in the making, the result of extensive intelligence gathering on the country’s nuclear sites as well as on top military officials and scientists, according to three Israeli officials with knowledge of the operations. To pull it off, Israel, in part, would have needed detailed information about the whereabouts and the movements of the officials and scientists, at least four of whom were at the upper levels of the military command. It was a joint effort between Israeli military intelligence and the Mossad, code named “With the Strength of a Lion,” one of the officials said. In the attack on Friday, Israel targeted nuclear sites in Iran along with air defense as well as missile systems and storage facilities. The extent of the damage was unclear, but the Israeli military said it had struck Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz. Roughly 140 miles south of Tehran, Natanz is considered Iran’s main center for uranium enrichment, and it was a prime target of the Israeli strikes. The damage to it appeared to be severe. It is only partially underground and was recently reinforced. It contains a range of sophisticated centrifuges, including the most advanced models, for enriching uranium to high levels. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, says there are nearly 14,000 centrifuges at work there, with thousands more in place but inactive. Uranium enriched at low levels can be used as fuel for civilian uses, such as producing energy. Highly enriched uranium can be used to make nuclear weapons. Natanz has been targeted in the past, with a computer virus, Stuxnet, some 15 years ago, and with sabotage and explosions as recently as 2021. Iran has always in the past repaired the damage and increased the sophistication of its centrifuges. Rafael Grossi, the head of the I.A.E.A., confirmed on Friday that Natanz had been hit but said that no radiation leak had been detected so far. He condemned attacks on nuclear facilities in general, as he has done in Ukraine, as very dangerous. “Any military action that jeopardizes the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region and beyond,” Mr. Grossi told the agency’s board of governors in Vienna. Iran’s best-protected nuclear site, Fordow, near the city of Qom, is deep inside a mountain, estimated to be about half a mile below ground to protect it from bombing. Israel did not appear to have attacked it. To do so would require repeated use of huge “bunker buster” bombs, and most experts think that cannot be done by Israel alone, without American help. President Trump, in his first public comments on the Israeli strike against Iran, said that Tehran had brought the destruction on itself by failing to accept an offer that he and his envoy Steve Witkoff had put on the table about two weeks ago in nuclear talks. The proposal would have eventually forced Iran to give up all uranium enrichment. “I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal,” he wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform, on Friday morning. “I told them, in the strongest of words, to ‘just do it,’ but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done.” The negotiations had lasted only two months, and in recent weeks Mr. Trump had told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to hold off on any attack in order to let diplomacy play out. On Thursday afternoon, as Israel’s final attack preparations were underway, Mr. Trump told reporters, “I don’t want them going in” because “I think it would blow it” with the talks. In his post, Mr. Trump suggested that some Iranian leaders who were opposed to a deal had been targeted in the Israeli attack, which killed several top Iranian military officials and at least two prominent nuclear scientists. “Certain Iranian hardliner’s spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!” Mr. Trump wrote.

IRGC commander, 2 nuclear scientists killed in Israeli strikes: Iran state TV | Arab News - Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei confirmed on Friday that several military commanders and scientists were “martyred” in Israeli strikes on Tehran. In a statement carried on state television, Khamenei warned that Israel will not go unpunished for its attacks. State television earlier said that Hossein Salami, the chief of the Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was among those killed, along with another top Guard official and two nuclear scientists. An anchor read a statement saying: “The news of assassination and martyrdom of Gen. Hossein Salami was confirmed.” The anchor did not elaborate. “The martyrdom of... Major General Gholam Ali Rashid is confirmed,” state television said. A major power center within Iran’s theocracy, with vast business interests and oversees the nation’s ballistic missile arsenal, the IRGC had been accused by Iran's neighbors of maintaining proxy militias such as the Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Al-Hashd al-Shaabi of Iraq. Iran’s Nournews also reported that Ali Shamkhani, a rear admiral who serves as adviser to Khamenei, was “critically injured.” State television and local media also reported the death of two scientists working on Iran's nuclear program. They were identified as Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi. Several children were also reportedly killed in a strike on a residential area in the capital. Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions including at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, while Israel declared a state of emergency in anticipation of retaliatory missile and drone strikes. In a recorded video message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel targeted Iranian scientists working on a nuclear bomb, its ballistic missile program and its Natanz uranium enrichment facility, in an operation that he said would continue "for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.” “We are at a decisive moment in Israel’s history,” Netanyahu said, adding that the targeted military operation was meant to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival. An Israeli military official said Israel was striking “dozens” of nuclear and military targets including the facility at Natanz in central Iran. The official said Iran had enough material to make 15 nuclear bombs within days. Alongside extensive air strikes, Israel’s Mossad spy agency led a series of covert sabotage operations inside Iran, Axios reported, citing a senior Israeli official. These operations were aimed at damaging Iran’s strategic missile sites and its air defense capabilities. Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed until further notice, and Israel’s air defense units stood at high alert for possible retaliatory strikes from Iran. “Following the pre-emptive strike by the State of Israel against Iran, a missile and UAV (drone) attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate time frame,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

What do we know about Israel's strikes on Iran and what might happen next? - Israel has launched strikes on dozens of targets in Iran, killing members of the country's elite paramilitary unit and nuclear scientists. It comes after days of tit-for-tat between the two countries over what Israel claims are plans by Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Israel attacks Iran live updates: Tehran vows to retaliate over strikes on nuclear and military targets Israel has confirmed it targeted military and nuclear sites in Iran's capital, Tehran, and vowed to continue action "for as many days as it takes to remove this threat". In the hours since, Iraq said more than 100 Iranian drones had crossed its airspace, with Jordan also confirming its air force had intercepted several missiles and drones. In a letter to the United Nations, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described Israel's attack as a "declaration of war" and "called on the Security Council to immediately address this issue". Iranian state media confirmed top military leaders Hossein Salami and Mohammad Bagheri were among those killed in the strikes. It says children were also killed in residential areas across the capital. The escalation has prompted concerns from world leaders that already inflamed tensions could devolve into a broader conflict in the Middle East. The Israel Defence Force issued a statement late on Thursday, local time (Friday morning AEST) saying it had struck "dozens of military targets" related to Iran's nuclear program. Tehran is about 1,560km east of Israel's capital, Jerusalem. The two countries do not share a border and are separated by the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Iran's nuclear program is spread across the country, including at several underground sites. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the Natanz complex, south of Tehran, was one of the sites targeted in Israel's strikes. The International Atomic Energy Agency later confirmed Natanz had been struck. It houses facilities including two enrichment plants — one underground and one above. According to the Associated Press, insiders describe the underground facility as being about three floors below ground. The facility has been targeted in the past, including an explosion and power cut in April 2021. Iranian media is also reporting a strike hit military sites in Tabriz, in the country's north-west. Footage from Iranian state television showed smoke billowing out of the Natanz facility after the strikes, and the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards ablaze in Tehran. Video broadcast on Iranian news channels and social media in the minutes and hours after the strikes appeared to show residential buildings in Tehran had also been hit.

Israel comes under heavy fire from Iran - Israel is coming under a heavy bombardment Friday from Iran after the massive attacks overnight on Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. Dozens of ballistic missiles have been fired on Tel Aviv, Israeli officials said Friday amid Iran’s counterattack.Explosions could be heard throughout Tel Aviv. There have been at least seven hits on the ground in the city, a source told The Hill’s sister network NewsNation.Millions of Israelis rushed into bomb shelters as missiles targeted multiple cities. “We will take every measure necessary to protect the people of Israel,” Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs said Friday on social platform X.A US official confirmed the US is assisting in shooting down Iranian missiles targeting Israel.The retaliatory strikes come hours after the Israeli military took out Tehran’s top military leaders and targeted key nuclear facilities in a surprise strike Thursday.The U.S. was not involved in the strike and has distanced itself from Israel’s decision, while offering support for Jerusalem.Nuclear talks aimed at curtailing Iran’s ambitions were scheduled for this weekend, but Iran said it was withdrawing given the Israeli attack.The attacks seem aimed at making sure Iran does not have the capability to hit Israel with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, though it is unclear if that objective has been met despite the notable successes of the mission.Israel has killed key figures in Iran’s political and military establishment as well as nuclear scientists. Some of the strikes came from within Iran.

The Ayatollah’s survival was no accident — it was Israel’s choice, and a wise one Israel just executed the most far-reaching decapitation strike in the history of Iran. Within hours, targeted airstrikes had eliminated Iran’s top military planners — General Mohammad Bagheri, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and General Ali Rashid. Simultaneously, missile development facilities and key military coordination nodes were targeted, severing some of Iran’s communication links with proxy networks in Syria and Iraq. And yet the man at the apex of the system, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was not targeted. To some observers, this omission may seem inexplicable. But martyring Khamenei would have produced explosive consequences far beyond the battlefield. Under Iran’s constitution, the death of the Supreme Leader triggers an emergency succession process managed by the Assembly of Experts. Since the March 2024 elections, this body has been dominated by clerics aligned with the hardline factions. Their candidate would likely be Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader’s son and behind-the-scenes enforcer. But Mojtaba faces a problem: He lacks the religious credentials necessary for the role. He has never issued a formal legal opinion, never taught in the traditional seminaries of Qom or Najaf and has never been accepted as a senior clerical authority. In Shi’a Islam, legitimacy must be earned through decades of scholarship and peer recognition — it is not inherited as with a monarchy. Had Israel killed Khamenei, this would likely have fast-tracked and legitimized Mojtaba’s rise. Absent that, it would be very controversial. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Iraq, for example, has long rejected Iran’s system of having a cleric as a political ruler. As long as the Ayatollah lives to a ripe old age, Mojtaba is both too illegitimate to unify the system and too protected to be sidelined. Thus, he may stall Iran’s succession process into a doctrinal stalemate — one that Israel has now made more likely by weakening his military protectors while leaving his father alive. Shi’a political theology is structured around martyrdom. The Seventh Century deaths of Ali and Hussein form the religious foundation of resistance and sacrifice. Had Khamenei been killed by an Israeli missile, it would not have been processed politically but mythologically. His death would have been viewed as a reenactment of the Karbala tragedy. That would have sanctified his son, unified Iran’s factions, and legitimized violent escalation from Iran’s regional proxies.

Asian Leaders Condemn Israeli Strikes on Iran - Top officials from countries across Asia have denounced Israel’s attack on Iran – among them Russia, China, Japan, Iraq, Oman, and Saudi Arabia – with many slamming the assault as an act of aggression and a severe breach of international law.During a regular press briefing on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian warned that the Israeli strikes could have “grave consequences” for the region, adding that Beijing “opposes actions that violate Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” as well as “moves that escalate tensions and enlarge conflicts.”Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli attack in even harsher terms, deeming it a “violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law.”“Unprovoked military strikes against a sovereign UN member state, its citizens, sleeping peaceful cities, [and] nuclear energy infrastructure facilities are categorically unacceptable. The international community cannot afford to be indifferent to such atrocities that destroy peace and damage regional and international security,” the ministry said in a statement.Moscow went on to accuse Western powers of stoking “anti-Iranian hysteria” within the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, and said Tel Aviv’s actions were “particularly cynical” given recent nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.Iranian and American delegations were set to meet again in Oman on Sunday to continue those negotiations, but the talks appear to have been postponed indefinitely, according to Iranian and Omani state media.Oman’s top diplomat also slammed the Israeli strikes as “illegal, unjustifiable and a grave threat to regional stability,” urging other nations to “reject Israeli aggression and support de-escalation.”Saudi Arabia, a longtime rival of Tehran, said much the same early on Friday morning, voicing “strong condemnation” of “blatant Israeli aggressions against the brotherly Islamic Republic of Iran.”Riyadh’s neighbor to the north, Iraq, later filed a complaint with the United Nations and accused Israel of violating Iraqi airspace during the strikes. Baghdad called on the Security Council to “uphold its legal and moral responsibilities” and “use its authority to deter the Israeli entity from repeating such violations.”Beyond the Middle East, the Japanese government “strongly” condemned the Israeli air raids as “totally intolerable,” while South Korea expressed similar concerns.

Netanyahu: Israeli Jets Will Hit Every Target, Every Site in Tehran - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tel Aviv will bomb “every target of the ayatollah regime,” The Jerusalem Post reports. The Israeli leader vowed Israeli Air Force jets will be seen over the skies of the Iranian capital, Tehran. According to Al Jazeera, Iranian state TV reports “heavy and destructive” retaliatory attacks on Israel will occur within hours.In the same statement, Netanyahu boasted that, since the launch of his aggressive war and surprise attack against the Islamic Republic, his forces have caused “real damage” to the Iranian nuclear energy program. “In the very near future, you will see Israeli Air Force warplanes above the skies of Tehran,” Netanyahu threatened. He emphasized “we will strike every site and every target of the ayatollah regime.”The Israeli leader described the “two-pronged threat to Israel,” which his war is intended to eliminate, as Tehran’s “ballistic missiles and [their] nuclear program.” Moreover, Netanyahu attempted to rebuke Iranian claims that the damage sustained so far to parts of their nuclear energy program was limited. “Iran’s nuclear teams were racing to build nuclear warheads. I heard there were those who claim we had no accomplishments in this regard, that is wrong,” Netanyahu stated. On Friday, Behrouz Kamalvandi, an Iranian Atomic Energy Organization spokesman, said “the damage was limited to areas that did not cause any urban damage in the case of Fordo… In Isfahan, there were also attacks on several points, which were related to warehouses that caught fire.” Kamalvandi added, “the damage was not extensive and there is no cause for concern in terms of contamination.”Whereas, Netanyahu proclaimed that there have been several strikes which caused “real damage to the [nuclear] program,” adding his attacks have killed top nuclear scientists. Israel’s multi faceted assault has targeted residential areas, nuclear facilities, and military sites, reportedly killing at least 80 people including 20 children. Hundreds more have been wounded. Top military figures, diplomats, and nuclear scientists have been reported among the slain.During the last 24 hours, Iran has been targeting Israel in retaliation with successive waves of drones and ballistic missiles. The extent of the damage done in Israel is less clear, explosions have been heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Israel claims three people have been killed and nearly 200 more have been injured. US officials have told the media that Washington is assisting Tel Aviv in its efforts to shoot down incoming missiles amidst the Islamic Republic’s counter attacks.President Donald Trump participated with Israel in an elaborate deception operation, insisting that Washington was still seeking a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue with Iran earlier this week as preparations for the war were being finalized. Trump has threatened that the “slaughter” in Iran will continue unless Tehran returns to the negotiation table and surrenders to his maximalist demands. He is publicly characterizing the Israeli strikes as “excellent.”

We Are, Of Course, Being Lied To About Iran - Caitlin Johnstone - The western political/media class have been dutifully promoting this line and uncritically parroting Israel’s claim that its unprovoked attack on Iran was “preemptive”, but there is absolutely no evidence that any of this is true.bBenjamin Netanyahu has spent literally decades falsely claiming that Iran was a year or two away from developing a nuke, only to have the calendar prove him wrong with the passage of time over and over again. US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard testified just weeks ago that “The IC [Intelligence Community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.” As journalist Séamus Malekafzali recently noted on Twitter, one of the strongest arguments that Iran had not reversed its decision to refrain from obtaining nuclear weapons is that Iranian nuclear scientists have been publicly expressing frustration about the fact that their government won’t allow them to construct a nuke. They want to do it, but Tehran won’t let them.US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth helped pave the way for Netanyahu’s claims this past Wednesday when he told the Senate that “there have been plenty of indications” Iran has been “moving their way toward something that would look a lot like a nuclear weapon.”This claim by Hegseth was swiftly scooped up and promoted by warmongers like Tom Cotton who said that Hegseth had “confirmed that Iran’s terrorist regime is actively working towards a nuclear weapon.”Cotton’s claim was then picked up by war pundit Mark Levin, who has beenpersonally lobbying Trump to green light an attack on Iran, sarcastically quipping on Twitter, “So, SecDef Hegseth must by lying, too. Everyone’s lying except the isolationists, Koch-heads, Islamists, Chatsworth Qatarlson and their media propagandists.”But let’s back up and look at what Hegseth actually said. He did not say “Iran is building a nuclear weapon.” He said “there have been plenty of indications” Iran has been “moving their way toward something that would look a lot like a nuclear weapon.”If the US had intelligence that Iran was building a nuke, Hegseth would have just said so. But instead he performed this freakish verbal gymnastics stunt muttering about indications of something that might kinda sorta look like a nuclear weapon, which his fellow Iran hawks then falsely took and ran with as a positive assertion that Iran was building a nuke.There are other lies being circulated to help market this war as well. As Moon of Alabama notes, the Washington Post’s odious war propagandist David Ignatius is pushing the narrative that Iran has been cultivating a relationship with de-facto al-Qaeda leader Saif al-Adel. The lie that Saddam Hussein was in league with al-Qaeda was used two decades ago to sell the invasion of Iraq. At the same time, Trumpian pundits are currently circulating the narrative that the United States is full of Iranian “sleeper cells” who could activate at any moment and begin attacking Americans. The most egregious of these is Laura Loomer’s repeated claims that there are “millions” of such cells awaiting Iran’s orders to strike — possibly the single most bat shit insane claim I have ever seen anyone with any major platform make, since it would mean a very sizable percentage of the US population is actually a secret Iranian proxy army. The fountain of lies is just getting started. There will be more. Believe nothing unless it is substantiated by mountains of evidence. These freaks have been caught lying to sell wars to the public far too many times for any of their claims to be taken on faith.

Houthis Fire Missile at Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Yemen - On Tuesday, Yemen’s Houthis announced a missile attack on Israel’s Ben Gurion airport following Israeli strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on the Red Sea.Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Yemeni forces fired two missiles and claimed that one struck the airport. But according to The Times of Israel, the Israeli military shot down one missile, causing it to break apart into multiple fragments, and the other missile didn’t reach Israeli territory.Yemeni missile attacks have been a near-daily occurrence in Israel as the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, have vowed the operations won’t stop until there’s a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli siege. “Let the criminal enemy expect from us more and more support and assistance for our people of truth and loyalty in Gaza, the pride, dignity, sacrifice, and redemption. We will continue to support and stand by thier side until the aggression against them stops and the siege is lifted,” Saree said in a statement on the attack.The missile attack came hours after Israeli warships launched strikes against Yemeni ports. Israel has conducted multiple rounds of airstrikes on Yemen, but the strikes marked the first time the Israeli Navy was involved in bombing the country. Recent US and Israeli airstrikes on Yemeni civilian infrastructure and new US sanctions on the Houthis, who govern an area where 70% to 80% of Yemenis live, have exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis in the country.

Israel Refused Lebanese Request to Inspect Alleged Hezbollah Site Before Thursday’s Attack - On Thursday evening, Israel issued an evacuation order for the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut, and after causing a panicked evacuation, itcarried out airstrikes hitting eight buildings. At the time, we had reports of Lebanese soldiers being deployed to inspect the buildings, which Israel claimed were the targets, before the attack was carried out. It wasn’t clear at the time what happened with those troops, though Israel alleged there was an underground Hezbollah drone factory under the residential neighborhood. The Lebanese Army is now detailing the situation, saying they never actually entered the buildings they wanted to inspect because Israel refused to hold off the strikes to let that happen. So the Lebanese troops who were sent to inspect were never actually in danger because they never entered the struck sites, but on the other hand, no inspection to verify Israeli allegations was ever allowed, and after the strike, presumably any evidence would have been destroyed. The ceasefire deal, initially signed in November, involves a mechanism whereby Israel is meant to report Hezbollah violations to the monitoring committee, headed by the US and France, and Israeli officials bragged that they retained the right to attack if the Lebanese Armed Forces didn’t address the matter they reported. The problem here is not only that it’s not clear they directly informed the committee of the putative drone factory, but that by all indications, the Lebanese military found out about it when the IDF issued an evacuation notice, and then actively tried to address the matter, but was rebuffed by Israel, who attacked anyway.

Israeli Minister Calls for Israeli Control Over Syria and Lebanon - Unusually far-right even in the generally far-right Israeli cabinet, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu has sparked some new controversy today in a speech to an ultra-nationalist youth conference, where hecalled for Israel to have full control over both Syria and Lebanon, on top of annexing Gaza and the West Bank.Eliyahu asked the crowd “Do we want Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]? Do we want Syria? Do we want Lebanon? Do we want Gaza?” leading to thunderous cheers and him admonishing that the crowd needs to “shout it out.”The comments take on more relevance as Israel is already actively occupying parts of southern Lebanon and southwestern Syria, and the far-right is increasingly advocating for an expansion of that.Israeli Heritage Minister Avichai Eliyahu | Image from WikimediaThe conference was by the youth organization of the Ribonutorganization, which advocates the extension of “sovereignty” over the West Bank and argues that it is immoral to even contemplate a two-state solution. They have called the Gaza War as an “opportunity” for their goals, though they did not previously go so far as to advocate taking Syria and Lebanon as well.Minister Eliyahu, the grandson of a former Sephardi Chief Rabbi, has made the news several times lately. Last month he said in an interview that he sees no problem with Israel bombing food supplies in the Gaza Strip because “they need to starve.”That statement didn’t lead to any repercussions politically for Eliyahu, and there hasn’t been any suggestion today’s comments will be any different.

Israeli Forces Kill 106 More Palestinians in Gaza, Including Aid Seekers - Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that Israeli attacks killed at least 106 Palestinians and wounded 393 as Israeli forces continue to pound the Strip with airstrikes and shoot desperate Palestinians seeking aid. The Health Ministry said that at least five Palestinians were killed and 123 were injured while seeking aid at distribution points run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). According to The Cradle, at least one Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire at a distribution site at the Netzarim Corridor, which separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip. Four were reported killed when Israeli tanks, gunboats, and snipers opened fire near a site in the southern city of Rafah. Other reports said the death toll in Rafah rose to 13. According to Reuters, the Israeli military acknowledged that it opened fire on Palestinians near the site in Rafah, claiming its forces “had directed warning shots at a group that was moving towards soldiers and deemed a threat to them.” The Health Ministry said that the total number of Palestinians killed en route to aid sites since the GHF began operating has reached 115, and another 1,100 have been injured. Heavy Israeli airstrikes and shelling were also reported across Gaza. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, at least 31 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes, mainly in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, and in Gaza City and Jabalia in the north.Also on Sunday, the Israeli military claimed that it had found and identified the body of Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, who it alleges was killed in a May 13 bombing outside the European Hospital in Khan Younis. Israel alleged that tunnels were underneath the facility, which Hamas has previously denied. Sinwar took over as Hamas’s leader following the killing of his brother, Yahya Sinwar, in October 2024.

Food used as weapon of war in US-Israeli militarization of aid in Gaza - Gaza is now described by the United Nations as the “hungriest place on Earth,” with its entire population of 2.2 million at risk of famine due to Israel’s ongoing military campaign and systematic use of starvation tactics. The UN’s humanitarian mission to Gaza is considered “the most obstructed in recent history,” with aid convoys blocked or restricted at crossings. Jens Laerke of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated, The aid operation we have prepared is constrained by an operational straitjacket, rendering it one of the most obstructed relief efforts, not just globally today, but in recent times. On the ground, Palestinians describe a life of relentless hunger and deprivation. One resident told Al Jazeera, “I [have] no flour, no oil, no sugar, [no] food. [I] collect moldy bread… I want flour for my children. I want to eat. I’m hungry.” Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, noted that the north, including Gaza City itself, has received no aid in recent days, while those in central and southern areas like Khan Younis and Rafah struggle daily to secure even basic staples such as flour. Aid distribution has become one more means for the slaughter of Palestinians by Israel. Save the Children reports that dozens have been killed and injured by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at militarized aid sites, where desperate civilians are directed to collect insufficient food parcels, only to be fired upon. Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children’s regional director, condemned the situation: This is aid to which people are legally entitled—aid that has been systematically denied. This is a blatant and shocking disregard of international humanitarian law. The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is now the main channel for aid into Gaza. The US State Department is considering a $500 million contribution, which would make it the largest donor and thereby effectively “own” the operation. The GHF claims to deliver food and medicine to hundreds of thousands, but its model is widely recognized as deepening the crisis. Humanitarian groups and UN agencies say that the GHF’s approach violates basic humanitarian principles of independence, neutrality and impartiality, and that it is designed to serve Israeli and US interests in the displacement of Gaza’s civilian population. The World Food Program (WFP) stated, The GHF operation is a violation of humanitarian principles… WFP and its partners must also be allowed to distribute food parcels directly to families—the most effective way to prevent widespread starvation. Instead, the GHF has replaced hundreds of local distribution points with a handful of “secure sites,” forcing Palestinians to cross dangerous terrain and pass through biometric checkpoints just to receive basic rations. These hubs provide only dry goods, with little regard for the lack of clean water or fuel for cooking. The result is a crude dumping of commodities, not a genuine relief effort.

UNGA Condemns Israel’s Weaponization of Starvation | Massacre in Deir al-Balah - Day 615 - The United Nations General Assembly approved a Spanish-drafted resolution on Gaza condemning the use of starvation as a weapon and the unlawful denial of humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, several Palestinians were killed and wounded when Israeli occupation aircraft shelled a group of civilians east of the Mills area, south of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed 55,207 and injured 127,891 others, the majority of whom are women and children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Diplomats told Reuters that the UN Security Council will hold a meeting today, Friday, to discuss the recent Israeli strikes on Iran, amid escalating regional tensions and the repercussions of the attack on Tehran.

After Denying Massacring Civilians Seeking Aid, Israel Routinely Massacres Civilians Seeking Aid - Caitlin Johnstone - At the beginning of this month, Israel and its apologists ferociously denied claims that IDF troops had fired upon civilians seeking aid at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site, killing 31 people.

• On the second of June, Israeli forces again opened fire on civilians seeking aid in Gaza, killing three people and injuring more than 30.
• On June 3, Israeli forces again opened fire on civilians seeking aid, reportedly killing at least 27 people.
• The US/Israeli-backed GHF temporarily suspended operations after this spate of mass shootings.
• On June 8, Israeli forces again fired upon civilians seeking aid at two separate distribution points in Gaza, killing twelve.
• On June 9, Israel and Israeli-backed forces opened fire on a crowd at an aid site in Gaza, killing 14.
• And on June 10, at least 36 people were reported killed and 208 wounded when Israeli forces again fired on crowds seeking aid in Gaza.

Since May 27, some 160 people have reportedly been killed in massacres at these GHF sites, which people in Gaza are reportedly beginning to refer to as a “death trap”.Think about how desperate and starving you’d have to be before you’d go seek food from people who you know will probably start spraying the crowd with bullets at some point. This really gives you an idea of how badly the people of Gaza have been suffering.But, again, at the beginning of the month, Israel and its spinmeisters were crying antisemitic blood libel at the very suggestion that IDF troops would fire upon people trying to obtain food.The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a deceitful video clip which it falsely claimed showed Hamas members, not the IDF, firing on the crowd.Netanyahu advisor Caroline Glick and Israel’s “Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism” Amichai Chikli both called the reporting on the June 1 massacre a “blood libel”.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt falsely accused the BBC ofpeddling Hamas propaganda for reporting on the June 1 massacre. The Jerusalem Post published an article titled “Media blood libel over alleged Gaza aid shooting will have far-reaching repercussions.” Israel’s official Twitter account called the reporting “Hamas propaganda”. The Washington Post bowed to pressure and retracted its article on the June 1 massacre, saying it didn’t “give proper weight to Israel’s denial and gave improper certitude about what was known about any Israeli role in the shootings.”Then, a few days later, CNN published a report based on extensive video analysis and eyewitness interviews which found that all evidence, contrary to Israel’s claims, “points to the Israeli military opening fire on crowds of Palestinians as they tried to make their way to the fenced enclosure to get food.”Even without the CNN report, Israel’s own actions since June 1 have proved that Israeli forces do indeed deliberately fire upon starving civilians seeking humanitarian aid. Israel lied. Again.Which should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to Israel’s mass atrocities in Gaza. This is after all the same genocidal state whichindignantly objected to claims that it would ever bomb a medical facility after an explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in October 2023, only to bomb that exact same hospital many times thereafter while deliberately destroying Gaza’s entire healthcare infrastructure.

Israeli Forces Slaughter 120 Palestinians in Gaza, Including Dozens Near Aid Site - Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli forces slaughtered 120 Palestinians and injured 474 over the previous 24-hour period as IDF troops continued to shoot aid seekers and Israeli strikes continued to pound targets across the Strip. The Health Ministry said that a total of 57 Palestinian aid seekers were killed on Wednesday morning, and 363 were injured. Massacres of Palestinians on their way to US and Israeli-backed aid distribution sites have become a daily occurrence in Gaza. Medical officials at two hospitals in Gaza City told Reuters that 25 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops while they were attempting to travel to an aid site near the Netzarim Corridor, which separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip. The Israeli military acknowledged it opened fire at a crowd in the area,claiming that it fired “warning shots.” Medical officials at the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza also told Reuters that at least 14 Palestinians were killed while approaching an aid site in Rafah.The Health Ministry said that since the US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operating at the end of May, 224 Palestinians seeking aid have been killed, and 1,858 have been wounded. Footage in recent days has shown desperate Palestinians overrunning the aid sites, which are run by American contractors, as supplies usually quickly run out.Despite the daily massacres near the aid site, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the operation has been a “dramatic success.”Gaza’s Health Ministry said that the latest violence has brought its death toll since October 7, 2023, to 55,104 and the number of wounded to 127,394. The figures are considered a significant undercount and don’t account for thousands missing and presumed dead under the rubble or indirect deaths caused by the Israeli siege.

Israeli Forces Kill 103 Palestinians in Gaza, Including 21 Aid Seekers - Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday that Israeli forces killed 103 Palestinians and wounded 427 over the previous 24-hour period as Israeli troops continued to shoot people seeking aid, and airstrikes and artillery pounded the Strip.Details about Israeli strikes, photos, and videos were not as widely available as usual on Thursday, as Palestinian authorities reported a total internet blackout due to an Israeli attack on the last remaining main fiber optic cable connecting Gaza. The UN said that the blackout had hampered its aid operations inside the besieged enclave.“Lifelines to emergency services, humanitarian coordination, and critical information for civilians have all been cut. There is a full internet blackout, and mobile networks are barely functioning,” said deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq.The Health Ministry said that 21 Palestinians were killed while seeking aid on Thursday morning, and another 294 were injured. Massacres of Palestinians seeking aid at distribution sites operated by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) have become a daily occurrence.Zeteo has published an account of an American contractor working at one of the sites in Gaza who harshly criticized the operation, saying it was “directly leading to more pain, suffering, and death for the Palestinians in Gaza.”The contractor said that Israeli “tanks fire all day long near these aid sites. Snipers fire from what used to be a hospital. Bombs and bullets fly all day long in one direction – toward Palestinians.”Most of the aid massacres typically happen early in the morning as desperate Palestinians try to reach the aid sites early before supplies run out. “We know the Israeli military has been enforcing curfews in some parts of Gaza,” the contractor said.“I would not be surprised if the aid was delivered at night deliberately, given it would then draw people out, at which point they could be fired on as combatants, even though they weren’t. It’s very clear that the Israeli military will take any opportunity available to fire,” the contractor added.

Israel Cuts Gaza's Internet Amid Soaring IDF Atrocities --- Caitlin Johnstone - The Palestinian Authority said on Thursday that internet and fixed-line services are down throughout the entire Gaza Strip following an Israeli attack on the last fiber-optic line in the enclave, AFP reports. Communications had already been cut off from northern Gaza the previous day.“The southern and central Gaza Strip have now joined Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip in experiencing complete isolation for the second consecutive day,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that Israeli forces are preventing repair teams from reaching the site of the attack.“Only people who have e-sims have access to the internet across Gaza,” Gaza journalist Hind Khoudary said on Twitter. “It takes you more than an hour to connect, and another hour to post. But why did Israel bomb the main internet fiber route? Why is Israel insisting on isolating Gaza from the world? So we are now deprived from food, water, electricity, and internet.”“Think of all the horrific images you’ve seen from Gaza. Now think of what worse carnage and murderous depravity Israel must be inflicting now to cut off the internet,” tweeted journalist Sam Husseini of the news.Indeed, this latest move comes amid a particularly egregious spike in mass atrocities from the Zionist entity. Israeli forces just killed 120 people in a single 24-hour period and injured hundreds more, with scores massacred while seeking food from Israel’s notorious “death trap” aid distribution sites. Israel has been massacring starving civilians desperately seeking aid on a near-daily basis in Gaza over the past two weeks. Israel is continually seeking out new ways to obstruct the world’s visibility into what’s happening with Gaza. That’s why they’ve been assassinating journalists who live in Gaza at a historically unprecedented rate while banning journalists outside Gaza from entering. It’s a nonstop war against visibility and truth, because Israel thrives on lies and darkness.It has driven the Israelis mad that their global support is being eroded by Palestinians recording their own genocide and broadcasting the footage to the world. If they think they can get away with keeping Gaza in the dark they absolutely will do so, while continuing to seek out further ways to hide the truth from the world.

UN General Assembly Overwhelmingly Votes in Favor of Immediate Gaza Ceasefire - On Thursday, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favorof a resolution that called for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli blockade on the besieged Palestinian territory.The resolution, drafted by Spain, also condemns the “use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare” and calls for Hamas to release the remaining Israeli captives.The resolution passed with a vote of 149-12 and 19 abstentions. The vote came about a week after the US used its veto power on the UN Security Council to block a Gaza ceasefire resolution.Ahead of the UN General Assembly vote, both the US and Israel argued against the resolution. Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said the line about Israel using starvation as a weapon of war was a “blood libel.”Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shay said the resolution was “one-sided” because it didn’t condemn Hamas and said it “sends an unacceptable message to Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorist proxies, and that message is, you will be rewarded for taking hostages, diverting aid, and launching attacks from civilian areas.”Shay provided the “no” vote at the UN Security Council last week to veto the Gaza ceasefire resolution. The Biden administration vetoed several Gaza-related resolutions at the Security Council, but Wednesday’s vote marked the first time the new Trump administration used its veto power to block a Gaza ceasefire resolution on behalf of Israel.