Theme: Oil

Brent fell US$ 8.94, or 8.6%, to US$ 94.66 per barrel on Wednesday, after touching its lowest level since September 4, with traders pricing an end to the war against Iran, according to OilPrice. WTI dropped US$ 8.01, or 8.3%, to US$ 88.08, while Brent traded near US$ 118 on Friday. Gulf exports of crude and products averaged 17.1 million barrels per day in October, down from 18.9 million in September, roughly three-quarters of the pre-war level, according to Vortexa. The US Department of Energy announced the loan of 300,000 barrels from the Northeast home heating oil reserve to four companies, nearly a third of the stockpile, and heating oil futures fell about 7%.

President Donald Trump said it is “largely true” that the war with Iran cost the Republicans the midterm elections, pointing to the short-term rise in gasoline prices, and said he would do it again because “you can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” in remarks cited by the ANI agency. The same day, Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that “the reason we lost is the war” and that voter anger over the conflict drove former Trump supporters to back Democrats. Trump also said the main reason was the price of fuel, with “tremendous oil” flowing out of the Strait of Hormuz at the moment. He said he was prepared to work with Democrats after their midterm gains, while warning that he would veto legislation he opposed, and dismissed the possibility of an impeachment effort, saying it would damage Democrats. He also said his personal popularity did not transfer to Republican candidates and that, if he had been on the ballot, Republicans would have won. “If I were on the ballot, we would have won... But you couldn't just transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies; it was incredible. We weren't able to transfer that love to the candidates,” he said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said that three oil tankers struck naval mines and caught fire while navigating “unauthorized” routes through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Tasnim news agency, which cited a statement from the force’s public relations office. According to the statement, the explosions occurred in the early hours of Tuesday and the ships, abandoned near the southern shores of the strait, remained engulfed in flames that illuminated the eastern section through the night. The Guard warned that ships disregarding the rules and cooperating with the US military to cross unauthorized routes could face similar incidents. On Monday, Iran’s Navy had already announced that an oil tanker had struck a mine and caught fire in an area described as prohibited and unsafe east of the strait.

Bloomberg reported plans by Abu Dhabi's state oil company, Adnoc, for a third pipeline from the western coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Fujairah that could supply Asian customers and bypass Hormuz. The existing pipeline, Habshan–Fujairah, has run since 2012 with a capacity of 1.5 million barrels a day, expandable to 1.8 million, and a second, the West-East pipeline, is expected to start operating in 2027. Adnoc told Bloomberg the report was not accurate and “purely speculative”.

The US Treasury on Wednesday sanctioned India-based Suniel Kumar Sharma, his wife Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, two other Indian citizens who head two of the couple’s businesses and nine entities connected to Sharma, a network that the department said provided false flags and certifications to sanctioned vessels carrying Iranian petroleum, including vessels operating on behalf of the Iranian military and its proxies. Treasury said the scheme operated from Chandigarh and purported to represent nations from nearly every continent, from Guyana to Eswatini and Laos. The department also sanctioned Turkey-based Fugo Group Services Inc for its ongoing support of Iran’s aviation sector. The measures are part of “Operation Economic Outcast,” which aims to cut off Iran’s ability to sell oil to fund the war.

Brent fell nearly 8% to $95.41 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate dropped 7% to $89.40, after President Donald Trump told the Financial Times on Tuesday that he has no immediate plans to strike Iran. Oil had risen more than 10% in October on fears of a possible escalation and has fallen over three consecutive sessions. The Energy Department said it would lend 300,000 barrels from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve to four companies, nearly a third of the stockpile, and US crude inventories fell 900,000 barrels to 409.8 million in the week ended October 30, 4% below the five-year average.

US President Donald Trump told Fox News that the economy is strong, but that the gasoline price, caused by Iran, kept voters from seeing it, and told The Wall Street Journal about the war with Iran: “I did the right thing. I would have done it again.” He denied responsibility for the Republican defeat in the midterm elections: “I wasn't on the ticket,” he told The New York Times, “and because I wasn't on the ticket, we couldn't get enough people out to vote.” The statement contradicts Vice President JD Vance, who attributed the defeat to the war and said the president himself had acknowledged it.

Iran’s Oil Ministry brought the private sector together on Tuesday to discuss winter gas supply, in a meeting with acting Oil Minister Hamid Bovard. Bovard said current conditions are not normal and that energy issues cannot be approached with the usual past perspective. The ministry says it is working around the clock to restore lost gas production capacity and return to the previous level as quickly as possible.

Wall Street opened higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq up 1 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.8 percent and the S&P 500 up 1.1 percent, on the heels of the Democratic sweep in the midterm elections. Brent was down 3.09 percent at $100.40 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 3.13 percent at $93.08. Traders were betting on a US-Iran deal to push crude lower.

Spanish energy firm Moeve, majority owned by Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala, said on Wednesday it had agreed to sell its Algerian oil assets to Indonesia’s state energy firm Pertamina. The deal includes Moeve’s minority stakes in the Rhourde el Khrouf, Bir el Msana and Ourhoud onshore oilfields in Algeria’s Berkine Basin. The company has also agreed to sell its minority stake in Algeria’s Timimoun onshore gas field, a person familiar with the matter said. The sale of its Algerian upstream assets will complete Moeve’s withdrawal from the exploration and production business.

Democrat Jon Rosenthal defeated Republican Bo French by 52.6% to 45.5% in the race for the Texas Railroad Commission, with 94% of the votes counted, according to the Associated Press (AP). A state representative who describes himself as a “drill-baby-drill Democrat,” Rosenthal is the first Democrat elected to the commission since Bob Krueger in 1990; no Democrat had served on the three-member commission since 1994. The commission regulates an industry that pumps more crude than every member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) except Saudi Arabia.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said four oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said two of the vessels were still burning and that two additional tankers were intercepted trying to use a prohibited southern route in the strait. BBC Verify investigated the claims and has not found any evidence that four tankers were destroyed. In a separate incident, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said a tanker was struck by two unknown projectiles about 14 nautical miles (26 km) northeast of Limah, in Oman’s Musandam peninsula, on Tuesday evening, with no casualties reported. The IRGC also said it had shot down another US MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, has been effectively closed since the start of the Iran war, because of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels and the US naval blockade.

Total oil and gas output at Nigeria's state company rose to 3.04 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in September, up from 3.01 million the previous month. Revenue came in at 3.4 billion dollars (4.608 trillion naira), in line with the months after March, when the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz crisis hiked international oil prices. The state company attributed the increase to the restart of the Obodo oilfield in mining license OML 150, and said output remains constrained by equipment failures, subsurface issues, flowline leaks, community protests and storage and export infrastructure constraints.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro that the bilateral relationship faces “malicious interference” by Filipino politicians and that Manila should be “cautious in words and deeds” on the South China Sea; Lazaro called the Tuesday-night call “frank and constructive,” with both sides defending diplomatic dialogue and managing differences on the basis of mutual respect, in a conversation that followed the Philippine defense secretary calling China a “troublemaker” and the Chinese ambassador in Manila replying that Beijing would not choose force — including, according to a Philippine official, a possible resumption of talks on joint oil and gas exploration in Reed Bank.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says that four oil tankers were destroyed after hitting naval sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with two still burning and two additional vessels seized for trying to use a prohibited southern route. Trump confirmed that the US struck Iran on Tuesday targeting an anti-aircraft facility, an attack US officials described as limited and defensive, in response to IRGC fire on a US aircraft; the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported projectiles in a tanker’s engine room off Limah, Oman, with no casualties, and the IRGC account could not be independently verified or linked to that incident.

Brent crude returned to trade at US$ 103.60 per barrel and WTI at US$ 95.98, according to OilPrice, after benchmarks fell to a four-week low on reports that Iran may be open to discussing previously non-negotiable issues. According to Vortexa data, combined exports of crude oil, condensates and fuels through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 17.1 million barrels per day in October, down from 18.9 million barrels per day in September. The consultancy Rystad Energy said it did not expect oil flows out of the Persian Gulf to return to normal any time soon, even if the United States and Iran reach an agreement to end the war.

The November contract of the Dubai benchmark traded at the start of this week at a discount of about $2 per barrel to the December contract, traders and brokers told Bloomberg — the first time the Dubai curve has slipped into contango since July. Contango, a structure in which contracts dated further out are worth more than prompt ones, indicates that concern about an immediate lack of crude has eased. Physical flows had been rising for two months, with Gulf producers accelerating ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman once tankers clear Hormuz. Rising Middle East supply has weakened both Dubai and Murban prices and increased buying from Asian refiners, especially in India, which preferred additional Middle Eastern cargoes to more expensive Russian barrels with higher freight costs.

A tanker was struck by two unidentified projectiles northeast of Lima, Oman, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which said in its first update that no casualties or environmental impact had been reported. India’s foreign ministry said an unidentified aerial object struck a commercial ship off Oman on Monday and killed an Indian national; 13 other people were rescued, according to the ministry. Over the eight months of the US and Israeli war on Iran, about two dozen seafarers have been killed in attacks on more than 120 commercial ships in Hormuz.

The Africa Energy Bank, a US$ 5 billion institution set up by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO), was established to finance oil and gas projects across Africa, according to OilPrice. Oil and gas investment in Africa fell from US$ 68 billion in 2016 to about US$ 37 billion in 2025. The Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) estimates that Africa needs US$ 200 billion in annual energy investment, and around 600 million people across the continent lack access to electricity. S&P Global says the bottleneck is turning investor appetite into bankable projects and that US$ 5 billion covers only a sliver of the gap.

Crude oil exports from Persian Gulf producers averaged nearly 12 million barrels per day in September and the first 20 days of October, below the pre-war level of approximately 18 million bpd, Rystad Energy estimated. The consultancy assesses that the security situation in and near the Strait of Hormuz has deteriorated even as flows recovered, with a higher number of attacks on tankers in recent weeks. In Rystad’s view, a comprehensive settlement between the United States (US) and Iran would require addressing Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions, Tehran-backed armed groups in the region and the security of maritime shipping, while also taking into account Israel’s security interests.

Brent plunged more than $6 a barrel on Tuesday morning, from $107.24 to $100.80, before recovering to around $104 shortly after 10 a.m. Eastern as traders reacted to a succession of conflicting reports about peace negotiations between the United States and Iran. The drop followed a 7.6% decline on Monday that left Brent at $104.77. Prices initially rose overnight after reports of US strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, near the Strait of Hormuz, before reversing sharply on Tuesday morning. Qatar confirmed that both sides were reviewing proposals and that no agreement has been announced.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that three oil tankers exploded and caught fire after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, after switching off their navigation and identification systems and taking an unauthorized route. According to the statement, the vessels were left along the southern shores of the strait and were still ablaze, and fishermen in the east saw a night lit by the flames.

Aramco posted net profit of 135.9 billion riyals (about 32.3 billion euros) in the third quarter, compared with around 101 billion riyals (24 billion euros) in the same period a year earlier, a result that included a 25.9 billion riyal gain from selling its stake in the PRefChem joint venture to Malaysia’s Petronas, while the Iranian-backed Houthis have regularly attacked Saudi tankers, pipelines, storage facilities and refineries since hostilities resumed in July. Adjusted net income stood at US$ 31.2 billion, up from US$ 28.6 billion a year earlier, above the median analyst estimate of US$ 30.66 billion; downstream posted adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of US$ 10.3 billion, up 234% in a year on stronger refining margins, and the board approved a base dividend of US$ 21.9 billion, up 3.5% in a year. Chief executive Amin Nasser said geopolitical uncertainty and attacks on energy facilities kept amplifying the global supply crisis in the quarter, with serious implications for energy security.

Oil bounced back following reports of US strikes on Iran, with Brent crude trading at $105.26 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $97.07 per barrel, after the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed US officials on the strikes.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Petroleum Producers' Organization (APPO) have formally launched the Africa Energy Bank, a financial institution focused on oil and gas projects across the continent, with authorized capital of US$5 billion. The bank will support projects across the energy value chain, from exploration and production to transportation, processing, refining and distribution, and has a mandate to reduce reliance on imported petroleum products and promote intra-African trade in energy goods. The new lender is private-sector-led, with majority ownership held by APPO and Afreximbank. Its inaugural general meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on October 31 appointed Helmy Ghazi as president and formed its first board of directors, with members from the public and private sectors and policy institutions.

The Brent fell 7.6% to close the day at $104.77 a barrel, while US crude dropped 7.3% to $96.46. On the European exchange, gas fell to nearly $1,100 per 1,000 cubic meters, the lowest level since October 29, amid news of peace talks between Iran and the United States, according to TASS.

A sanctioned Iranian tanker carrying about 500,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas slipped past the US naval blockade and delivered its cargo to China, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which says it filmed the ship at a Malaysian anchorage along the way. On October 8, the US Treasury Department sanctioned the tanker as one of 17 shadow-fleet vessels, saying the Comoros-flagged ship, owned by Marshall Islands-based Gravion Maritime Company, had transported more than 2 million barrels of Iranian propane and butane since September 2025.

Oil prices plunged nearly 7% on Monday after Washington and Tehran both signaled they would give diplomacy a chance. Brent traded at $105.60 per barrel, down $7.85, and WTI fell $7.20 to $96.92. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Supreme Leader had granted the government “certain authorities” over the peace talks and that Tehran “will try to resolve the problem with dialogue,” state media reported.

Ukraine has hit three Russian refineries since Friday. The Novokuibyshevsk refinery, owned by Rosneft, was targeted in a drone attack on Friday, the first Ukrainian strike on a Russian refinery since October 15; over the weekend, drones hit a Rosneft refinery in Bashkortostan and Lukoil's Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod.

Saudi Arabia's economy shrank 3.8% year on year in the third quarter, and oil activities fell 20.4% compared with the same period in 2025, according to the General Authority for Statistics, which released the figures on Sunday.

Negotiations to end the US-Iran war produced a draft deal: Iranian negotiators left Qatar on Sunday and a draft proposal began circulating for a possible follow-up meeting, according to a Reuters source cited by OilPrice. On Monday morning, Brent traded at $108.61 a barrel, down 4.25% on the day, and WTI fell 4.32% to $99.62.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said that 11 tankers violating passage rules in the Strait of Hormuz had caught fire since October 25, some of them sinking. In a post on X on Monday, the force counted the nine days since the visit of US Central Command (Centcom) commander Brad Cooper to the strait and said the tankers sank “to the depths of the sea”.

Oil prices fell more than 4% as hopes grew that US-Iran peace talks would ease supply disruptions in the Middle East. Brent dropped 4.5% to $118.3 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 4.37% to $99.57 at the time of the quote.

The chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Sultan Al Jaber, said that global reserves have shrunk by nearly 1 billion barrels because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Speaking in Abu Dhabi, he said diesel fuel reserves in some countries are at their lowest seasonal levels in 35 years and that other nations face a supply deficit of 600 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that the country was open to the possibility of reopening the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the United States met Iran's demands. According to AFP, the conditions include ending the Middle East war on all fronts, unfreezing Iranian assets abroad, lifting sanctions on its oil sector and ending the US naval blockade.

Iraq's oil exports through the Kurdistan Region's pipeline to Turkey doubled from 250,000 to 500,000 barrels a day, according to Baz Karim Barzanji, head of the Erbil-based energy company KAR Group, who wrote on X on Saturday. The crude shipped on the route is marketed by the state-run Somo. Oil Minister Basim al-Abadi said exports through all routes had risen above 3.4 million barrels a day since the start of October.

Crude oil prices started the week lower on renewed optimism about a possible peace deal between the United States (US) and Iran, following mediation talks involving Iran and Qatar over the weekend, OilPrice reports. At that time, Brent crude traded at US$109.82 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate at US$100.57 per barrel.

The spokesperson for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said two oil tankers exploded after hitting Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz, in a statement to the state media channel Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. According to the spokesperson, the vessels were traveling on 'an unauthorized route in the Strait' and were in violation of regulations.

A tanker sailing through the Gulf was hit by two unidentified projectiles on its port side, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency, cited by Middle East Eye. In parallel, Houthi media, citing an anonymous military official, repeated threats against Saudi oil giant Aramco and aviation in the kingdom, according to the Straits Times.

Oil-producing countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) agreed in principle to keep their December oil output targets steady at a meeting on Sunday, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in a text republished by The News Tribune. The Xinhua News Agency reported that OPEC+ would maintain oil output for the third consecutive month in December.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the war with Iran would end very soon, one way or the other — through a deal or further American action, according to Israel National News. “We’ve had such a victory and we’ll put it away very soon, one way or the other. Either they’ll make a deal or we’ll just end it,” he said. At a midterm campaign rally in Mobile, Alabama, on Friday, he said he expected the conflict to end “very soon” and oil prices to fall sharply once the war is over, according to Fox News.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said two oil tankers exploded after striking mines while traveling along an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters. Both vessels deliberately deactivated their navigation and identification systems to pass covertly through the restricted southern route, Mehr News reported.

A barrel of Brent crude settled at almost $118 on Friday, the highest since April, according to Reuters. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) kept December production targets steady on Sunday, confirming expectations that further policy adjustments are only expected next year, according to the agency.

The seven core members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) agreed in principle to keep production targets unchanged next month, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in an article published by Channel NewsAsia. Sunday’s online meeting of the group — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman — comes as Gulf members have been boosting exports disrupted for months by the conflict. Most, however, are still pumping well below their targets.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened within two days if Washington agrees to a set of conditions, including formal recognition of the new shipping route designated by Iran and Oman in the strait. In an interview with Al Jazeera, according to Middle East Eye, Araghchi also cited lifting the sanctions the United States imposed on Iran after the collapse of the Islamabad memorandum in July, reducing the US military presence in the region, reinstating the oil waivers granted in June as part of the memorandum and releasing frozen Iranian funds, including those held in Qatar.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz include lifting the sanctions imposed after the Islamabad memorandum, reducing US forces in the region, restoring oil waivers and releasing frozen Iranian funds, including those held in Qatar. Araghchi said talks are under way with Qatari mediators on a plan to reopen the Strait within two days if the United States meets those conditions, according to Al Jazeera.

Iran’s army said a tanker illegally operating in a restricted and dangerous area east of the Strait of Hormuz struck naval mines, was damaged, caught fire and was left unable to move, according to PressTV. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said three violating oil tankers exploded and caught fire over the past 24 hours after striking mines while attempting to pass through the unauthorized southern route of the strait, Arab News reported.

An oil spill from a tanker attacked near the Strait of Hormuz is spreading along the United Arab Emirates (UAE) coastline, forcing the closure of some beaches and coastal areas. UAE authorities are working to contain the spill from a supertanker, and Umm Al Quwain Municipality is intensifying efforts to limit pollution and protect marine habitats.

Oman rescued 25 sailors from a merchant ship set ablaze in an attack in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, while Iran reported that three oil tankers were halted while crossing, according to The Hindu. Oman's Maritime Security Centre evacuated the people aboard the RITI, a Panamanian-flagged vessel that tracking website MarineTraffic identified as a crude oil tanker. In a separate statement, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said a third tanker, a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil, exploded and caught fire while attempting to pass through an unauthorised route.

US President Donald Trump’s oil and gas holdings rose an average of 43% since the end of 2025, during the eight-month war with Iran, according to the Jerusalem Post, which cites a report by congressional Democrats. His estimated holdings rose from a range of 12.6 million to 46 million at the end of 2025 to between 22.5 million and 81.6 million. Between March, after the war began, and the end of August, Trump’s accounts bought between 4.7 million and 17.5 million in oil and gas stocks, according to the report obtained by CBS News.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy (IRGC Navy) said four oil tankers had caught fire and exploded in the Strait of Hormuz while attempting to use what it described as unauthorized routes, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media. The Associated Press (AP) reported that Iran said four tankers struck mines and caught fire. In its latest statement, the IRGC Navy said a fourth vessel, a tanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil, had hit a mine, suffered a powerful explosion and was burning.

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar criticized at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta the disruptions in global oil supplies caused by sanctions and chokepoints, saying that deliberate attacks on energy trade and infrastructure were a calculated strategy to hold prices hostage. He said the world faces an energy crisis marked by unpredictability, unaffordable costs and access challenges, rather than a lack of production, according to the Hindustan Times.

Oman rescued 25 crew members from the RITI, a merchant ship flying the Panamanian flag that the tracking website MarineTraffic identified as a crude oil tanker, after the vessel was targeted and set ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz. The Omani Maritime Security Centre said in a statement on Friday that it had evacuated the people aboard the ship, according to Al Jazeera. Oman said it had rescued 25 sailors from a merchant ship that was targeted and set ablaze in the blockaded strait, the Times of Israel reported.

Russia’s deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, said on Friday that Ukraine has resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries after a brief pause and warned that the strikes could reduce the diesel exports Moscow has planned, The Hindu reported. Novak also said Russia had shipped around 510,000 metric tons of diesel in October under the deal and plans a higher amount in November, around 2.15 million metric tons.

A supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of oil was among three tankers that exploded and caught fire while traveling through an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Friday, according to the Associated Press (AP). The force said the vessel had struck a naval mine. Oman’s navy evacuated 25 crew members of the merchant ship Riti, sailing under the Panamanian flag, after it was targeted and a fire broke out on board, Oman’s Maritime Security Center said in a statement. The United Arab Emirates said on Friday that the oil leak from the Gem No. 2 tanker had been stopped, with no new leakage detected, as cleanup operations continued along affected coastlines, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Iran’s Army Navy said it destroyed an enemy unmanned surface vessel (USV) in the eastern Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The agency said two oil tankers that were transiting prohibited areas with their tracking systems turned off suffered damage and caught fire after hitting sea mines, disregarding warnings and regulations.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said on Friday that two oil tankers were involved in an incident and were stopped in waters south of the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring radio warnings from Iran, according to the Jerusalem Post. Russia's TASS news agency also reported the incident and the stoppage of the two vessels.

A tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz was hit by two limpet mines fixed by a small boat and suffered a fire in its engine room, the first successful use of such explosives in the waterway since the start of the United States (US) war with Iran in February, according to Reuters, in a text republished by gCaptain. The British naval agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the crew is safe, with no environmental impact, the fire extinguished and the vessel heading to its next port, according to OilPrice. The navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two tankers attempting unauthorized routes in the strait encountered incidents and were stopped in the waterway's southern waters, according to Mehr News. Brent crude reached US$117 a barrel in Asian trade amid fears of escalation after the US midterm elections on November 3, according to OilPrice.

ExxonMobil earned US$15.4 billion in the quarter, slightly more than double the US$7.5 billion of the year-earlier period, and Chevron's profit was US$9.9 billion, against US$3.5 billion a year earlier, according to AFP, in a text republished by France 24. London-based Shell reported a profit of US$12 billion in the third quarter, up 127% from a year earlier, according to CNN.

Ukraine resumed drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, and a refinery in Russia's Samara region was struck in the new wave, according to Al Jazeera. Russian authorities say they intercepted more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions overnight, the broadcaster reported.

Brent rose 0.75% to $115.74 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 0.71% to $102.72 after the Houthis said on Thursday they had attacked Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery, the Rabigh refinery and an Aramco facility in Abqaiq, according to Reuters, in a text republished by CNBC.

Twelve European Union (EU) countries pledged on Thursday to jointly release 42.6 million barrels of oil by the end of January, in line with a G7 deal struck this month to ease concerns over global energy supply, according to AFP, in a text republished by Gulf News. European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jorgensen said member states pledged to accelerate the release, nearly half of it diesel, according to Xinhua.

Brent futures for December 2026 delivery rose above US$ 114 per barrel on the London-based ICE, gaining 2.9% to US$ 114.01 per barrel, according to market data cited by TASS.

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods and Chevron upstream president Clay Neff have canceled plans to attend the United Arab Emirates' biggest oil show next week over security concerns, according to sources cited by Reuters and reported by OilPrice.

Seven oil tankers carrying an estimated 288,000 tonnes of Russian diesel are now sailing towards the United States, the first phase of a supply deal negotiated between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin earlier this month that reverses years of sanctions on Russian oil, according to the Guardian. The newspaper reports it is still uncertain whether the vessels will be able to unload their cargo, amid a political row over the legality of the shipments. The transport is tracked by Greenpeace, which counted seven ships while previous reports had counted three. Putin agreed to supply the US with 1.8 million tonnes of diesel in a deal announced on October 9, starting with 300,000 tonnes immediately, and Trump announced a six-month waiver of existing sanctions to allow the shipments to proceed, according to the Guardian.

Iran said three oil tankers exploded and caught fire after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours while attempting to transit an unauthorized route, according to the state broadcaster, which cited the Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the report. A British military monitor said a vessel spotted another vessel on fire while transiting the strait.

John Healey's Budget assumed that the government will approve North Sea exploratory drilling projects producing in excess of a billion barrels of oil and gas, according to OilPrice. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects UK oil and gas production to decline by around 10% annually through 2031, compared with 14% without new field development.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Thursday that Britain was “doing everything we can” to support the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, amid the impact of the Iran war, according to Middle East Eye.

The European Union (EU) spent an average of $30.7 billion a month on petroleum oil imports between April and July, up from $19.7 billion in the same period of 2025, according to OilPrice. Since volumes rose by just 1.2%, Euronews Business estimates the bloc paid $11 billion more on oil imports in April–July than a year earlier.

TotalEnergies booked $9.1 billion in third-quarter adjusted net income, doubling earnings from a year earlier, with historically high refining margins and the Middle East conflict driving up liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices and refining results, according to OilPrice.

Shell reported an adjusted profit of $10.8bn in the third quarter, up from $5.432bn a year earlier, and raised its buyback program to $5bn for the next three months, from $3bn in the previous quarter, the company said on Thursday. Profit doubled as the Middle East conflict drove up oil and gas prices, pushing the refining margin Shell had projected for the quarter to $42 a barrel, against $24 in the second quarter. Shell and Total posted their highest quarterly profit since 2022, according to Reuters.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Thursday that three oil tankers exploded and caught fire after hitting sea mines over the past 24 hours while attempting to cross an unauthorized route south of the Strait of Hormuz, in a statement carried by state media. The claim has no independent confirmation. The independent maritime report came earlier, from the British agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which reported a ship on fire in the strait without details on the cause or casualties.

Vice President Vance wrote to Mohsen Rezaei to discuss the prospect of a peace deal with Iran, and Brent fell 1.1% to $114.10 while WTI dropped 1.3% to $101.45, according to Reuters.

Barack Obama criticized Donald Trump’s handling of the war with Iran, saying allies and bases have been attacked, Americans have been killed and hundreds have been wounded. According to the former president, the US has run down its missile stock, making the country more vulnerable, and Iran now has veto power over the Strait of Hormuz. Obama also linked the rise in oil and diesel prices to the conflict.

UBS raised its Brent forecast to 110 dollars a barrel by the end of 2026, its second upward revision this month, from 100 dollars, according to OilPrice. The bank says Gulf crude and condensate loadings remain below prewar levels.

Iran's economic planners are weighing a scenario of $130 a barrel in the budget for the next Iranian year, which starts in March 2027, according to Iranian media cited by OilPrice. As of early October, the US blockade in the Gulf of Oman had already stranded at least 50 Iranian tankers laden with oil inside the Persian Gulf near Iran's coastline, the same report said.

Libyan Presidential Council Chairman Mohammad Al-Manfi told Vladimir Putin he expects to develop a strategic partnership with Moscow, according to Sputnik. Al-Manfi said expanding cooperation with Russia remains important for Libya despite Western pressure, and voiced hope that Russian oil companies will return to the country.

The key OPEC+ producers are expected to keep production quotas unchanged for December when they meet on Sunday, sources familiar with the plans told Reuters, in a report by OilPrice. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said they had hit Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery, the biggest in the kingdom, with a ballistic missile.

Qatar and Iran discussed the Middle East war and the blockaded Strait of Hormuz at a meeting in Moscow, the emir's office said. Iran's navy said an oil tanker caught fire after striking naval mines east of the Strait of Hormuz, after the vessel entered a prohibited area with its tracking systems switched off.

The Houthis said on Tuesday they had struck Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery, the kingdom’s largest, with a ballistic missile, while Bloomberg reported, citing a source familiar with the matter, that the kingdom contained a fire near the Ras Tanura terminal earlier that day, according to the Middle East Eye. The group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the attack caused “massive fires”, and a Houthi official said the Egyptian parliament’s authorization of defensive military support for Saudi Arabia amounted to a declaration of war. The Houthis also said they had attacked Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry in Riyadh, with no confirmation from Saudi Arabia, according to the Hindustan Times, which cited Reuters.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s cabinet is split over whether to approve drilling at the Rosebank oilfield, west of Shetland, an £8.7 billion development that its operator says would pump about 69,000 barrels a day at peak, OilPrice reported. Energy security sits on one side, the government’s climate commitments on the other.

China’s National Energy Administration has called on PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and other domestic producers to expand production capacity, increase investment and accelerate the development of national oil and gas supply bases, OilPrice reported. The country has drawn heavily on its reserves, with inventories falling 162 million barrels since May as high oil prices discourage imports.

US consumers are paying more than anyone in the world for the jump in fuel prices caused by the supply disruptions resulting from the US war on Iran, according to Reuters. A study by the Finland-based nonprofit Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air estimates US consumers have paid an average of $471 more for higher fuel prices since the war started on February 28.

The Houthis said on Monday they had attacked pumping stations along Saudi Arabia's East-West onshore oil pipeline, the kingdom's key crude export route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, according to OilPrice. As of early Monday, Saudi Arabia had not confirmed any attacks on the pipeline, which was down for two weeks in September after drone attacks damaged pumping stations.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy and Singapore’s Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry announced their joint intent to establish a crude oil storage arrangement in Singapore, at the Jurong Rock Caverns on Jurong Island, with storage operations expected to commence in the second half of 2027; the stored crude oil will support Singapore’s energy needs in the event of a supply disruption and enhance the Saudi supply chain in Southeast Asia.

Oil flows out of the Strait of Hormuz averaged 11.7 million barrels per day in October, up from 9.8 million barrels per day in September, according to a Kpler estimate cited by OilPrice. In the same period, at least 25 ships were hit in Hormuz in the first 20 days of the month, and outlets tracking these incidents note that many attacks go unreported.

The chairman of the Iranian parliament's Energy Commission predicted that oil prices could rise above 150 dollars a barrel if the war on Iran resumes, according to the Mehr news agency. The prediction was published by the agency on Sunday.

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry said about 40 Iranian sailors aboard US-sanctioned oil tankers anchored just outside the country's territorial waters received urgent medical treatment on Saturday (October 24, 2026). According to AP, Sri Lanka answered a distress call and provided medical help to the 40 sailors before repatriating them to Tehran, a spokesperson said on Sunday. “We coordinated the transfer alone as per our humanitarian obligations. The Iranian Embassy bore all the expenses,” the ministry said, according to The Hindu.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group carried out seven operations with ballistic missiles and drones, according to TASS, and that the targets included King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Rabigh oil refinery, crude oil pumping stations and the East-West Pipeline, according to France 24. The Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed two ballistic missiles fired towards Yanbu and Taif on Saturday. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities on the Houthi reports, and it was not immediately clear whether the attacks had hit their targets or been intercepted.

The United Arab Emirates closed some beaches after detecting an oil spill from a tanker in the Persian Gulf, according to Bloomberg. The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said in a statement that authorities detected “a tanker oil spill affecting Umm Al Quwain’s beaches”, an emirate north of Dubai, according to Euronews.

Three Russian tankers carrying 40,000 tonnes of diesel are heading to the United States, the first such shipment since 2023, the Hindustan Times reported. Novak said the first three fuel tankers are already on their way to the eastern coast of the Atlantic Ocean, with significant support from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), according to Reuters, in a report republished by the Hindustan Times.

The US Department of Energy on Friday authorized an emergency exchange of up to 400,000 barrels of oil for Phillips 66's Lake Charles refinery, citing a temporary disruption to crude deliveries, according to OilPrice. The oil will come from the reserve's West Hackberry site in Louisiana and is available for immediate delivery. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds 282.7 million barrels, a level some analysts consider close to the operational minimum.

A tanker was hit by an unknown projectile seven nautical miles off the Omani coast, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said, according to the Middle East Eye. The vessel, which was transiting outbound in the Strait of Hormuz, was able to continue its journey to the next port of call.

The Navy of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said two more supertankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz via an unauthorized southern route struck naval mines, with the explosions and fires incapacitating their engine rooms, and were abandoned by their crews. Together the vessels were carrying more than 4.5 million barrels of crude oil, according to the IRGC Navy, in a Mehr News report. The commander of the IRGC Navy said US forces had moved 600 to 700 kilometers away from the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Tehran Times.

The escalating conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis paved the way for another weekly gain of about 4%, with ICE Brent trading around $117 per barrel, according to OilPrice.

A tanker carrying 40,000 metric tons of Russian diesel is heading towards New York following an agreement with US President Donald Trump, Reuters says. Russia agreed to lift its self-imposed ban on diesel exports and supply the fuel to global markets, including the US, after the agreement reached between President Vladimir Putin and Trump, also according to Reuters.

Brent crude futures rose US$ 4.35, or 4%, to close at US$ 113.17 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose US$ 2.32, or 2.4%, to US$ 99.47. Oil closed 4% higher on Thursday, hitting a five-month high, after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia fuelled concerns about new supply disruptions from the key exporting region. Saudi Aramco instructed employees to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran, in the Persian Gulf, as fighting intensified, Reuters reported, in a text republished by Brasil 247.

All beaches and coastal areas in Umm Al Quwain, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have been temporarily closed after an oil spill from a tanker, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment confirmed. The ministry said its monitoring system detected the spill, after residents in Sharjah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain reported unpleasant odours.

US President Donald Trump determined this Thursday that petroleum production, refining and related activities are essential to national defence, a move that could open up US funding for fossil fuel projects. In a presidential memo, he also invoked part of the Cold War-era Defence Production Act, allowing him to provide financial incentives for oil-related activities, pipelines and storage of liquid fuels. Prices for crude oil and diesel have surged since the joint US and Israeli attack on Iran at the end of February.

The United States Central Command said its naval blockade of Iran has completed 100 days and prevented at least $25 billion in Iranian oil exports, according to Middle East Eye. There have been no exports or imports to Iran by sea except for the humanitarian aid US forces have allowed, the command said in a post cited by CBS.

Brent rose US$ 3.35 (3.08%) to US$ 112.17 a barrel on Thursday, the highest level since May 18, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained US$ 2.68 (2.76%) to US$ 99.83 a barrel, according to Reuters. The Hindustan Times attributes the rise to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and disruptions to oil supply.

India’s crude imports from the Middle East jumped 32% in September to about 2.8 million barrels per day, the highest since February, as more barrels exit Hormuz, according to OilPrice. Ship tracking data showed that India’s Middle Eastern crude imports returned to pre-war levels in September, while its refiners cut purchases of Russian oil amid stiff competition with China, Reuters reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron began on Monday, October 19, a Gulf tour aimed at securing oil and diesel supplies in an effort to bring down prices, after a weekend of violent protests sparked by soaring living costs, according to Le Monde. Macron acknowledged security and intelligence failures but refused his interior minister’s resignation, after more than 2,500 people were arrested in some of France’s worst violence in years, with town halls and shops looted and set on fire, according to RFI.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast on Thursday a 1.3% contraction in output for the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan in 2026, as a result of the war against Iran's impact on energy production, shipping, tourism, trade and confidence, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Yahoo Finance. For 2027, the IMF projected 6.6% growth, but output in those economies would generally stay below pre-war projections. The fund said the outlook remains clouded by “exceptionally high uncertainty”.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wednesday on Karnakis & Karnakis, a law firm based in Greece and Panama, for giving legal assistance for years to Iranian shipping networks, while Washington held off striking Iran this month and kept up a blockade of Iranian ports with waves of sanctions on shipping networks, according to CGTN.

Brent was trading at US$ 111.10 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at US$ 98.98, both up by around 2% from Wednesday, after the Yemeni Houthis struck an oil field in Saudi Arabia and another international airport, according to OilPrice. Gulf countries exported 24.6 million barrels per day in the week ending 18 October, above the pre-war 23.3 million, according to Kpler data, in a Middle East Eye report.

Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said on Wednesday that debris from an intercepted drone killed two people and injured two others at an Aramco-operated oil field in the country's southeast. According to the ministry, the two people killed were Nepali and Filipino nationals, and the injured were Pakistani and Indian nationals. The debris also sparked a fire in a contractor's vehicle at the Shaybah oil field.

India’s largest state-owned refiner, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), will slightly reduce the volumes of Middle East crude it will buy under annual term deals for fiscal year 2027/2028, which starts next March, amid uncertainty of supply from the region, according to OilPrice, which cites an anonymous source who spoke to Reuters. India paid $15.4 billion to import crude oil in September, up 46% from $10.5 billion a year earlier, as international prices and the Indian import basket soared amid reignited tensions in the Middle East, according to OilPrice.

The executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, said he sees no credible pathway toward a normalization of the oil market in 2027, according to The Hindu. The war has lifted oil above US$100 a barrel, from below US$70 before hostilities began, with diesel at record highs on refinery damage, and the IEA has organized the release of up to 400 million barrels of strategic reserves, with further releases admitted if warranted. Brent traded at US$110.30 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at US$99.12, both higher on Middle East supply fears, according to OilPrice, in a text published at the address recording the quotes.

The Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil exploded and caught fire after striking a naval mine south of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the statement, the vessel had switched off all its radar and navigation systems and was attempting to exit through the unauthorized southern route of the strait despite warnings from Iranian naval forces. Dawn reported that two tankers were set ablaze and brought to a halt south of the Strait of Hormuz after hitting Iranian mines, according to an IRGC Navy statement shared by state media on Tuesday.

Brent crude surpassed US$ 111 a barrel on Tuesday and reached its highest level in five months, amid worsening conflicts in the Middle East. Around 9 am, the barrel was trading at US$ 111.12, up 1.43%, and reached US$ 111.69 during trading, according to G1. WTI rose 5.7%, to US$ 109.60. Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz fell to about 8.5 million barrels per day last week, from more than 20 million the week before, according to analysis firm Kpler. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said it was ready to coordinate a new release of oil from member countries’ emergency reserves, if necessary.

Record-high freight costs are changing the behavior of Asian buyers, who are increasingly using smaller tankers and ships under long-term charter deals to pick up crude oil, according to OilPrice. The Iran war reshuffled trade routes and patterns and tied up more supertankers in inefficient, lengthy voyages and on a shuttle service to move crude through the Strait of Hormuz.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Mumbai that the trade deal with India is “very, very close” to being executed and that a small number of items remain to wrap up, he told reporters on Tuesday. Rubio held talks with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in the city to deepen energy cooperation and move closer to finalizing the agreement. Washington imposed tariffs of up to 50% on most Indian goods in August 2025 and, under a framework agreed in February 2026, the rate was reduced to 18%, but negotiations have stalled since. Rubio said the US will discuss refining Venezuelan crude with Reliance and that India made “substantial progress” in diversifying its energy supplies, according to The Hindu.

French President Emmanuel Macron has secured the delivery of an additional 200,000 tonnes of diesel per month from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain during a tour of the Gulf, France 24 reported. With the addition of deliveries from Saudi Arabia, France has commitments for 295,000 tonnes per month, just over 10 percent of its consumption, the French presidency added.

The US Department of Agriculture will provide $8 billion in diesel fuel relief to American farmers for this year’s harvest season, distributed as one-time payments to eligible candidates, according to OilPrice. US diesel prices remain above $6 per gallon, climbing from $6.2665 last Monday to $6.3187 yesterday.

Two tankers were set ablaze and brought to a halt south of the Strait of Hormuz after hitting Iranian mines, the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement shared by state media and cited by Middle East Eye.

Brent topped 110 per barrel again, with WTI back over 100 — trading at 109.68, with WTI at 98.55, its highest in five months — while the daily flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf fell to 8.5 million barrels, from more than 20 million barrels two weeks ago, according to Kpler, according to OilPrice.

Brent stood at $109.70, up 0.15%, and WTI at $98.72, up 0.18%, according to the Times of India, after Brent had climbed to $110.70 a barrel in the previous session, its highest level since May 20.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio began a three-day visit to India on Monday in the finance hub of Mumbai, before heading to Jamnagar, DW reported. The Jamnagar refinery, which can process 1.4 million barrels of crude oil a day, is a valuable exporter of diesel fuel for global markets.

Brent crude was trading at $107.84 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $100.29, up from $105.61 and $93.37 the previous Monday, according to OilPrice. The modest dip followed US President Donald Trump signing on Friday an executive order lifting sanctions on Russian energy, according to the outlet.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced another oil tanker exploded after hitting a mine in Hormuz, according to Mehr News. The state-run IRNA news agency reported a third oil tanker caught fire after striking a sea mine in the strait on Sunday, citing the IRGC Navy’s public relations office.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two oil tankers, each carrying about two million barrels of crude oil, caught fire after hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera. TASS, citing an IRGC statement, reports one tanker that struck a mine in the southern part of the strait and suffered an explosion and a fire in the engine room, and Middle East Eye, citing Iranian media, also describes one tanker on fire in the same stretch, according to the IRGC navy.

US President Donald Trump defended his decision to waive some sanctions on Russia and once again accused Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of not wanting to end the war, according to France 24. The outlet reported that Trump has also temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel, allowing large quantities to flow into global markets to try lowering fuel prices ahead of US elections early next month. TASS, citing Trump, said Zelensky does not want to end the conflict with Russia and probably never did.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, expressed concern over tensions in the southern Arabian Peninsula and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait during talks in Bahrain, according to the Anadolu Agency. The two stressed the importance of maritime safety and the unimpeded passage of vessels through international waterways, according to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Both sides also highlighted the importance of continued cooperation within the OPEC+ framework.

A Yemeni military source called on employees and citizens to stay away from Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities and advised Aramco shareholders to sell their shares before it is too late, according to Mehr News. The Houthis had already warned Aramco shareholders of what they described as potential financial losses in the coming days, according to al-Masirah, cited by Xinhua.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened if the United States accepts Iran’s conditions, according to Mehr News. Cited by the Hindustan Times, the foreign minister said the strait could reopen within six days if Washington accepts the conditions, with negotiations resuming on the seventh day. Iran’s demands include lifting the US blockade on its ports, removing sanctions on Iranian oil exports and ending hostilities across all regional fronts, according to the Times of India. Iran’s new defense minister, Mehrdad Akhlaghi, warned that the United States and its allies will suffer enormous damage if Washington resumes military action against Tehran, according to Sputnik.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X on Sunday that Russia had attacked Ukraine’s energy, oil and gas sectors 76 times in the week since Donald Trump’s announcement of an energy ceasefire, according to the Associated Press (AP), in a text republished by WTOP. Trump announced on Oct. 11 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire” in the 4 1/2-year-old war, but offered no details and Kyiv reported attacks by Moscow on energy sites after his statement.

Ukrainian attacks set an oil export terminal ablaze in St. Petersburg on Sunday and left one person dead and five wounded, according to local Governor Alexander Beglov, in an Associated Press (AP) text republished by WTOP. The fires hit the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchi depot, and Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea, part of more than 1,000 drones Kyiv launched in one of the largest aerial bombardments Ukraine has carried out in the war.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported that a second supertanker struck a naval mine and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, and Iran’s navy said an oil tanker caught fire in the Sea of Oman, according to Al Jazeera. United States Central Command (Centcom) said the “vast majority” of Iran’s attempted attacks on ships in the strait failed and that the waterway remains open, and spokesperson Tim Hawkins told Fox News that about 97 percent of vessels trying to cross the strait had done so without being struck, many with US military protection, according to Middle East Eye. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran presented a concrete seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, conveyed through Qatar, according to Iranian state broadcaster Press TV, cited by Middle East Eye; he told RT that, if the necessary conditions are met, the Strait can be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days, in exchange for Washington lifting its naval blockade, easing restrictions on Iranian oil exports and releasing frozen Iranian assets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday criticized Donald Trump’s decision to pull back on sanctions against Russia, saying that a sanctions blackout, easing pressure on the aggressor and financial rewards for Putin all only encourage him to keep attacking. On Friday, Trump signed the executive order suspending the sanctions under the so-called “Lindsey Graham Act”, a law passed in September to target Russia’s energy and defense sectors, including its tanker network used to circumvent US restrictions. Washington is also weighing lifting sanctions on the “shadow fleet” of Russian and Iranian tankers to help bring down diesel prices before the midterm elections, according to The Cradle.

United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order waiving newly passed Russia sanctions, claiming the move is in the US’s “national interest”, according to Al Jazeera. The blocked measures would have included up to 100 percent tariffs on all goods brought into the US from the five top importers of Russian crude oil or gas, including China and India. Earlier this month, Trump announced a deal to bring stocks of Russian diesel into global markets, and the US Treasury waived sanctions on Russian diesel sales until April 2027.

The naval force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared once again that “the Strait of Hormuz is closed, and the passage of ships of various nationalities through the strait is prohibited”, according to the official state IRNA news agency. An oil tanker caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after hitting a mine, according to the Revolutionary Guards. At least two other tankers were reported hit off Saudi Arabia’s coast since yesterday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operation (UKMTO) said an oil tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile 68 nautical miles northeast of Jubail, in Saudi Arabia, according to Mehr News. All crew members were reported safe and evacuated, with no environmental impact observed following the incident, UKMTO said on X.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said a supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, triggering an explosion and a massive fire, in a statement released on Saturday. The IRGC also said, in a report published by Mehr News, that the vessel was attempting to transit the strait through an unauthorized route when it hit the mine.

United States (US) officials say Iran has lost 25 billion dollars in oil revenue, according to the Times of India. The top US military commander in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, said Iran-backed militias are withholding salaries from their own fighters to send money back to the Revolutionary Guard, as sanctions and a naval blockade have cost Iran 25 billion dollars in lost oil revenue, according to Worthy Christian News, in a summary on the aggregator Ground News.

The majority of vessels attacked in the Strait of Hormuz do not report the incidents to UKMTO (United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations), which prevents the agency from establishing the true number of attacks, according to the Middle East Eye. Combined inbound and outbound transits remain about 70 percent below pre-war levels, according to the same outlet. In the week ending October 14, UKMTO recorded 254 combined transits, 129 inbound and 125 outbound, down from 275 the previous week, according to the World Ports Organization.

President Donald Trump waived the application of sanctions, restrictions and duties provided for in the Graham Act, in an executive order issued on the evening of Friday, October 16, 2026. The law he waived, whose main backer in Congress was the late Senator Lindsey Graham, would have imposed tariffs of up to 100% within 30 days on all goods brought into the US from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas, according to Reuters. Trump justified the move as being in the “national interest” of the United States, according to the Hindustan Times, which notes the law was signed last month.

The United States (US) is considering lifting sanctions on tankers in the so-called shadow fleet tied to Russia and Iran to address soaring diesel prices ahead of the midterm elections, according to multiple reports and a senior US official. The plan would allow previously sanctioned vessels to carry legal oil not subject to US sanctions, according to Reuters. Around 15% of the world’s tanker fleet is under US sanctions, according to an Energy Aspects estimate cited by Middle East Eye.

A Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted and destroyed three drones in the south and in Riyadh, as well as two cruise missiles over the Red Sea, according to coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki. Riyadh's main international airport remains closed after a deadly strike there last week, and since July the Houthis have repeatedly struck Saudi targets including Red Sea tankers, oil facilities and the capital's airport, where 13 people were killed.

Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Ryazan region, Russian officials said, hours after Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would resume attacks on Russian energy facilities, according to OilPrice. Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov said in a post on Telegram that “our region came under a massive drone attack” and that “a fire broke out at the oil refinery.” In Brussels, reacting to criticism from Donald Trump, Zelensky said he is “just defending Ukraine’s interests”, according to Opera Mundi.

Iran plans to invite Gazprom to develop gas fields in the country, Deputy Oil Minister Saeed Tavakoli said at Russian Energy Week, according to TASS. Tavakoli said Tehran and Moscow have no specific program for joint gas production and that Iran will use Gazprom’s potential under contracts currently under discussion.

The squeeze in ship fuel persists despite accelerating crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz, according to TASS, which cites trading house Vitol. According to Bloomberg, a top Vitol executive said that accelerating crude exports through Hormuz are not translating into higher output of the shipping fuel, with tight supply and soaring prices.

India nearly halved its export duty on diesel for two weeks, according to OilPrice. South Korea kept its price caps on fuel products unchanged for a fourth consecutive period on Friday, amid elevated international oil prices and continued tensions in the Middle East, according to the Korea Herald.

Members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to complete the release of 100 million barrels still outstanding from the March intervention to calm markets — the countries will accelerate distribution of the remaining volumes, including 20 million barrels of diesel as soon as possible, after a board meeting in Paris on October 15, and have so far released 330 million of the 400 million barrels pledged in March.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would resume hitting Russian oil refineries. Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery after he declared that Kyiv was abandoning a ceasefire covering energy sites that Trump had announced, and US President Donald Trump told Newsmax that the resumption of strikes on Russian refineries is a “disgrace” that keeps global energy prices elevated.

María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s exiled opposition leader, criticized in an interview businessman Alejandro Betancourt, Washington’s new oil partner in Venezuela, and held him responsible for “obscene corruption,” according to The New York Times. Betancourt struck a deal with the Trump administration to control roughly a fifth of Venezuela’s oil reserves.

Five House Republicans signed on Thursday a letter urging US President Donald Trump to cancel the Russian diesel deal he announced last week, according to The Hill, in a text republished by the Brutalist Report. Trump said Russia agreed to “immediately” supply 300,000 tons of diesel to the global marketplace, with another 500,000 tons on the way in November. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a waiver authorizing Russian producers to import diesel fuel into the US, effective through April 6, 2027.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) confirmed on Thursday the release of about 330 million barrels of emergency oil reserves, according to Middle East Eye. The release is part of a March agreement under which member countries agreed to release 400 million barrels to address the disruption to supplies amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Iran’s military said on Thursday that an oil tanker had caught fire in the Gulf of Oman as it was attempting to pass through an area deemed prohibited, according to Iranian state TV, in a text republished by Free Malaysia Today.

US President Donald Trump said the war against Iran will end very soon, as soon as he wants it to, that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon and that oil prices will drop like a rock. The war has already caused an economic impact of roughly $265 billion in the United States, by the estimate of Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, according to Opera Mundi.

Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on October 8, 10, and 11 killed at least 16 people, according to The Jerusalem Post, citing Media Line. The deadliest strike, on October 10, killed 12 people and injured 309 others. On October 13, another attack damaged an administrative building at Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran.

Ukraine resumed attacks on Russian refineries after Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the withdrawal of US intelligence, according to The Jerusalem Post, citing Reuters. Since US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement on Sunday of an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Kyiv had refrained from attacking Russian refineries.

Iran’s Army Deputy Coordinator Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the Strait of Hormuz is closed, that any passage through it must be coordinated, and cited high gasoline prices in the US as proof of the closure, according to Mehr News.

Since October 6, Houthi strikes against Saudi Arabia have killed at least 20 people and injured almost 400, according to Middle East Eye. The Houthis vowed more attacks after hitting Aramco’s headquarters, facilities in Dhahran, a refinery in Riyadh and Riyadh’s airport over the past week.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned that Houthi strikes on Saudi infrastructure could affect the global economy and cited the near closure of Hormuz and disruptions in the Red Sea, which sharply curtailed oil and gas exports and reduced production capacity, according to OilPrice.

Crude oil prices retreated on the news that President Donald Trump is considering lifting sanctions on shadow-fleet tankers used to carry oil from Venezuela, Russia and Iran, with Brent trading at US$ 104.39 per barrel and WTI at US$ 94.02, after Brent topped US$ 106 earlier in the week, according to OilPrice.

The administration of US President Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly and the brother of the nation’s president, according to a notice posted on the US Treasury Department’s website on Wednesday and reported by Reuters. Caracas and Washington have cut a deal that gives the US access to 17 oilfields, and international energy firms have separately committed to expanding projects, Reuters reported.

Countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) taking part in the oil production restraint agreement increased output by 2.31 million barrels per day in September 2026 but still fell 5.42 million barrels short of their targets, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), cited by TASS. In the month, also according to the IEA, Saudi Arabia raised output by 2.33 million barrels per day, Kuwait cut 550,000, Iraq increased 520,000, Oman added 20,000 and Russia, 70,000.

The United States and Russia agreed last week that Moscow would initially supply more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to US and global markets, according to Reuters, in a text published by The Hindu. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the deal a “very risky choice” that, according to Reuters, runs counter to efforts to force Vladimir Putin to sit at a negotiating table with Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised the accord, calling it “an investment in a war that must be ended.” Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said the deal benefits both countries and helps the global market, according to Sputnik Globe. The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that the gasoil market balance will remain tight well into 2027 and is dependent on a recovery of product supply from the Middle East, according to Türkiye Today, based on the Oil Market Report.

The Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile launched towards Riyadh, and the Saudi Ministry of Energy confirmed that the administrative building belonging to Aramco in Dhahran was hit, according to Al Jazeera. Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid international airport over the weekend killed 14 people and wounded more than 300 others. The coalition also carried out a strike on a fuel depot near Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled capital, according to its spokesperson, cited by the BBC.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said a container ship sank in the Strait of Hormuz after striking a mine, according to TASS. The ship was carrying about 2,500 containers, and the report did not identify the owner or provide information about the fate of the crew. LBC, citing Reuters and Iranian state media, reported that the ship was trying to transit a route the Guard described as unauthorised and dangerous.

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday that the recent attacks on Saudi Arabia could impact people everywhere, as global energy costs rise. The Saudi economy is important for the region and the world, the Fund said, and these developments have potentially negative spillovers for everybody, everywhere.

Brent was trading at $106.37 and West Texas Intermediate at $94.72, while Iranian officials attributed the recent surge in tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz to new tactics and suggested they are not about to end anytime soon, according to Reuters, in text republished by OilPrice.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) projected global oil demand growth of 2.6 million barrels per day in 2027, after growth of just 200,000 barrels per day in 2026, pushing average demand from 105.7 million to 108.3 million barrels per day, with part of the jump coming from rebuilding stocks drawn down during the Iran war – commercial stocks in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) stood 177.2 million barrels below their 2015-2019 average in August, according to OilPrice.com.

United States (US) President Donald Trump accused Yemenʼs Houthis of deliberately trying to drive up oil prices, probably ahead of the US elections, and said the group had emerged again probably at the behest of Iran and was hitting Saudi Arabia in a very nasty way, according to the Middle East Eye.

An administrative Aramco building in Dhahran was struck on Tuesday evening, causing a limited fire with no casualties or fatalities, while debris from two intercepted Houthi cruise missiles wounded four people – two women, a man and a child – and damaged 15 homes in the capital, according to the South China Morning Post.

Iranian missile and drone attacks on ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz were at their most intense in the two weeks to October 11, the highest level since the US-Israeli strikes began seven months ago, according to the Financial Times, in a report by Middle East Eye. Six vessels were attacked on Sunday alone — the deadliest day of attacks on shipping near the strait since the start of the conflict, the newspaper calculated. Oil shipments through Hormuz fell to 2.9 million barrels on October 11, the lowest daily volume this month, according to Kpler.

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted missiles fired by the Houthis towards Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran and destroyed three cruise missiles and two drones on Tuesday in Riyadh and the country’s southern region, according to the coalition. Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the Houthis are stepping up attacks on infrastructure in Saudi Arabia in a bid to increase energy prices ahead of the US midterm elections and repeated his threat that the US could step up military attacks across the Middle East after the November elections, according to Al Jazeera.

Britain has appealed to Interpol to reject Argentina’s requests for the arrest of individuals involved in the Sea Lion oil project off the Falkland Islands, according to The Guardian. Javier Milei’s government has initiated criminal proceedings against the Israeli company Navitas and its British partner Rockhopper Exploration, the core companies in the project.

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh remains closed, and a notice to airmen (Notam) indicates the closure will last until at least October 17. Weekend strikes on the airport killed at least 14 people and injured about 320, according to Middle East Eye. Saudi Arabia's cabinet, chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, said Yemen's Houthis would face “consequences” for the attacks, according to Saudi state media. The coalition told civilians to evacuate the Yemeni Oil Company's al-Sabaha central station in Sanaa before a military operation.

US President Donald Trump defended allowing Russian diesel exports and insisted an energy ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow is in place despite a lack of confirmation from either side, according to OilPrice. The deal lifted US sanctions on Russian diesel exports to allow Russia to supply almost 2 million metric tons of the fuel, a bid to lower US fuel prices, according to France 24. According to France 24, which cites Reuters and other outlets, US officials have reportedly threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and weapons sales to Ukraine unless it halts its strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Saudi Arabia plans to raise the capacity of the East-West pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz to 10 million barrels per day within two to three years, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said, according to OilPrice. The 740-mile pipeline, also known as Petroline, has a maximum capacity of 7 million barrels per day and returned to service after a two-week suspension following drone attacks in September. Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said the company is studying “additional crude export routes” and working on “expanding overseas storage”.

Ukraine halted strikes on Russian oil refineries and on its other energy infrastructure for two days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday (13). The pause followed US President Donald Trump's announcement of an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, according to Reuters, in a text published by Al Arabiya. Zelensky said that during this time Russia attacked both Ukraine's energy facilities and its critical infrastructure, sending absolutely clear signals that it has no intention of refraining from strikes on Ukraine.

Republican Representative Michael McCaul said he fears that lifting sanctions on Russian oil will only fund the Kremlin's war machine, amid the deal announced by Trump on October 10 for Russia to immediately supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the US and the global market, according to The Hindu; Trump also announced an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine, with implications for India, which faces 50% US tariffs over its Russian oil imports.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said that control over the Strait of Hormuz represents enormous national wealth and that its real value lies in the ability to ensure security, according to Mehr News.

Brent crude was trading at $105.43 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $92.60 per barrel, both slightly down from Monday's close, according to OilPrice. Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said there is no danger for oil exports and called Riyadh “the capital of energy security”, according to OilPrice, which cites the minister.

An eruption of crude oil and gas in Niger was classified by the Ministry of Petroleum as an environmental incident of exceptional gravity, characterized by the projection of large quantities of crude oil and gas to more than ten meters high, according to Le Monde. According to the ministry, the eruption, the first of its kind in the country, occurred on September 25 in Niger’s eastern desert, caused no deaths, but two employees were hospitalized and treated for injuries. The incident took place at the Goumeri W8 well, in the Agadem oil block, about 1,700 km from Niamey, operated by CNPC Niger Petroleum S.A., a local subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

US President Donald Trump criticised the Houthis for “misbehaving very badly” following a series of attacks on Saudi Arabian airports, according to Al Jazeera. Trump said the midterm elections will not affect his approach to the war on Iran and that, as soon as the war ends — which will be very soon — the price of oil will drop “like a rock”, according to Middle East Eye.

Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday after climbing by nearly $2 a barrel in the previous session, with Brent at $106.04 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $93.27, according to Reuters, which also cites US President Donald Trump saying Russia had agreed to supply diesel and his administration had temporarily lifted US sanctions on Russian fuel. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the global economy could soon test the limits of resilience, with emergency oil stocks running low and government budgets overstretched, according to the Guardian, which adds that rerouting oil supplies away from the Strait of Hormuz and releasing strategic stocks helped contain the impact of the US-Iran war on prices.

Envoys of US President Donald Trump told Ukrainian officials on Friday that a deal to allow Russian diesel exports is part of a bid to draw Russia back to negotiations after the failure of previous efforts to launch sustained talks to end the war, three people familiar with the meeting told Reuters. The warring sides have not confirmed the energy ceasefire Trump announced on Sunday, and Russia struck energy targets inside Ukraine on Monday. Under the deal, Russia will supply more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel to US and global markets, and Trump defended it on Monday as “the right choice for the American people.” The Jerusalem Post reported that Trump said on Monday that Putin wants a deal more than Zelensky and insisted that the ceasefire was agreed because he said so: “They agreed because I said they agreed.”

The French Navy boarded the tanker DF Peak south of Réunion on Monday, on suspicion of sailing under a false flag and involvement in fuel transport trafficking, Emmanuel Macron announced. According to Le Monde, the DF Peak, sailing under the Beninese flag, is on the EU sanctions list and has been suspected of belonging to the Russian shadow fleet since June 25, 2024, when it was called Kaliningrad. The interception took place on the morning of October 12, more than 450 nautical miles south of Réunion, and the vessel is under sanctions from the United States, Canada, the EU, Ukraine, Switzerland, Japan and the United Kingdom, according to United24 Media.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia could reach 3.5 million tonnes per month of diesel to global markets by the end of the year, just as was the case before the crisis, and that additional Russian deliveries have already pushed global diesel prices down by about 5-6%, according to TASS.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said a third oil tanker caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after striking a naval mine, according to Mehr News. The IRGC said the vessel had attempted to cross through an unauthorized route despite warnings, and that it was the third super tanker in two days to try to breach the blockade and hit a mine.

Insurance costs for ships carrying oil across the Black Sea rose from about $200,000 to $2.5 million per vessel in recent months, according to OilPrice. According to the publication, the increase reflects mounting risks to commercial shipping after repeated attacks on vessels and port infrastructure. On October 6, drones struck two commercial vessels, sinking the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan and damaging the Palau-flagged Able; all 18 crew members aboard the Able were rescued.

The Houthi official Mohammed Al Bukhaiti warned of a swift and painful response against the United States (US) and all its interests in the region if Washington enters the Yemen war, according to AFP. Bukhaiti also told employees and workers at Saudi oil facilities and airports to stay away from these sites, because they have become legitimate targets. Following a Saturday attack on an airport that killed 13 people, US President Donald Trump said he is considering joining Saudi strikes against the group, after having reportedly rebuffed previous requests. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said the events of recent weeks are serious and that the response must be equally serious.

US President Donald Trump defended on Monday the diesel deal with Russia as lawmakers from both parties complained the agreement appears to violate US law barring imports of Russian energy until Moscow ends its aggression against Ukraine. On Sunday (11), a group of Republican and Democratic senators called on Trump to “reverse course” on the deal, saying it may violate a 2022 law designed to support Ukraine in its bid to repel Russian invaders. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Fox News on Monday that diesel prices depend on the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, not on Ukrainian attacks on diesel targets in Russia.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said it had struck a supertanker trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and that the vessel caught fire. The statement was published on the force’s news platform, Sepah News. According to the Guards, the ship tried to cross the area by disabling its transponders and ignoring warnings from the Guards’ navy. Al Jazeera, citing reports, said an oil tanker was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz region. Brent futures for December rose above $107 a barrel on the ICE, the first time since September 29, according to trade data cited by TASS.

Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick plans to force a House vote on legislation blocking Russian oil purchases, challenging President Donald Trump’s decision to ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports, according to RFE/RL. Fitzpatrick said the bill will be forced to the Floor via discharge and will pass overwhelmingly. Citing administration figures, Senator Angus King said the deal covered 300,000 tons of diesel for October and 500,000 tons for November, roughly equivalent to a day’s diesel consumption in the United States.

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister vowed a “serious” response to Houthi attacks on the kingdom’s airports and oil and gas facilities, according to BBC News. On Sunday, a Pakistani man was killed in an attack on a terminal at the capital’s King Khalid International Airport, a day after a Houthi missile hit another terminal, killing 12 people and forcing its closure, Saudi authorities said; the toll rose to 13 after an injured Indian national died, according to the Indian embassy. With attacks on Saudi Arabia and on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz back at the center of supply concerns, oil climbed to its highest levels in nearly two weeks on Monday morning, according to OilPrice.com.

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday an “energy ceasefire” between Ukraine and Russia; Kyiv expressed astonishment and Moscow went silent, according to France24. According to Bloomberg, in a text republished by TASS, Zelensky is reportedly “on a collision course” with Trump for continuing to ignore Washington’s calls to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said security will not return to the Strait of Hormuz as long as the United States (US) persists in its blockade and military aggression, according to Mehr News.

Saudi Arabia is reportedly running low on interceptor missiles amid intensifying Houthi strikes, and the death toll from the 10/10 attack on King Khalid International Airport rose to 13 after an injured Indian national died, as confirmed by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, according to the Hindustan Times. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree reiterated on Sunday the warning to airlines, businesses and travellers against operating flights to Saudi airports, as unsafe, according to the same paper.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy released on Sunday a video showing a supertanker on fire after hitting a naval mine south of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the Navy itself, it was the third “violating” oil tanker since Saturday to hit naval mines on the strait's “unauthorized” route and catch fire. Mehr News also reported the third oil tanker catching fire in Hormuz after hitting a mine.

Both main crude contracts fell more than 1% after US President Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, according to AFP. Trump wrote on Truth Social that there is an energy ceasefire “effective immediately” and that “both parties have agreed. Do not break it!”. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to express surprise, said he was seeking further details and added that “Ukraine supports the ceasefire, and it is important that Russia support it as well”. AFP also reported that Kyiv said Moscow had struck multiple power plants in the country.

Two German opposition parties, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the BSW (Bündnis Soziale Gerechtigkeit und Wirtschaftliche Vernunft), called for restoring economic ties with Russia, following the example of US President Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Moscow, challenging Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s sanctions policy, according to RT. The joint resolution is scheduled for a vote in the Saxony-Anhalt parliament in Magdeburg on October 14. The AfD and the BSW hold a combined majority following September’s regional elections, although the state legislature has no authority to lift federal or EU sanctions against Russia.

Syria’s central bank said on Sunday that it issued its first letter of credit in 14 years to facilitate a petroleum products supply deal between the Syrian Petroleum Company and Saudi Aramco, according to the Jerusalem Post. The bank said the transaction was arranged in coordination with a major US bank, which it did not name, opening a channel to finance oil imports and settle payments through the formal banking system.

A seafarers’ union official told NPR that, as attacks mount on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, some crews are being offered big rewards for making the crossing.

Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko called the U.S. diesel deal with Russia a betrayal, in an interview with NPR on Sunday.

The tanker MT Petro Dolphin, carrying 11 Indian seafarers, was hit by a drone attack at Sohar Anchorage, in Oman, on October 11, according to the Hindustan Times. Nine Indian crew members were rescued and two remain missing, with a search by the local coast guard. India’s embassy in Muscat said the vessel is a Nicaragua-flagged tanker.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said a second supertanker carrying crude oil exploded and caught fire in its engine room after striking a sea mine in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. The ship had all navigation systems switched off and was on an unauthorized route, according to the IRGC. The IRGC also said that three tankers that violated transit rules in the strait have struck mines and caught fire since yesterday and that vessels with navigation and identification systems turned off will be classified as hostile, with severe punishment, according to TASS.

The Houthis said they carried out four operations in 24 hours with ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, according to spokesman Yahya Saria. According to him, the targets included an Aramco gas facility in Shedgum and an oil facility in Tanajib in eastern Saudi Arabia, followed by fires, as well as King Khalid airport in Riyadh and King Fahd airport in Dammam, where he said navigation was suspended.

A crude oil supertanker exploded and caught fire after hitting a mine while trying to leave the Strait of Hormuz on a route described as unauthorised and dangerous, according to Iranian media Press TV. The Revolutionary Guard said the vessel had switched off its navigation and GPS systems before hitting the mine and warned that “a massive fire awaits” any tanker that disregards the strait’s rules.

The UKMTO (United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations) said on Sunday it had received a report of a tanker hit by a projectile in Hormuz, according to Middle East Eye. The ship was struck by an unknown projectile on the port side, causing a fire on board, and the crew was reported safe, according to the UKMTO.

All 22 Indian crew members of the MT GEM No. 2 oil tanker were rescued and are safe after an incident off the coast of Ras al-Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates, the Indian consulate said on Sunday (October 11, 2026), without giving details of the incident, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu.

A US fighter jet struck the stern of the Panama-flagged cargo vessel M/V Ocean Molica, also known as Arika Sun, with a precision munition in the Gulf of Oman, fully disabling the ship’s propulsion without harming the crew, according to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), cited by Middle East Eye. According to CENTCOM, the ship was attempting to run the naval blockade against Iran after departing an Iranian port and ignored repeated warnings. During three months of strict enforcement, US forces disabled four commercial vessels, turned around 135 and destroyed 10 tankers linked to the Revolutionary Guard’s shadow network.

Under the diesel deal between the United States and Russia, Russia would release an initial 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the American and global marketplace, followed by an additional 500,000 tonnes in November, according to the BBC, citing President Donald Trump. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said suspending sanctions provides Moscow with more revenue to wage war and that Europe will not ease pressure.

Member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) expressed support for accelerating the oil stock releases announced in the March 2026 Collective Action, aiming to complete them as soon as possible, the agency said. About 325 million barrels of oil have been released under the March 2026 Collective Action, according to the IEA, which notes that some countries released greater volumes than they initially pledged.

Freight rates for supertankers topped $1.4 million per day on the Gulf-to-East Asia route, a 40% jump in the first week of October alone, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and cited by OilPrice. Ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman tie up the tankers for weeks waiting outside the Strait of Hormuz, tightening the supply of Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) vessels and also pressuring Suezmax and Aframax ships, according to OilPrice.

The Russian government has partially lifted its ban on diesel exports to implement the agreements reached by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, the cabinet said. The measure takes effect on October 10, allowing 500,000 metric tons of diesel to the global market at this stage, according to the statement.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said an oil tanker exploded and caught fire after striking a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Jerusalem Post. The Guards did not specify the tanker’s name or flag, according to the Jerusalem Post.

US President Donald Trump said it is time for Ukraine to get a new president, responding to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s criticism of the US diesel deal with Russia, according to the BBC. Trump told reporters on Saturday that he suggests they get a new leader who can make a deal, and that it is time for Ukraine to get a new president, according to Axios. Zelensky called the diesel deal not fair and not honest, a sign of weakness by Trump and a birthday gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Axios.

A day after US President Donald Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel, Russian strikes killed at least 11 people in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region on Saturday, October 10, according to officials cited by The Hindu. Three children were among the dead and at least 16 people were wounded when Russian aerial bombs hit residential buildings, said Mykhailo Semikin, head of the regional military administration. Ukraine's national police said Russia targeted residential neighborhoods with five guided aerial bombs early Saturday, according to Asharq Al-Awsat. Trump wrote that Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tonnes in November 2026 and 1 million tonnes immediately thereafter, with 3 million more within a short period of time. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the deal “a weak decision, unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners”.

Oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz fell to a seven-day average of 9.9 million barrels per day as of October 7, 42 percent below prewar levels and down from about 15.5 million in September, according to Kpler data cited by the Financial Times. Kpler said flows had recovered to prewar levels in September, but intensified attacks on vessels drove exports sharply lower this week.

Brazil’s public prosecutor’s office filed a lawsuit against the Brazilian subsidiary of oil company Shell, blaming it for the torrential rains that hit southern Brazil in 2024, according to Le Monde. The accusation attributes to Shell 2% of historical global greenhouse gas emissions linked to the exploration, production and marketing of fossil fuels, according to Le Monde. The prosecutor’s office is seeking 270 million reais for environmental and climate moral damages, plus the same amount for material damages, according to Le Monde.

President Donald Trump announced that Russia will supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons shortly after, according to DW. The US Treasury Department issued a temporary license allowing Russian diesel to reach global markets through April 2027, DW reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said gifts to Russian President Vladimir Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world and that Russia will “repay” the diesel with further terror and perfidy, according to DW. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said that by launching a massive drone attack on Moscow, other cities and polling stations on the main voting day, Kyiv disrupted the possibility of an immediate resumption of the negotiation process, according to Reuters, in a text republished by SRN News.

Vladimir Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said energy and economic cooperation between Russia and the United States (US) will continue and benefit global markets, in a post on X on Friday, according to TASS. The remark responds to Donald Trump’s announcement that he coordinated with Putin, in a phone call he called “highly successful”, the supply of up to 4.8 million tonnes of Russian diesel to the world market, including the US.

United States (US) President Donald Trump claimed the country “shouldn’t worry now” because it stopped Iran from having a nuclear weapon and that the war will end soon, in a speech at a White House Columbus Day celebration. Trump alleged that 28 million barrels of oil were “taken out” on Thursday and that diesel prices will tumble. A high-ranking Iranian source told TASS that Iran won’t hold anything back in response to new attacks by the US and Israel.

United States (US) President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and other global markets, with 500,000 tons in November and 1 million shortly after. The average diesel price in the US is $6.28 a gallon, down from the record $6.53 at the end of September, and the US Treasury formally issued a temporary license allowing Russian diesel into the market shortly after the announcement, according to the BBC. Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, wrote on X that Russia-US cooperation on diesel and energy will benefit the world. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov announced that Putin and Trump spoke by phone, amid renewed diplomatic efforts by Washington.

The Aframax Rio tanker was towed to a safe location after an attack by unmanned surface vessels, and specialists from the Marine Rescue Service are assessing its technical condition, according to TASS. The Liberian-flagged vessel was set alight after coming under fire from unmanned boats on Tuesday evening off the coast of Sochi, and its crew of 23 people, all Indian citizens, was rescued, with preliminary information indicating no casualties, according to ABC News.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it struck the gas carrier MT Sunshine, later called NV Sunshine, which was attempting to transit via an unauthorized route in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz, according to TASS. The force said the vessel suffered a massive fire in the engine room and propulsion system, according to Al Jazeera. The IRGC warned that vessels violating its rules and passing through the Strait of Hormuz would be punished, according to the Hindustan Times.

With the US-Asia arbitrage closed for the time being, Asian refiners are ditching US oil and considering buying more of the United Arab Emirates’ Murban grade, according to OilPrice. The interest hiked the premium of Murban crude over the Dubai quotes to more than $11 per barrel on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the country would not launch new military strikes against Iran before the November 3 congressional midterm elections, according to The Media Line. “We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd,” he wrote. The announcement helped ease market concerns: Brent crude fell to about $103 a barrel on Friday, after climbing above $104.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Ahmad Vahidi said that no extra-regional power has the right to threaten, establish a domineering presence in, or interfere in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, according to Mehr News. Brent was trading at $102.83 and WTI at $90.33, up on the week after tanker attacks, with only seven vessels crossing the strait on Tuesday, the lowest figure since late July, according to OilPrice.

France and Saudi Arabia are studying options involving French military assets to protect the Yanbu oil terminal, France’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General Fabien Mandon, said in a parliamentary hearing, according to Middle East Eye. France has already deployed around 2,000 troops to the region to protect Gulf allies, including Qatar and Kuwait, Mandon added.

Iranian attacks hit at least nine vessels in the Strait of Hormuz last week, a level of attacks on shipping not seen since July, according to The Washington Post. The uptick came after the Trump administration celebrated that US naval escorts had allowed oil flows to reach nearly prewar levels.

Brent crude rose more than 5% to more than $105 per barrel, with U.S. crude up almost 5% to nearly $93, according to NBC News. The White House asked the Pentagon to draw up options for a possible resumption of attacks on Iran before the November 3 vote, according to NBC News and the Atlantic, cited by Quartz. In Brazil, oil prices surged on the threat of new U.S. attacks on Iran, according to Opera Mundi.

India's continued purchases of Russian oil could pose a fresh hurdle in talks for an interim trade deal with the US, according to Bloomberg, in a text published by Mint. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Thursday that a deal with India was not on the cards soon, citing Russian oil as a point of friction, according to CNBC. In September, India's imports of Russian crude declined to around 1.75 million barrels per day, the lowest level since April, according to PTI, in a text published by Mint.

The World Bank projects a 2.1% contraction in 2026 for the economies of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Gulf Cooperation Council states shrinking by an average of 4.3%, according to the Jerusalem Post. Qatar and Kuwait are the hardest hit, with GDP contracting 20.9% and 14.6% respectively, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia are the least affected, at 1.6% and 2.0%. The bank attributes the decline to the closure of Hormuz: Gulf oil production fell from a prewar average of about 26 million to about 16 million barrels a day in March, according to The National.

Brent crude rose by 3.8% to $104 a barrel on Thursday. The White House has asked the Pentagon to draw up options for strikes against Iran before the US midterm elections, according to a report in The Atlantic cited by The Guardian. Attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz reached their highest levels of the war, cutting traffic through the waterway.

Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until the country’s problems are resolved, according to the IRNA news agency, cited by TASS. Mokhber added that Tehran is “changing its strategy in proportion to changes in the adversary’s strategy.”

US President Donald Trump said the conflict with Iran will end soon, bringing down global oil prices, and that there is no longer a nuclear weapon threat in Iran, according to TASS.

The number of tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz fell to a two-month low amid renewed attacks, with crude down 27% from the previous week's high to at least 10.1 million barrels a day and at least 12 tanker attacks between September 28 and October 2, according to OilPrice.

Brent climbed back above US$ 100, trading at US$ 102.50, up more than 2% from Wednesday’s close, according to OilPrice. There were a dozen attacks between September 28 and October 2, according to data from a US Navy-led information outlet cited by Reuters, and tanker traffic dropped sharply — Tuesday’s flows were the lowest since late July, according to Kpler.

A tanker 51 nautical miles north of Madinat ash Shamal, Qatar, reported being struck by multiple projectiles, with casualties, according to the British agency UKMTO — which said authorities were investigating and advised caution in transit, without specifying the ship’s origin.

An adviser to the Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammadreza Naqdi, told the Fars news agency that transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz deemed illegal by Iran will soon be closed, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Devdiscourse. According to Naqdi, those routes were opened by blasting rocky passages in the waterway and would be used by small boats to smuggle oil, according to The Telegraph India.

Analyst Michelle Brohard of Kpler said she suspects Gulf countries pay Iran for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, possibly 10% to 20% of the cargo. The report itself notes that the suspicion has not been independently verified and that there is no public proof of a systematic state toll system, according to Al Jazeera, in a text republished by Yahoo.

The Iran war pushed about 25 countries to adopt structural electrification policies since March, according to ABC News, in a text by OilPrice, after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted oil and gas flows. COP31, in Türkiye, will ask countries to meet 35 percent of global energy demand with electricity by 2035, up from 23 percent today. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that 80 million kilometres of new or retrofitted lines are needed by 2040, and a report by consultancy Bain & Company found that between 50 percent and 60 percent of renewable projects in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia were cancelled or delayed from 2021 to 2025.

Iraq devalued its currency on Wednesday, changing the official exchange rate from around 1,300 dinars to the U.S. dollar to 1,500 dinars to the dollar, according to AP. The central bank said the new rate had been decided at a Cabinet meeting the night before to meet the relevant financial, economic and monetary requirements. The gap between the official and parallel rates had widened in recent months as a result of the U.S.-Iran war, which has sometimes spilled over into Iraq, and disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian armed forces will soon block illegal routes used to transport oil through the Strait of Hormuz, said Mohammad Reza Naghdi, an adviser to the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), according to TASS, citing the Fars agency. Naghdi said the volume of oil transported illegally through the strait is extremely small, carried in small vessels up to tankers.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Athens that Iran has lost complete control of the Strait of Hormuz, that the strait is open, that almost as much oil is flowing out as before the conflict began and that Tehran’s economy is in “total and complete freefall,” according to Al Arabiya English.

Countries in Central Asia began buying oil from Iran as the Russian fuel supplies they long depended on ran dry amid Ukraine’s mounting attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, according to Al Jazeera. Tajikistan expects to receive 2.55 million tonnes of oil and petroleum products from Iran.

The 23 crew members, all Indian citizens, were rescued from the Liberian-flagged tanker attacked by naval drones, while crude oil is burning openly in the Black Sea waters and firefighters could not tackle the blaze due to its intensity, according to The Hindu, citing Russia’s transport ministry for the attack and the burning oil.

Brent rose 93 cents, to $101.51 a barrel, according to Mehr News. The gains reflected supply fears from a storm heading for US oil-producing regions and attacks by Yemen’s Ansarullah movement on Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Mehr News. Brent for December delivery stood at $101.45 as of 02:30 GMT, up 0.87%, according to Al Jazeera.

The Panama-flagged tanker On Peace was struck 9 nautical miles off Limah, Oman, and caught fire, according to Oman’s Ministry of Defence. Oman’s air force evacuated 10 crew members and took them to Khasab hospital. Of the 19 crew members, 12 were injured, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

Venezuela’s Cardón refinery halted after a fire, according to sources cited by Reuters. Authorities managed to fully extinguish and control the fire, which started at 3:25 p.m. on Tuesday, October 6, according to Noticia al Día.

Vitol’s chief executive said around 14 million barrels per day are leaving the Middle East — 12 million barrels per day of crude and 2 million of products —, according to Reuters. Executives say the world has nearly burned through its oil stockpile buffer, according to Reuters.

Argentina's Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said that preventing the Falkland Islands from exploiting their offshore oil is part of a strategy to recover sovereignty peacefully, in a speech to an audience that included the British ambassador. Quirno accused the UK of refusing to negotiate and of advancing the Sea Lion project in the North Falkland Basin. On 28 September, Milei gave the UK a two-week deadline to stop the oil project or face arbitration and a binding decision under annex VII of the UN convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS).

ASEAN energy ministers are meeting this week to discuss regional energy security against supply disruptions caused by the US-Israel war on Iran, and the 11 members imported about half of their oil needs from the Middle East before the war that began in late February and were left exposed to the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera. Saudi Aramco chief Amin Nasser said the conflict reduced oil supply from the region by nearly 3bn barrels, with over 1bn barrels released from reserves, and estimated that less than 6bn barrels of commercial inventories remain, according to the Middle East Eye.

US President Donald Trump blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for high gasoline prices on Monday, according to G1. Trump said, in a post on the Truth Social network, that gasoline is being driven up by Russia's refineries hit by Ukraine, and no longer by the Strait of Hormuz, from which record numbers of barrels are coming out on an almost daily basis, according to Gulf News, in a text from the AFP. Prices have been high since the start of the year, when the United States launched its attack against the Iranian regime alongside Israel and Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation, according to G1.

A Kpler analyst suspects there is a toll being paid to Iran for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera. Provisional data from the consultancy show crude exports from the region exceeded pre-war levels on four days in the final week of September, reaching between 19.5 and 22.5 million barrels per day. Abdul Khalique, head of the Liverpool John Moores University Maritime Centre, told Al Jazeera that no public proof confirms a systematic, state-run Iranian toll system.

Saudi Aramco’s chief executive said, according to Reuters, that replenishing global crude and fuel stocks could take two years. According to Nasser, Saudi Arabia’s maximum sustainable production capacity of 12 million barrels per day could be made available within days, and Aramco is studying new routes to bypass Hormuz.

The British center United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported a possible shelling of a tanker near Yemen’s coast, according to TASS. The report describes an incident 60 nautical miles south of Al Mukha; the Company Security Officer said the tanker sighted multiple explosions close to the vessel. The crew are reported safe and no environmental impact has been reported, and the vessel’s name and port of registry were not disclosed.

Crude exports from the Middle East exceeded pre-war levels on September 24 and between September 27 and 29, rising to between 19.5 million barrels per day and 22.5 million bpd, according to Reuters, in text republished by The Hindu; the 7-day moving average stood at 18.5 million bpd on October 1, with at least seven incidents reported, according to a Marisks report on Saturday, October 3.

Iran’s petroleum minister, Mohsen Paknejad, resigned and President Masoud Pezeshkian named Hamid Bovard as caretaker head of the Oil Ministry. No reason was given for the resignation. Paknejad had held the post since August 2024 and leaves it as the seven-month war between Iran and the United States pressures the country’s economy, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu. Bovard was managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that if the enemies again choose the path of military confrontation, they will receive a stronger response than before, according to the Tehran Times. Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said that the viewpoints received from Washington on Iran's seven-day proposal for the Strait of Hormuz are under study in Tehran, according to Mehr News.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz will only reopen when the United States meets seven conditions of the Islamabad Memorandum, according to Iranian state media cited by the Hindustan Times. Iran presented a proposal at the United Nations General Assembly to reopen Hormuz within seven days if the conditions are met, and the United States replied through Qatari intermediaries, according to the Hindustan Times. Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US response is under review and that some points still need to be communicated to Washington through mediators.

OPEC+ is expected to keep its oil production targets steady for November, according to a Reuters report cited by Mehr News. Gulf producers have seen exports fluctuating between 60 and 80 percent below normal levels in recent months, according to the same report.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country will double down on attacking Russian oil refineries in response to a new policy of airstrikes by Moscow, according to CNBC. Zelensky said intelligence documents show an order from Vladimir Putin to expand attacks on infrastructure, logistics, roads, schools and hospitals to pressure civilians into leaving cities, according to ABC News. According to him, Ukraine's response will target Russian energy, especially refineries, without indiscriminately attacking civilian objects, according to The Independent.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until seven Iranian conditions set out in a June interim agreement with the United States are met, according to The Hindu. Qalibaf said Iran's position is clear and firm and cited the Islamabad Memorandum, according to Nournews.

Saudi Arabia has not reported an attack on Aramco in Riyadh, nor has the state oil giant commented on the cause of the fire, according to Al Jazeera. The Saudi-led coalition said it carried out 97 “precise targeting operations” against Houthi reinforcements on the Tor al-Baha front and the Taiz axis, according to the Yemeni government.

At least three tankers were struck by unidentified projectiles in and around the Strait of Hormuz since October 1, according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) warnings. In its weekly review released on October 2, UKMTO said 91 incidents of damage to vessels have been reported since February. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is “ironclad” and that US President Donald Trump has “all the options he needs on the table” if Iran continues to “play games” with the strait, according to the Associated Press, in a report carried by the Times of Israel.

The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the group struck an oil facility in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, claiming the attacks caused fires. In a post on X, he said the strikes were a response to Saudi air raids on territory the group controls in Yemen, including Sanaa. An AFP journalist at the scene reported seeing fire engines trying to extinguish a blaze at Aramco’s Riyadh refinery, with ambulances and police vehicles stationed nearby.

Crude shipments from the Gulf region returned to pre-war levels between September 1 and 28, with at least 16.5 million barrels per day, according to maritime intelligence and research firm Kpler, in a report by The Times of India. Before the war, 83% of the region’s crude crossed the Strait of Hormuz; in September, 40% was exported through pipelines in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) without crossing the strait. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said member countries had released 325 million barrels of oil and oil products from strategic reserves, out of 400 million barrels pledged in March.

The Iraq Oil Tankers Company transported two million barrels of Iraqi crude aboard a very large crude carrier (VLCC) through the Strait of Hormuz, its director general said in a statement, describing it as the company’s first such operation in decades, according to Middle East Eye.

Flames and smoke were seen rising from a facility belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco south of Riyadh on Saturday, an AFP journalist at the scene said. A large plume of smoke and fire was seen in the vicinity of an Aramco facility in the Saudi capital, a witness told Reuters, in a text republished by Middle East Eye.

Talks between the United States and Russia to end the war in Ukraine have expanded to include a proposed multibillion-dollar deal for Lukoil’s international oil assets, according to the New York Times, in a text republished by the Times of India. Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the proposed transaction when he met Witkoff and Kushner at the Kremlin, on September 5, according to people familiar with the meeting. A group led by US investor Todd Boehly has emerged as the leading bidder, alongside Middle Eastern investors and the US government.

Four people were arrested after drones attacked the Zawiya oil station in western Libya and caused a fire, according to the Guardian. Three Libyans arrested were linked to Saddam Haftar, son of the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, who faces allegations he oversaw a “terror cell” that launched drone attacks on fuel facilities and power stations. The Tripoli-based Government of National Unity says working with Saddam Haftar is “impossible”. The tank that was hit held about 4.5 million litres of fuel.

The Group of Seven (G7) has agreed to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel to ease the supply pressures that have sent prices soaring, according to BBC News. The coordinated release through the International Energy Agency (IEA) begins immediately and runs for four months, with a substantial share of diesel frontloaded into the first 20 days, according to the BBC. The group's members also agreed to refrain from export restrictions on energy and energy products among themselves. US President Donald Trump took credit on Friday for the release of European diesel and said he asked allies to help bring down soaring fuel prices, the Associated Press reported.

The master of a crude oil tanker reported being struck by an unknown projectile 4 nautical miles east of Oman, according to Middle East Eye, citing the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). The British maritime security agency said all crew are reported safe and no environmental impact is currently reported, and advised vessels to transit with caution. Türkiye Today reported, citing a British maritime security agency, that a tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, igniting a fire aboard.

The Group of Seven (G7) agreed to release 100 million barrels of their energy reserves to help bring down diesel prices. The release begins immediately, over four months, and includes a frontloaded substantial diesel release. The group also reiterated its commitment to avoid export restrictions on energy products between G7 countries, condemned Iran’s attack on its neighbours and said it will maintain sanctions against Russia.

The United States asked the European Union to release 120 million barrels of diesel from national strategic reserves over 180 days, according to Al Jazeera. EU countries agreed that further diesel stock releases should include a US commitment to avoid a unilateral diesel export ban.

The European Union rejected the US threat to ban any diesel exports unless the bloc releases more of its fuel stocks, France 24 reported. “We fully reject any ban on diesel. A ban would not be beneficial to anyone. It would undermine our trust in the United States as a reliable partner,” European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said. The 27-nation bloc was ready to work with the International Energy Agency (IEA) on the possible release of fuel reserves to contain prices, she added. Average US diesel prices have surged more than 70 percent to $6.39 a gallon since the start of the Iran war, according to motorists’ association AAA.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) delayed its production capacity review that will set members’ 2027 oil output quotas, after the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupted expansion projects in the Middle East, according to Reuters. Completion was due by the end of September 2026 and is now expected by mid-November, one of the sources said.

The United Kingdom relies on the United States for about 30% of its diesel and holds reserve supplies for 42 days, and transport minister Keir Mather said on Friday that the country has a wide range of fuel sources and is in talks with other European countries, according to The Guardian. Europe is weighing the release of new diesel stocks under pressure from the United States, according to sources cited by Reuters.

Chinese refiners suspended oil product exports planned for October, four people briefed on the matter told Reuters, to preserve domestic stocks. China canceled some October exports, including diesel and gasoline, to ensure domestic demand, according to Sputnik Globe, citing Bloomberg.

Three tankers linked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) struck in the Strait of Hormuz were already on the waterway non-compliance list, according to Mehr News. The vessels were identified as Al Ruwais, Sinbad and Mersin Prosperity, according to Al Bawaba.

US President Donald Trump said the US could ask European countries to release diesel reserves amid rising prices linked to the war on Iran. US diesel hit a record of $6.53 per gallon a week ago, while 12 EU member states recorded new all-time highs, according to European Commission data cited by Al Jazeera. France and Germany hold more than a third of the EU’s strategic diesel reserves, according to Reuters, as cited by Al Jazeera.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X that Iran loaded no crude oil onto tankers in September, according to Middle East Eye. The United States has blockaded Iranian ports since April to try to thwart Iranian exports, the most profitable of which is oil. Tanker-tracking data shows Iran loaded no new crude oil in September, according to Times Now.

An oil supertanker is in flames in the Strait of Hormuz after it was hit by a missile, Iran’s Fars news agency reported, in an account published by Middle East Eye. The attack took place eight kilometres off the coast of Oman, Fars reported, without attributing a perpetrator.

The Government of Canada officially listed the new West Coast oil pipeline, now known as Pacific Link, as a project of national interest, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced. According to the government, the project will allow Canada to export an additional one million barrels a day to growing markets in Asia, reducing its dependence on the United States. Al Jazeera described Pacific Link as the pipeline Canada intends to fast track to diversify its economy away from the US.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the offer to transfer part of Iran's enriched uranium to Russia remains on the table and that everyone had initially agreed, according to TASS. Putin also said he hopes the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and sanctions on Iran will be lifted, according to the agency.

Crude oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz have largely returned to levels seen before the Iran war, and about 40% of the region’s crude is now transported without transiting the strait, compared with 17% before the war, through Saudi and Emirati pipelines, according to The Guardian. At least 16.5 million barrels per day (bpd) left the region in September, equalling the pre-war average, excluding Iran, according to the global trade intelligence firm Kpler.

The average price of diesel in Europe hit an all-time high of 2.24 euros ($2.53) per litre, according to European Commission data cited by Mehr News. Since the US-Israeli war on Iran, gasoline and diesel prices have rocketed due to decreases in supply and pauses in refining.

Three Liberian-flagged oil tankers were struck by unknown projectiles while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, according to Marisks, cited by Reuters. The vessels were moving through the strait with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders turned off to avoid detection, according to a Marisks report released on Wednesday, and the tanker Al Ruwais had conducted a ship-to-ship transfer off Sohar, Oman, in late September to discharge diesel, according to Kpler data, according to Middle East Online.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said it has redirected 125 commercial vessels since mid-July, when the country resumed its naval blockade against Iran, according to TASS. The command said its forces redirected the vessels “to ensure strict compliance,” in a tally dated September 30. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is operating in the Arabian Sea in support of the blockade, according to Iran International, citing CENTCOM. President Donald Trump said the United States has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, a situation he described as “always subject to change”.

Iran’s conditions for fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz [include an end to US military and economic pressure, the release of frozen or restricted assets and agreement on a safe shipping route], according to the Anadolu Agency. The proposal was conveyed to Washington through Qatar, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has received the US response, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani confirmed on Wednesday. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran is making every possible effort to ensure the success of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, and Iran says the Strait of Hormuz will not fully reopen until its conditions are met and US commitments implemented. According to the Hindustan Times, the government of Donald Trump had publicly rejected Tehran’s latest proposal to end the war, which the outlet describes as being in its seventh month.

Five crew members of the Palau-flagged oil tanker MT Honour 25 were killed by pirates off the coast of Somalia, before security forces rescued the ship, according to Somali authorities. Among the dead were three from Pakistan, one from Myanmar and one from India. The ship, which was carrying 18,500 barrels of oil and had been seized on April 21, was freed in the rescue operation.

The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, reportedly said in a public video conference on Tuesday, responding to recent comments by US President Donald Trump about the Strait of Hormuz, that in a region where Iran cannot sell oil no one else will sell oil either, and that if Iran’s security is not guaranteed no infrastructure will remain safe, according to AFP, in a report published by the Hindustan Times.

Argentina's president, Milei, has threatened to launch a legal challenge against the British government unless oil exploration off the coast of the Falkland Islands is halted, the BBC reported. Milei said he had instructed the Foreign Ministry and legal teams to initiate arbitration proceedings against the United Kingdom for what he called the illegal sacking of resources through the Sea Lion Project in the North Falklands Basin, France 24 reported. The project's companies, Israel's Navitas and Britain's Rockhopper, shrugged off Argentina's threats, insisting they have valid exploration licenses issued by the United Kingdom.

Oil pushed higher as Iran and the US appeared far apart on a new ceasefire deal for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Bloomberg, in a text republished by the Hindustan Times. Brent was near $108 a barrel, climbing more than 3%, after discussions between the two sides appeared to hit fresh snags.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) rejected the claim that Iran fully controls the Strait of Hormuz, saying in a post on X that such claims “are false” and that Iran “has no navy because American forces sank it”. According to CENTCOM, more than 1 billion barrels of oil have recently passed through the strait, demonstrating that Iran does not control the waterway, Middle East Eye reported.

Bessent said Iran’s oil shipments have been successfully blocked by the US and the West and that the country’s last batch, of about 15 million barrels, is on its way to China. He told Fox News that Iran will make its final oil deliveries to China and that, after that, it will have nothing to trade for anything, probably within the next two weeks.

US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian offer of a seven-day truce and of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Middle East Eye, and Brent climbed back above $106 a barrel. Brent futures rose more than 1% to $105.64 a barrel, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $93.11, according to the Mehr News Agency. Despite the rejection, Trump said he expects negotiations to resume, but said Tehran “overplayed their hand,” still according to the Middle East Eye.

Saudi Arabia is exporting 6 million barrels per day of crude oil in September, equivalent to the country’s monthly average in 2025, according to CNBC, with data from Kpler. Riyadh ramped up exports even after closing the critical East–West oil pipeline due to damage sustained in a drone attack, according to CNBC. Flows through Hormuz reached a seven-day average of 13.2 million barrels per day, compared with around 17 million before the Iran war, according to Kpler, via CNBC.

US President Donald Trump said Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Kyiv may ease strikes on Russian oil refineries, according to TASS. In an interview, Zelensky said he would only stop the strikes if a ceasefire were established with Moscow and declared that “our lives are more important than the price of energy” while defending his strikes against Russian oil refineries, according to Yahoo News.

Russia’s ambassador to India, Denis Alipov, said Russia is ready to supply India with as much oil as the country needs, according to TASS. Alipov said the United States will seek to contain India as the country grows stronger and emerges as a global power. According to him, BRICS countries support the use of national currencies as an alternative to the US dollar, without opposing the American currency.

A senior State Department official said the United States wants to become a huge source of India’s energy needs and cited the U.S. operation in Venezuela as a factor opening that market to countries like India, according to The Hindu. The official spoke after Donald Trump signed into law, last week, the act authorizing him to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian oil and gas, including China and India.

The United States is weighing a ban on diesel exports, and the European Union has already reacted. According to The Guardian, Donald Trump is considering a 90-day export ban to provide a temporary respite from high pump prices for American households before the midterm elections, after US diesel reached a record average of $6.52 a gallon. The EU warned Trump against the plan to block exports to the global market, saying the move would negatively affect Europe and the United States. According to The Wall Street Journal, EU officials say they are in talks with the Trump administration to head off export controls.

India told Washington that the new sanctions law against Russia and Iran could affect bilateral ties and the international energy market, according to Shafaqna India, citing a statement from the Indian government. The bill authorises President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries that keep buying Russian oil and gas, with India among those exposed, as reported by Streamline Feed from Al Jazeera and The Times of India. New Delhi says its energy policy will keep being guided by energy security for its 1.4 billion people, with diversified sourcing, according to the Economic Times.

The average price of a gallon (3.79 liters) of diesel in the United States was $6.50 on Friday, up from $5.61 a month earlier, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks fuel prices daily. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he had urged aides to consider keeping more diesel at home: “I’ve said let’s not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel,” he said. Energy analysts and industry groups warn that an export ban could have unintended consequences and push fuel prices up in the United States and abroad.

The European Union (EU) is facing an energy price crisis tied to a supply crisis, the bloc’s energy commissioner, Dan Jorgensen, wrote in a letter to energy ministers, according to Reuters, via Al Arabiya. In the letter, Jorgensen urged countries to consider measures to curb energy demand. The European Commission presented the AccelerateEU package, with short-term and structural measures to reduce reliance on volatile fossil markets, answering a request from the March 19, 2026 European Council.

The Novoshakhtinsk refinery in the Rostov region temporarily suspended operations after a drone attack, the Straits Times reports, citing governor Yuri Slyusar. Russian air defenses destroyed about 50 drones over the region overnight, and the export-oriented refinery — with annual capacity of 5 million metric tons — halted activity, according to the same Straits Times report.

Saudi Arabia is meeting military chiefs from Pakistan and Türkiye to discuss options under the Mecca pact, as France confirmed it is sending soldiers, radars and defense systems to guard the Yanbu oil terminal, according to Al Jazeera. The Houthis launched an offensive along the Red Sea coast this month, amid the U.S.-led war against Iran, with fighting spreading across Yemen, according to The Washington Post.

Ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Gulf of Oman have reached their limits after Saudi Arabia diverted exports from the Red Sea, according to Reuters via The Hindu. Saudi crude exports via the Strait of Hormuz were on track to rebound to 3.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, up from about 900,000 bpd in August, according to data from analytics firm Kpler cited in the report. State-run Saudi Aramco has sold more than 60 million barrels for transfer off Sohar, Oman, this month and next, since its East–West Pipeline was attacked on September 13.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Thursday, 24 September 2026, that Tehran had given the United States a proposal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks on ending the war within seven days. The text has not been released. Regional sources cited by The National describe a regionwide ceasefire of up to 60 days, a phased reopening of the Strait and an end to the US blockade. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a Fox News interview that the choice rests with Washington: “It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not.”

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted six Houthi ballistic missiles on Thursday, 24 September 2026, thwarting attacks on Taif and Yanbu, after warnings were issued for several regions of the kingdom, including Mecca. French President Emmanuel Macron said France planned to send “military assets, meaning soldiers, radars and defence systems to protect” the Red Sea oil terminal of Yanbu.

Iran’s Oil Ministry said about 50% of the damaged capacity at the South Pars gas field has returned to service, after the Israeli strike of 18 March 2026 that halted output at two refineries in the Asaluyeh complex and cut Iranian gas flows to Iraq, as The National reported at the time. The deputy oil minister for planning said production in that section resumed by 22 September 2026 and that the recovery program will be completed before winter begins, according to Mehr News. The field supplies about 75% of the country’s gas consumption and underpins nearly 80% of its electricity generation, according to a report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty carried by GlobalSecurity.org.

Envoys of US President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi for about three hours on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York — the first round of talks since the June ceasefire collapsed, according to the BBC. The meeting was mediated by Qatar and no breakthrough was announced; Witkoff said a round of discussions had been completed “that we hope will prove constructive and promising,” and Tehran repeated its demand that Washington end its “acts of aggression.” Hours earlier, in the address that opened the Assembly, Trump said he would decide between a deal with Iran and “annihilating the Islamic Republic,” and said he believed a deal would come right after November’s congressional elections. Oil prices fell after the talks were announced, according to Gulf News, which carries the Associated Press coverage.

Three commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, below the 10-day moving average of about 15, according to preliminary Kpler data cited by Reuters and carried by Middle East Eye. All three were exiting the waterway, and the figure may change because some ships switch off their transponders on the crossing; the ballast liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Al Mafyar reappeared inside the strait on Tuesday, after last being seen outside it on 19 September 2026, according to Kpler and LSEG data. At Bab el-Mandeb, 22 commodity vessels crossed on the same day, against an average of about 26 over the previous 10 days. Before the US–Iran war that began on 28 February 2026, the strait handled about 125 large commercial vessels a day — the equivalent of a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Maritime risk consultancy Marisks said on Tuesday that the Isle of Man-flagged crude oil tanker LR Stephanie was struck by an unidentified projectile while entering the waterway on Monday, 21 September 2026, injuring two crew members, and that the Liberia-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier Al Maryah, managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), was struck while outbound on Sunday, 20 September 2026; neither incident has been claimed, according to the Reuters dispatch.

France’s government announced on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, a €450 million aid package to blunt a fuel price surge that pushed the average diesel price to €2.39 a litre. The spending lifts the state’s total for the year to €1.4 billion, Budget Minister David Amiel said. The main measure doubles, from €0.20 to €0.40 a litre, the subsidy for low-income workers who drive for a living and expands the number of beneficiaries from 3 million to 5.5 million, government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said. The tax-exempt ceiling on the fuel allowance employers can pay rises from €600 to €1,000 a year. Aid to fishing, farming and construction was extended to 31 December 2026, and fishermen who blocked Mediterranean ports last week will have up to 70% of their cost increase covered, plus access to zero-interest loans. Economy and Finance Minister Roland Lescure said there was no concern about supplies over the next two months. The surge stems from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel bombed Iran in February 2026, according to Politico and the Xinhua news agency, in a dispatch carried by Big News Network.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, on expectations that Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and that Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline is back in service, then erased much of the drop after US President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly he believes a deal with Iran is possible after November’s midterm elections. Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, fell 2.64 per cent to $97.69 a barrel at 3.09pm UAE time, while West Texas Intermediate dropped 3.20 per cent, according to The National, of Abu Dhabi. Earlier, Brent had fallen 3 per cent to $97.43 and US crude as much as 3.5 per cent to $92.40, according to NBC News. After Trump’s speech, US crude was back around $96 and Brent briefly rose above $100 again, NBC News reported. “I believe we will make a deal right after the election because it does not make sense for them not to,” Trump told the assembly. “Oil prices will come plummeting down, even lower than they were at the start of the conflict.” Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency called the reports about the reopening of Hormuz “unreliable and untrue”, according to NBC News, which says it has not confirmed them. Only two visible commercial vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, 21 September 2026, against about 125 a day before the war began on 28 February 2026, according to preliminary shipping data cited by The National. The US national average diesel price hit a record on Tuesday at $6.52 a gallon, up 82 per cent since the start of the year, according to NBC News.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that he backs banning US diesel exports, a step farm-state lawmakers have demanded as fuel costs soar: “I’ve said let’s not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel. I’ve called for it. I’ve called for it within my people,” he told reporters at United Nations headquarters in New York, ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Reuters, in a dispatch carried by The Sacramento Bee. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the same meeting that the administration is examining whether a ban is feasible and whether a full or partial ban would work. Diesel prices have hit records in the United States and Europe because the wars in Iran and Ukraine have cut exports from some of the largest producers, such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; the average US pump price rose above $6.50 a gallon, a record, according to AAA as cited by Bloomberg. Trump’s backing puts him at odds with his own energy and interior secretaries. Chris Wright said a ban would create a glut of diesel on the Gulf Coast and push refiners to cut production, which would also reduce petrol supply, and argued for more supply. Doug Burgum said a ban would be unlikely to lower petroleum prices and could trigger retaliation from energy-exporting countries. A ban could ease prices on the Gulf Coast while tightening supplies further in Europe, which is structurally short of diesel and relies on US exports: “that would seem pretty damaging to some key U.S. allies,” said Jim Mitchell, director of oil trading analytics at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, according to Reuters.

Iran handed the United States its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz in a meeting between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. According to Iran’s state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), in an account carried by The Tribune, the demands are the immediate lifting of the naval blockade, the release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. The meeting was requested by Witkoff, the broadcaster said. Witkoff wrote on X, in a post carried by The Tribune, that the two sides held “lengthy talks” through mediators who “shuttled between the two sides throughout the day”: “They successfully completed a round of discussions that we hope will prove constructive and promising. The mediators will continue their work.” Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, told the Vedomosti newspaper that Washington will have to accept the new legal status of the Strait of Hormuz, which he said will be defined by Iran and Oman, according to TASS.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York and conveyed Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state television IRIB, cited by Middle East Eye: the immediate lifting of the naval blockade, the return of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war on all resistance fronts. The meeting confirms the direct contact that US president Donald Trump described earlier as a roughly three-hour meeting that was “very good” and “very productive”. The same day, the European Union (EU) high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Kaja Kallas, also met Araghchi to discuss free maritime passage in the strait and in Bab al-Mandab: “There were no tolls or fees for passage before the war, and there should be none after the war,” she wrote on X, according to Middle East Eye. Kallas said she also raised “domestic repression inside Iran, including the sharp rise in executions and death sentences”.

India and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) closed the seventh high-level meeting of the OPEC-India Energy Dialogue in New Delhi on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, with a pledge to deepen cooperation on market stability and investment, and set the next round for Vienna, according to a statement from India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas cited by Business Standard and News18. The meeting was co-chaired by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais. Puri said India will remain an “important driver of global energy demand in the decades ahead” and called for sustained dialogue between producers and consumers; Al Ghais said that “many of India’s energy priorities are OPEC’s priorities”. The dialogue was launched in New Delhi in 2015 and the eighth meeting will be held at the organisation’s headquarters in Vienna, with no date yet confirmed. The meeting took place with Brent crude above US$ 100 a barrel, after the conflict disrupted supplies for major consumers including India and China, according to Business Standard.

Saudi Arabia restarted its East–West pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu later on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, according to Reuters, which spoke to three sources briefed on the matter; the line is pumping at a low rate. The 1,200-kilometre pipeline runs from Abqaiq to Yanbu and lets the kingdom move crude without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It had been shut after drone attacks launched from Iraq. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said on 11 September that the conduit was halted “as a precautionary measure” after “multiple attacks” and that there were injuries, according to the state Saudi Press Agency; the following day the Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks and said the kingdom chose not to respond immediately, at the request of the Iraqi prime minister, according to the agency. Baghdad dismissed a military commander and opened an investigation after admitting the drones came from one of its provinces bordering Iran, according to BBC News.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday, September 21, 2026, that his talks with Donald Trump in New York were “very constructive” and that there was a willingness to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded during the war, according to the Hindustan Times. In the account he gave to reporters, “several solutions” were discussed that would allow, without a comprehensive deal, more container ships and tankers to move through the strait, along with the situation in the Red Sea, a route that has gained weight for oil shipments with Hormuz closed and where the seizure of a strategic strait by the Iran-backed Houthis has complicated navigation. On Ukraine, Macron said he pressed Trump to speed up the delivery of missile interceptors to Kyiv, “a defensive measure”, and said in a post on X that the two discussed the prospect of an “energy truce and a moratorium in the Black Sea”. Before the meeting, Trump had blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for part of the surge in diesel prices because of attacks on Russian refineries and called on him to stop hitting Russian diesel, according to Le Monde. Macron also met Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

The US national average price of a gallon of gasoline reached $4.48 on Friday, September 18, 2026, according to AAA as cited by The Associated Press, up roughly 17 cents in a week, 40 cents in a month and $1.27 from a year ago, at a time of year when prices usually fall. The national average diesel price hit $6.44 a gallon on Friday, 71% above its prewar level, with daily record highs since September 11, according to NBC News, which attributes part of the pressure to Russia’s extension of a diesel export ban through the end of September after Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy assets. Donald Trump said last week that the surge is an “inexpensive price to pay” for the war with Iran and publicly demanded that Volodymyr Zelenskyy stop striking refineries: “Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” he said, according to NBC News. A Fox News survey released on September 16, 2026, found that 61% of voters call gasoline prices a major problem for their household, against 48% two years earlier, and that nearly two-thirds, 63%, say the administration has made the economy worse, compared with 52% in September 2025. Early voting in the November 3 midterm elections is already under way, and G1 highlighted that the surge strains household budgets and deepens dissatisfaction with Trump.

The Kuibyshev refinery, one of the largest in Russia’s Samara region, was hit by drones overnight into Tuesday, 22 September 2026, and a major fire engulfed the plant, according to the Russian opposition outlet ASTRA, which geolocated footage filmed by residents, and the Kyiv Independent. Samara governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said “dozens of drones” struck industrial enterprises and that homes and vehicles were damaged, without reporting casualties. The refinery sits 765 kilometres from the Ukrainian border and can process up to 10,000 metric tons of oil a day, according to Reuters, and was already forced to halt operations by a strike on 10 June 2026. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it intercepted 297 drones over 14 regions and occupied Crimea — a figure that has not been independently verified — and the federal air transport agency restricted flights in Samara and other cities in the region overnight.

Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment told the TASS news agency that projected output on the country’s continental shelf amounts to 23 million tonnes of oil and 53 billion cubic metres of gas in 2026, with 2027 forecast at the same level, in line with the technical design documentation for the fields. The figures are projected levels set in the fields’ technical documentation and do not correspond to volumes already extracted, according to the ministry. Russia has 75 oil and gas fields on the continental shelf, 20 of them already producing.

Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez arrived in New York on Monday, September 21, for the United Nations General Assembly and is due to meet Donald Trump on Tuesday, September 22, on the sidelines of a reception hosted by the US president, according to Reuters. It is her first trip to the United States since she took office in January 2026 under Washington’s oversight, after a US military operation captured Nicolás Maduro, who is awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges in New York. Her delegation began discussing energy, debt and mining with counterparties in the United States, talks expected to lead to agreements under Trump’s plan to rebuild Venezuela’s key industries, Reuters reported, citing officials and sources. She met Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Ilan Goldfajn and, in separate meetings, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President Ajay Banga. The IDB is drawing up a two-year engagement plan for Venezuela focused partly on electricity and social protection, Goldfajn told Reuters. In August 2026, the two governments announced an oil agreement giving the United States 55% of the output of a new company with rights over 17 fields, according to the Associated Press (AP).

India’s largest refiners have begun seeking alternative crude cargoes for November delivery and may cut purchases of Russian oil after the US sanctions law raised the threat of tariffs of up to 100% on goods from countries that buy Russian energy, Bloomberg reported, citing people involved in the discussions. Russian imports have already eased and are expected to average about 1.9 million barrels a day in September, more than 35% of the total and the lowest since April, according to Kpler. India is the world’s third-biggest crude buyer and had taken more than half of its imports from Russia in some recent months. Iraq has emerged as the main alternative: 535,000 barrels a day in the first half of September, against an August average of 163,000 barrels a day, also according to Kpler. Replacing the Russian volumes will be hard: Urals delivered to India cost about US$133 a barrel at the end of last week, according to Argus Media, and negotiations for November cargoes begin in the final week of this month.

A Venezuelan delegation led by interim president Delcy Rodríguez began talks with US counterparts on energy, debt and mining on Monday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, according to Reuters, which cited officials and sources. Rodríguez first met Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) president Ilan Goldfajn and later, in separate meetings, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank president Ajay Banga, according to Venezuelan state television. One source said the visit would have ‘a big focus on debt restructuring, funds and payments’, and the talks are expected to lead to signed agreements; Venezuela’s sovereign debt and that of state oil company PDVSA are estimated by most analysts at between $150bn and $200bn. Rodríguez is scheduled to meet Donald Trump on Tuesday, according to US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz.

UK prime minister Andy Burnham said he has approved air-to-air refuelling support for Saudi jets to help counter the Houthis and keep Gulf oil flowing, his government’s first military deployment, according to The Guardian. He said he will use his first meeting with Donald Trump on Tuesday to press for de-escalation in the conflict with Iran. Britain already operates the Sky Sabre air defence system in Saudi Arabia, and the Houthis have advanced into areas adjacent to the Bab al-Mandab strait, an alternative route for Saudi oil exports.

Donald Trump’s administration has proposed investing $5 billion in a fund to rebuild Middle East energy infrastructure damaged in the war against Iran and to reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz for oil and gas transport, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited US and regional officials and documents. The proposal is under discussion with several countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the initial US contribution would be matched by partner countries, according to Investing.com. Reuters, which carried the report, said it could not immediately verify the information. The newspaper says the seven-month conflict damaged pipelines and refineries in the region. For Investing.com, the announcement suggests Washington needs to repair both Gulf infrastructure and confidence in the US partnership, after the region’s energy assets became targets, and it does not immediately remove the geopolitical risk premium priced into oil.

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) partially reduced output at the El Sharara field, one of the country’s largest, NOC chairman Massoud Suleman told Reuters on Monday. He gave no reason. Two engineers at the field told the agency output fell by about 200,000 barrels per day, to between 100,000 and 105,000 bpd; Libyan outlet Al Wasat puts the field’s total capacity at around 300,000 bpd. Last week the NOC warned it might declare force majeure after the illegal closure of a valve on the Hamada–Zawiya pipeline halted two fields in northwestern Libya, Al-Tahara and Al-Hamada; production there later resumed, according to the Libya Observer. Similar disruptions at El Sharara in recent years have come from protests, political standoffs and sabotage, and this time the company gave no reason.

Halliburton signed memorandums of understanding with Brazil’s Eneva and WESCA to assess and pursue oil and gas opportunities in Venezuela, the US oilfield services company said on Monday. The agreements are non-binding: they cover cooperation to identify opportunities and support field evaluation and development planning, with no obligation to invest, no set timeline and no disclosed revenue. The move follows the US capture of Nicolás Maduro in January and the easing of sanctions: in February the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) authorised the supply of goods, technology, software and services for oil and gas exploration and production in the country and gave BP, Chevron, Eni, Repsol and Shell broad scope to operate, according to Reuters.

Moscow’s refinery, owned by Gazprom Neft, has halted crude oil processing after fires broke out at both of its primary crude distillation units following a Ukrainian drone attack on 20 September, according to three industry sources cited by Reuters. The sources said repairs and the restart of operations could take several weeks. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Sunday that an industrial facility on the refinery’s premises had been damaged in the attack. The AVT-6 unit has a capacity of 21,400 metric tons per day, 53% of the total, and EURO+, 18,800 tons per day, the remaining 47%. According to the sources, the refinery processed 11.6 million tons of crude in 2024, about 230,000 barrels per day, and produced 2.9 million tons of gasoline, 3.2 million tons of diesel and 1.3 million tons of bitumen. Gazprom Neft did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The British agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a tanker was struck by an “unknown projectile” as it entered the Strait of Hormuz on Monday; two crew members suffered minor injuries and the vessel continued to its next port under its own power, with no environmental impact reported. UKMTO did not release the vessel’s identity or the origin of the projectile and said authorities are investigating, according to the Associated Press (AP) and the Anadolu Agency. A bulletin from the UKMTO-linked Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) lists four security incidents involving merchant vessels in the strait between September 14 and 18, three of them caused by unidentified projectiles.

Kpler data cited by Reuters shows 22 tankers, mostly very large crude carriers, left the Strait of Hormuz in the week of September 13 carrying 42 million barrels of crude, with Saudi Arabia and Iraq accounting for 43% of the volume each. The VLCC Pinios was transferring 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude off Fujairah on Monday to another VLCC, the New Constant, which is expected to head to China. Houthi attacks on Aramco’s East-West pipeline have pushed the Saudi state firm to increase exports through the strait this month, and there have been no visible loadings from the Red Sea port of Yanbu since September 16.

Yemen’s Houthis said they fired ballistic and cruise missiles and drones at Riyadh and at Aramco facilities in Yanbu, on the Red Sea coast, according to the group’s military spokesman, Yahya al-Sarea. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired at the capital, without confirming further strikes or casualties, according to the BBC, the Associated Press (AP) and Al Jazeera. AP notes it was the first time Riyadh has been targeted since the escalation with the Iran-backed Houthis opened a new front in the Iran war.

Ukraine launched more than 1,600 drones at Russia in the early hours of Sunday, about 450 of them towards Moscow, on the last day of Russia’s parliamentary election, according to Russian officials in reports by Reuters and Times Now; Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, called it “the most massive” attack on the capital and said one of the drones shot down on approach hit the Kapotnya refinery, run by Gazprom Neft, as well as a residential building. Russia’s Defense Ministry says it downed 1,100 drones nationwide, including over Crimea and the Black Sea, and Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said 249 were brought down over the region and that two people were killed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the operation hit an oil facility and a logistics site; Vnukovo airport suspended all operations and Sheremetyevo imposed “temporary restrictions”.

Donald Trump signed on Friday the Russia sanctions law that requires the US president to impose, within 30 days, tariffs of up to 100 percent on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas and duties of at least 500 percent on Russian goods, according to Reuters and Fortune. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia “does not threaten any state in Europe” and that the sanctions law does not help revive bilateral relations, according to Sputnik.

Iran’s Statistical Center reported that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell 10.1 percent between 21 March and 20 June, the first quarter of the Persian calendar, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to AFP and Al Jazeera. Oil and gas extraction fell 26.4 percent, GDP excluding oil dropped 4.6 percent and twelve-month average inflation reached 69.9 percent, according to the official figures.

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell threefold over the weekend, according to Reuters as cited by TASS, and a Reuters analysis describes shuttle transfers keeping oil moving “at a high cost”. The Hindustan Times reports a shortage of tankers pushing fuel prices up.

France: the government reports 11% of filling stations missing at least one product category (petrol or diesel), with diesel at EUR 2.402/l on 19 September, above April record, a sixth straight week of increases.

Around a dozen vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, according to Middle East Eye and Mehr News; Reuters reports traffic remains far below normal, with ships moving through ‘in a trickle’.

QatarEnergy said the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz may delay some of its expansion projects, according to Middle East Eye and Reuters.

Riyadh confirms October production cut

Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery in Moscow and killed two people on election day in Russia, according to Reuters, G1, the Hindustan Times and Mehr News; the mayor confirmed damage to the refinery. Moscow alleges election interference, the Hindustan Times reports, and Russia’s defence ministry said it downed every missile heading for the region, according to TASS.