Iranian drone attacks
** American military forces carried out strikes on an Iranian island abutting the Strait of Hormuz in response to attempted Iranian drone and missile attacks, the latest clash between the two countries as President Trump pushes to strike a longer-term agreement with Iran. U.S. Central Command said in a statement Tuesday it shot down three Iranian drones that targeted civilian mariners. Iran also launched ballistic missiles at U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf region that “all failed to hit their intended targets.”
Thousands stuck in the strait
** Despite the current ceasefire between the United States and Iran, it remains too risky to move the thousands of sailors stuck in the Gulf, the head of the U.N.’s shipping agency said. There are an estimated 20,000 seafarers aboard vessels stuck in the Gulf as Iran imposes restrictions on movements through the Strait of Hormuz.
Expensive tankers stalled
** When US and Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February, Qatar was among the first producers to find itself caught in the economic crossfire. Its giant LNG plant and a fleet of tankers — including some of the most expensive vessels in the world — were suddenly cut off.
Big Oil warnings
** Oil and gas traffic via the Strait of Hormuz may never go back to pre-war levels if Iran cements its hold over the chokepoint. The warnings come from several unrelated sources as the war continues to drag on, with some recovery in traffic but nowhere near pre-February 28 levels. Meanwhile, Big Oil is warning that the looming supply shortage is about to hit global markets in weeks.
Gas control
** Moscow – Authorities on the Crimean Peninsula – illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 – have introduced restrictions on petrol sales following Ukrainian drone attacks on oil facilities.
Drone attack on Russia
** Ukrainian drones struck a Russian fuel depot, oil pumping station and a refinery in an escalating campaign of strikes against energy infrastructure often hundreds of miles inside Russia. Kyiv said on Sunday it had struck the Lazarevo pumping station in the Kirov region, north-east of Moscow and about 800 miles ⁠from Ukrainian-held territory.
US Energy
** U.S. crude exports climbed to a record 5.6 million barrels per day in May as the Middle East crisis pushed up demand for the country’s oil from Asian and European refiners, ship tracking estimates showed on Monday.
** According to the industry publication Oil & Gas Journal, executives from companies such as Exxon and Chevron are already telling investment bankers we’re running out of time to open the Strait of Hormuz, and if that doesn’t happen, everything will get way, way worse.
** New York and six other Democratic-led states are challenging the Trump administration’s controversial efforts to pay private energy firms to abandon their U.S. offshore wind projects. On Tuesday, the coalition of blue states sued the U.S. Department of the Interior over its March agreement with French oil giant TotalEnergies.