Lifted
** The United States has temporarily lifted oil sanctions on Iran, allowing the country to sell its oil in U.S. dollars on the global market. This temporary measure enables Iran to sell freely at standard prices, as other major Gulf oil producers do. The 60-day sanctions exemption is part of several economic incentives intended to benefit Iran.
Stubborn Iran
** Tehran voiced Tuesday its intent to maintain control over the vital Strait of Hormuz, a crucial question in the Middle East war talks with Washington that just wrapped up in Switzerland. Vice President JD Vance called the negotiations a “very good foundation” for a final deal to end the conflict, noting on Monday that Washington suspended sanctions on Iranian oil.
Asian refiners
** A temporary U.S. sanctions waiver on Iranian oil sales is unlikely to draw orders from well-stocked Asian refiners, leaving independent Chinese refineries as the main buyer, trade sources and analysts said.
Departure hurt
** UAE’s exit from OPEC+ reduced the group’s share of crude oil production. OPEC (including the UAE) produced an estimated 28.0 million b/d of crude oil in 2025, 35% of total world crude oil production that year. Without the UAE’s contribution, the group’s share of world total crude oil production would have been 31% in 2025. The largest producer and most influential member of OPEC is Saudi Arabia, which was the world’s second-largest oil producer in 2025 (9.3 million b/d), after the United States, and held an estimated 11.6 million b/d of effective production capacity in 2025.
Wasted?
** The amount of natural gas burned at oil and gas production sites jumped 6% last year to its highest level since 2019, new World Bank data shows.
More disclosure
** UN Secretary-General António Guterres today pressed AI companies to better disclose land and water use and commit to powering every data center with renewables by 2030.
US Energy
** The Trump administration has released proposed revisions to two rules that govern oil and gas drilling on national public lands. According to an Interior department press release and proposed rules scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, the Bureau of Land Management is proposing to revise its oil and gas leasing rule and its methane waste rule to lower costs for oil and gas drilling companies and allow them to release more natural gas into the atmosphere.
** Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) announced $30.1 million in grant awards for 18 local and Tribal government efforts to adopt and implement policies that reduce emissions, improve air quality, lower energy costs, and promote energy-efficient housing people can afford.
** The Energy Department will make $17.5 billion in loans available for utilities to finance orders of large-scale nuclear reactors, the Wall Street Journal reports.
** Large loads, shorthand for energy-thirsty industrial projects that include data centers, “have not been a principal driver of price increases, and in some locations have led to deflationary pricing,” analysis from Columbia University’s energy think tank states.
