Resumed fighting
** Israel struck the historic port city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least eight people, the Lebanese health ministry said. On Monday, Israel and Iran halted direct attacks on each other after an appeal by U.S. President Donald Trump for them to stop, but Tehran said it would resume hostilities if Israel continued to attack its ally, the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Rescued
** U.S. Central Command confirmed on Tuesday that two U.S. Army AH-64 Apache pilots were rescued near the Strait of Hormuz after their helicopter went down near the coast of Oman on Monday evening.
A U.S. official told ABC News that the pilots were rescued by an unmanned surface vessel — a maritime drone that picked them up and took them to land.
Russia’s oil shortage
** Ukraine’s sustained campaign of drone attacks on Russian-occupied territories is disrupting Moscow’s supply lines and intensifying a fuel crisis already triggered by long-range strikes on Russia’s oil refineries. Crimea – which Russia illegally annexed in 2014 – in particular has been experiencing serious logistical difficulties and shortages.
More coal
**A Rystad Energy report says Asia-Pacific thermal coal demand will climb another 150 tons through 2030, roughly half of which is expected to land in 2026 alone. The driver is a supply gap with a liquefied natural gas shortfall this year because of the fighting in the Middle East.
US Energy
** The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is down to its lowest levels since mid-2023, newly released Energy Department data shows. The SPR was down to 349.2 million barrels as of June 5, the lowest point since August 2023, and could soon reach its lowest point since the Reagan era.
** U.S. jet fuel production has hit record highs thanks to higher prices and overseas demand to make up for the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration. State of play: The estimated four-week production average surpassed 2 million barrels per day for the first time in the week ending May 1, the agency finds.
** Google and American Airlines just unveiled a deal that will help the aviation giant greatly boost its usage of low-carbon jet fuels. Under an agreement unveiled today, Google is buying SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) “certificates” from American that help offset the higher purchase cost compared to conventional jet fuel.
** The Republican-led House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider a package of bills this week aimed at speeding nuclear reactor licensing.
** A federal district judge tossed out an IRS policy that put new limits on wind and solar developers’ ability to tap rapidly sunsetting tax credits for new projects. Saturday’s decision nullified an IRS policy that said developers can no longer claim a project has begun construction if it has already incurred at least 5% of the costs.
** The House, by voice vote, approved legislation Monday to require the creation of a Bureau of Energy Security and Diplomacy within the State Department. The measure, if it becomes law, would effectively reverse the Trump administration’s 2025 dismantling of a similar bureau and movement of those functions into other offices.