Latest attacks
** Tehran has launched fresh attacks on US military bases in neighboring Gulf states, while Washington continued to strike sites across Iran overnight. Tehran said it had struck targets in the region, including in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, as a sixth day of renewed hostilities strained their preliminary deal to end the war.
US hits tanker
** The US has launched hellfire missiles at an oil tanker approaching Kharg Island on the fifth night of strikes in the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command (Centcom) said it had disabled the merchant vessel by firing a precision missile into the ship’s smokestack after it “ignited multiple warnings”. The Belma, a Curacao-flagged vessel, had been attempting to sail towards the island, Iran’s main oil export terminal, the agency added.
LNG
** The Iran crisis is creating even more momentum for investment in LNG projects outside the region, including the U.S. and Canada, S&P analysts say.
China
** China’s crude oil imports crashed to a decade-low in June as the reduced flows through the Strait of Hormuz hiked oil prices and reduced refiners’ appetite for costly crude. Overall Chinese imports of crude oil plunged by 41.3% in June from a year earlier, to just 29.27 million tons, or 7.12 million barrels per day (bpd), according to official Chinese customs data released on Tuesday.
Rare earth
** China’s share of rare earth element refining last year dropped to 84%, falling from 90% in 2024, with the U.S. claiming the bulk of its lost share, per a new International Energy Agency report.
US Energy
** Washington Tribes and nine environmental groups are suing the Trump administration over its decision to rescind the 50-year-old legal definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act.
** Baker Hughes Company announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Chart Industries, Inc. Chart Industries designs, engineers, and manufactures highly engineered equipment for liquid gas and molecule handling.
** Google’s electricity consumption rose more than 140% between 2021 and 2025 — already exceeding the outer bounds of projected growth modeled in a 2023 paper by Alex de Vries-Gao, a researcher at VU Amsterdam and founder of online platform Digiconomist.
** Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is pressing data center developers to sign a pledge ensuring costs aren’t shifted to ratepayers and vowing that they’ll “build, bring, or buy” new generation.
** AI-related demand within the largest U.S. power grid continues to keep pushing power bills higher for the 67 million Americans served by PJM Interconnection, the largest US power grid.
