What’s affecting oil prices?
A report by Pakistan’s Defense Minister that the U.S. and Iran were close to “some sort of an arrangement” appears to be threatened because of deadly attacks on cargo ships.
Houthi attack
At the southern end of the Red Sea, four crew members were killed in a suspected Houthi attack on a small cargo vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, Yemen’s Transport Ministry said. Two Yemeni rescuers from an anti-Houthi military group were also killed, Yemen’s Coast Guard said. The fatalities aboard the Egyptian-owned Tihamah, if confirmed, would be the first deaths on shipping by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis since the Iran war began.
Ship hit by US
** An American military helicopter struck a Panama-flagged vessel after it tried to bypass the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, U.S. Central Command said. It was unclear if there were casualties from the attack after a U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the Vela Nova’s engine room, according to CENTCOM. The ship’s civilian crew allegedly ignored repeated warnings from U.S. forces as they attempted to transit the Gulf of Oman.
Libya hit
** A drone has struck a power station at the Zawiya oil export terminal in Libya, suggesting continued attacks on one of the country’s main oil hubs. The power plant is in close proximity to the largest oil refinery in Libya, the AP noted in a report on the news. The attack follows earlier ones that caused an explosion at an oil storage tank. No one has claimed responsibility for the drone attacks, the AP also reported.
US energy developments
** President Donald Trump says Texas’ de facto moratorium on data centers is “a mistake” because the economic opportunity they present “could be bigger than oil.”
** Baker Hughes announced a multi-year contract with Kuwait Oil Company to accelerate technology innovation in the country’s upstream energy sector. The contract positions Baker Hughes as a key technology collaborator in the Ahmadi Innovation Valley (AIV), KOC’s flagship initiative aimed at establishing an in-country research and innovation hub to address its strategic oil and gas development priorities. Baker Hughes has been in Kuwait for more than four decades.
** Houston’s CenterPoint Energy announced a historic Customer Savings Initiative that offers the opportunity to save Texas electric customers, including CenterPoint’s Greater Houston residential, small & medium businesses, and commercial customers, more than $5 billion over the next decade.
** Phillips 66 , Kinder Morgan, Inc. and HF Sinclair Corporation announced they have finalized a joint venture agreement and made a final investment decision to move forward with the proposed Western Gateway Pipeline system. Under the joint venture, Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan and HF Sinclair will own 49.9%, 35.1% and 15% of the system, respectively. Western Gateway is a proposed 1,300-mile refined products pipeline system that would create a new fuel supply path from St. Louis, Missouri, and expanded Gulf Coast origin points to Arizona and California. With a design capacity of 230,000 barrels per day, the project is also being developed to allow for future expansion with limited capital and no new pipe necessary as future demand requires.
** Occidental Petroleum aims to begin operating the world’s largest carbon-removal facility at the end of this year and will look to data centers and power plants as customers.
