Houthis
** Ansarallah (also known as Houthi) forces swept through the remaining stretch of Yemen’s Red Sea coast in an 18-hour offensive, securing the coastline from Mocha south to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to Al Jazeera. Senior Iranian officials praised Ansarallah’s rapid advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coastline.
Houthi strike
** Houthis in Yemen have hit and damaged Saudi Arabia’s east-west oil pipeline. Fire and smoke could be seen coming from Saudi Arabia’s main East-West oil pipeline after a suspected strike by Houthi militants, according to reports citing video and satellite imagery.
Oil supplies
** For the first time since the Iran war started, the consulting firm S&P Global Energy no longer projects Middle Eastern crude production returning to prewar levels by the end of 2027 (not a typo!), reported Axios. Its analysis yesterday also sees the region’s exports staying depressed by 4-10 million barrels per day through 2027. These are wild numbers.
IEA
** The International Energy Agency forecast a whopping 2.5 million-barrel-per-day decline in global oil demand this year, which is over 900,000 more than its prior estimate. It sees recovery by about the same amount next year.
Oil slick
** An oil slick in the Strait of Hormuz has roughly doubled in size within a day, the environmental organization Greenpeace said, adding that the pollution may have originated from a tanker recently attacked by the United States. The environmental group said the crude oil tanker Riesco may be the source of the spill, as the vessel was last detected near the apparent origin of the pollution. No signal has been received from the tanker since then, Greenpeace said.
U.S. energy developments
** Americans have spent an extra $102 billion on gasoline and diesel due to the Iran war, and the tally is still rising, according to a real-time tracker from Brown University. That’s equivalent to roughly $780 per U.S. household since the conflict began at the end of February.
** Louisiana-based natural gas storage company, Black Bayou Energy Hub announced a $1.6 billion expansion of its Black bayou salt dome and related infrastructure near about a dozen major LNG export facilities. The Lafayette-based company is developing pipeline connections in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes to salt dome storage caverns capable of holding 34.7 billion cubic feet of gas.
** A new poll finds 57% of American voters say renewable energy advocates exaggerate just how cheap wind and solar power generation has become — but less than a third cite clean energy as a driver of higher power bills.
** The Korean government is reportedly planning to spend $120 billion to fund eight nuclear reactor projects in the U.S.
** House Republicans reportedly intend to bring legislation to the floor this coming week that aims to prevent data centers from boosting power bills. The bipartisan bill is modest — basically just urging state action — and largely reflects ongoing work. But the planned vote shows how the data center backlash is atop the political radar.
