** Iran is building roadblocks at a key nuclear complex amid threats of a US or Israeli ground operation to seize its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. According to satellite imagery, the regime has blocked Isfahan’s three tunnel entrances with earthen berms, fences and piles of rubble.
** Tankers that want to pass through the Strait of Hormuz are being advised not to pay money to Iran to allow them through, after a ceasefire agreed on Tuesday failed to get traffic moving through the waterway again.
** Chinese independent refiners have bought Iranian oil at premiums to Brent for the first time in years, after benchmark prices fell and amid expectations that India might purchase more cargoes after Washington’s temporary waiver of sanctions.
** Brent crude oil prices have been above $100 recently following the joint US–Israel strike against Iran. Consumer fuel prices have also increased significantly due to the crisis in the Middle East. In the EU, petrol prices are about 15% higher and diesel prices around 30% higher in early April compared to late February 2026.
** Japan will release additional volumes of crude oil next month, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said today, confirming earlier reports about more releases from inventories to handle the supply squeeze resulting from the war in the Middle East.
US energy
** The largest reservoir in the U.S. has reportedly dropped several feet in recent weeks, nearing its record low, a new report reveals. Lake Mead, which is located on the Nevada-Arizona border, has dropped about six feet since March 1.
** Wisconsin is becoming an epicenter for U.S. data center development due to its abundant water, cooler temperatures, and relatively cheap land, raising tensions among landowners over water and energy use.
** The Missouri House passes a bill allowing utilities to charge customers for construction costs of new nuclear plants in a measure that would reverse a 50-year-old law.
** Hydropower production from dams along the Missouri River is expected to be about 20% below average this year as drought conditions persist, federal officials say.
** Residents in Festus, Missouri have voted to oust every incumbent on their City Council, in large part because the decision-makers had approved a controversial $6 billion data center in the area. Jefferson County, where the city is situated, voted overwhelmingly for Republicans in the 2024 elections.
** Federal data show coal plants in Washington state and Colorado were idle in January, defying Trump administration orders to keep operating beyond their scheduled December retirement dates, though the Colorado facility temporarily restarted this month.