Naval blockade turned 10 ships around in Strait of Hormuz
** The United States continued to mount a naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, exerting financial pressure on Tehran while at the same time choking off a source of oil amid a historic global shortage. Ten vessels have been turned around at the Strait of Hormuz during the first 48 hours of the U.S. blockade, complying with U.S. orders, according to U.S. Central Command.
Iranian oil tanker blocked in Strait
** The U.S. Navy prevented an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel from leaving Iran on Tuesday after it attempted to evade the maritime blockade that began Monday, U.S. Central Command announced. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance redirected the vessel back toward Iran after it fled Bandar Abbas, exited the Strait of Hormuz and was making its way along the Iranian coastline, according to a CENTCOM release.
Iran concedes in naval blockade
** Iran could let ships sail freely through the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz without risk of attack under proposals it has offered in talks with the U.S., providing a deal is clinched to prevent renewed conflict, a source briefed by Tehran said.
Iran uses covert networks to move oil
** Iran is moving tens of millions of barrels of oil through covert offshore networks to bypass the new U.S. blockade on its ports, maritime intelligence firm Windward AI says. “As of April 13, at least 11 tankers carrying approximately 20 million barrels of Iranian oil are positioned offshore Malaysia within a ship-to-ship transfer hub,” the firm determined.
Europe running out of jet fuel
** Europe has “maybe six weeks or so (of) jet fuel left,” the head of the International Energy Agency said Thursday in a wide-ranging Associated Press interview, warning of possible flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war.
IEA predicts sharp decline in oil demand
** The International Energy Agency projected that global oil demand will see its sharpest decline since the Covid-19 pandemic, as the largest disruption to global oil supplies stemming from the Iran war will trigger major “demand destruction” due to scarcity and high prices.
US energy
** American Efficient; its owner, Modern Energy Group; and affiliated companies must pay about $1.1 billion for “one of the largest and most brazen frauds” in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s history, the agency said Wednesday, reported Utility Dive.
** Amid historic jumps in gas prices triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran, the California congressman Ro Khanna is to introduce legislation that would ban the export of gasoline during price spikes. “The country is crying out for a new energy policy,” said Khanna in an interview with the Guardian, “that doesn’t have us subject to the whims of the profits of big oil companies.”
** U.S. Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres wrote to U.S. market regulators pushing for an investigation into large oil trades placed just hours before the announcement of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire that Reuters first reported last week.
** A newly uncovered Interior Department document indicates the administration plans to tap the Judgment Fund — a pot of public money typically intended to help agencies cover legal settlements — to pay TotalEnergies nearly $1 billion to abandon two offshore wind leases.
** The U.S. Energy Information Administration plans to implement a mandatory nationwide survey of data centers’ energy use, according to a letter from the agency to two senators.