** President Donald Trump said Thursday he has ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines to choke traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s post on social media came shortly after the U.S. military seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up a standoff with Tehran over the strait through which 20% of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.
** The U.S. Navy seized another tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean, the Pentagon announced on Thursday, as Iranian officials claimed the country has the first deposits from tolls collected from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in apparent defiance of the U.S. blockade.
** Oman and Saudi Arabia can expect a windfall from higher oil prices due to the Iran war, according to Goldman Sachs. Oil revenues for the two countries have risen as crude prices have surged due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz; with all its ports outside the Gulf, Oman’s trade has been unaffected, while Saudi has been able to direct exports via its western ports.
** China has stashed away far more oil than any other country, according to U.S. government data released this week. The stockpile, which surged last year, is emerging as a strategic advantage as the world faces an oil shock with the Strait of Hormuz largely shut, reported Axios.
** A large contingent of Russian firefighters was battling a blaze for the third day on Wednesday at the Tuapse oil refinery on the Black Sea after a Ukrainian drone attack, and officials said air quality in the city had sharply deteriorated.
** Severe shortages of water, power and money combined with a U.S energy blockade has deepened poverty and increased hunger across Cuba as severe blackouts persist. Even those who are more affluent are now eliminating long-established and often beloved routines as they adapt to increasingly dire realities.
US energy
** Airlines such as Delta, Air Canada, KLM and Lufthansa have all canceled less popular routes to optimize jet fuel use while the latter carrier also shut down its regional airline CityLine a year earlier than initially anticipated.
** The latest airline chief executive to sound the alarm on jet fuel prices is United Airlines’ Scott Kirby. In an Apr. 22 appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, Kirby said that the airline could raise prices on summer fares by as much as 20% to make up for the rising cost of jet fuel.
** TerraPower officially began building its first-of-its-kind nuclear power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming on Wednesday, despite 60 mph winds that grounded cranes. “In not too long, we will be producing power right here on this site,” a TerraPower official said.
** New England may be getting more receptive to a new gas pipeline project. Recent coordination between New England Governors and the Trump administration marks a notable shift in addressing the region’s mounting energy affordability and reliability challenges. With winter power stress, elevated prices, and fuel insecurity in focus following Winter Storm Fern, policymakers appear increasingly open to incremental gas infrastructure as a pragmatic solution to stabilize costs with a decarbonization angle.