Finding A Way. The Energy Report 07/24/2026

Just when you think there is no way, the market finds a way. Oil prices, gasoline prices, and diesel prices exploded yesterday, becoming very overextended on news of attacks by Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea, as well as Iran’s lashing out at targets in Bahrain and Kuwait. But look at the resilience already kicking in. Prices are settling down fast as the market adapts on the fly. Within hours—not weeks—energy companies, the U.S. military, Saudi forces, and regional partners are already rerouting tankers and opening alternative paths to keep crude and products moving. The flow is not stopping. It’s adjusting, and that pressure stays locked on a desperate, flailing Iranian regime.

A Saudi crude tanker simply went dark and slipped through the Bab el-Mandeb, proving ships can still navigate the chokepoint when needed. Danish owner Torm’s products tanker Torm Innovation is taking the longer southern Africa route to Asia after clearing Suez, deliberately avoiding the southern Red Sea security risks—yet the oil is still heading to market. These are not signs of a stalled system. They are signs of a system that refuses to quit. Tankers are moving, product is still flowing east, and the global supply chain is finding workarounds in real time.

This comes as Gulf states are gearing up for a major infrastructure push that could reshape how oil and gas leave the region. According to Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are preparing to ramp up borrowing to finance costly new routes that bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

With the Iran conflict now in its sixth month, these key energy exporters are looking to invest billions in more secure pathways for their exports. Options on the table include new ports on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman, upgrades to aging pipelines, and improvements to desert road networks — all designed to reduce reliance on the vulnerable Hormuz chokepoint that currently handles the vast majority of the region’s energy shipments.

Traders are already positioning for a wave of Gulf sovereign debt issuance to fund these projects. It’s a clear signal that the region is moving from short-term crisis management to longer-term resilience.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi and stressed the urgent need to de-escalate tensions, openly expressing concern over the rising risks. Even as the military and commercial fleets keep oil moving, diplomatic voices are calling for cooler heads—another reminder that the pressure is mounting from every direction.

On the other front in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the squeeze is tightening just as hard. Relentless Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure have hammered refining capacity so severely that Moscow has been forced into an oil product export ban, prioritizing scarce fuel for its own domestic market amid widespread shortages and price spikes.

Diesel exports are now restricted, jet fuel and gasoline have already faced similar clamps, and Russia is even looking to import product just to keep the home front from boiling over. When a major exporter starts locking its own refined products inside the country, it is a clear signal the pressure is working. That kind of economic pain has a way of concentrating minds—and it just might help drag Russia closer to the peace table.

The Kremlin, for its part, says it will wait for the United States to propose new ideas to resolve the Ukraine conflict. After the latest round of talks, the message from Moscow is cautious and noncommittal: communication continues, but don’t expect sudden breakthroughs. Still, with refineries burning, product exports curtailed, and the war’s energy costs climbing by the day, the old Putin playbook is getting more expensive by the hour.

Markets notice when both ends of the supply chain—Middle East transit routes and Russian refining—are under simultaneous stress. The oil keeps finding a way forward. The question is how long the regimes under pressure can keep absorbing the hits.

Tropical Storm Bertha came and went with far less drama for the energy patch than the headlines suggested. As of this morning: Bertha triggered only targeted, precautionary platform shut-ins and personnel moves rather than large-scale or lasting damage to offshore oil or natural gas production. Compared with stronger historical Gulf storms, the overall impact on U.S. energy supply and demand looks modest. Operators typically get production back online quickly once the weather clears and post-storm inspections are complete. Public reports so far point to a contained event.

Chevron shut in its Petronius platform and moved crews onshore. BP and ExxonMobil evacuated non-essential personnel from several assets. Industry estimates put potential cumulative oil losses in the 1.5–2 million barrel range across the entire event—not a sustained daily hit. Natural gas platforms and LNG feedgas flows held up better than many feared. Some temporary slowing of LNG loadings occurred, but the system largely kept moving.

According to the latest FOX Weather updates, Bertha has weakened significantly after making landfall in southeast Louisiana and is now a very weak tropical storm / remnant low pushing into Texas. Heavy rain and gusty winds are still possible along parts of the Texas coast this morning, but the system is expected to fall apart completely through today. No further tropical-storm force impacts are anticipated for the Gulf production regions.

For natural gas, the short-term picture remains constructive but not explosive. The storm’s cooler, wetter footprint modestly trimmed power-burn demand in the affected areas, while any temporary LNG delays added a bit more domestic supply. Prices have stayed relatively steady. Looking ahead, the bigger drivers remain the usual summer heat in the rest of the country, strong LNG export demand once loadings normalize, and the ongoing global supply tightness. Any prolonged production recovery delays would support prices, but right now the market is treating Bertha as a short-lived weather event rather than a lasting supply shock.

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