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Oracle’s $165 Billion Data Center Plan Hits a Gas Pipeline Delay

Oracle's proposed $165 billion data center project in New Mexico has run into a decidedly low-tech problem: the natural gas pipeline meant to help power it won't be ready on time. Energy Transfer subsidiary Transwestern Pipeline pushed the expected in-service date for its Green Chile Project from August 15 to February 1, 2027, according to a regulatory filing Friday. That six-month delay threatens the schedule for Oracle's Project Jupiter, a proposed data center development in Doña Ana County near the U.S.-Mexico border. The scale is substantial. Project Jupiter could use as much as 2.5 gigawatts of gas-powered fuel cells supplied by Bloom Energy, while Green Chile is designed to deliver up to 400 million cubic feet per day of natural gas to the site. That is equivalent to roughly 0.4% of total Lower 48 U.S. gas production. Oracle warned federal regulators ...

U.S. West Coast Refiners Tap Malaysian Supply

A cargo of fuel oil from Malaysia is making its way to a refinery on the U.S. West Coast in the first such shipment in three years as global supply of feedstock for refineries has tightened in recent months due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The Solomon Sea tanker, laden with more than 540,000 barrels of low-sulfur and straight-run (LSSR) fuel oil, departed from Malaysia's PRefChem refinery operated by state oil and gas giant Petronas last week, tanker data on MarineTraffic shows. The cargo is set to arrive in the United States in early September. The tanker is heading to a refinery on the U.S. West Coast, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The cargo is the first shipment from Malaysia's 300,000-bpd PRefChem refinery in Pengerang to the United States since 2023, per shipping data ...

US lost 25% of its Reaper drones in Iran war as Pentagon struggles with a depleting arsenal

Amid speculation that the US military is facing depletion of its arsenal, a report has claimed that the American forces have lost at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones during the ongoing war against Iran. Officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post that the figure marked 25 per cent of its fleet available to the US. It is pertinent to note that the Reaper is used to conduct surveillance and targeted strikes against the enemy and can cost somewhere between $30 million and $50 million, depending on the type of sensors and weapons it carries. According to The Washington Post, the loss of these drones could potentially cost taxpayers $1.3 billion. The drones were seen being heavily used over the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway blocked since the start of the Iran war and has emerged as a ...

British oil giant faces major setback in Africa’s richest country as top court blocks offshore oil exploration

South Africa's top court has blocked Shell's offshore oil exploration, adding another setback as the energy giant prepares to sell its downstream business. South Africa's Constitutional Court has blocked Shell's offshore oil exploration, dealing a fresh blow to the energy giant after years of legal challenges from affected communities and environmental groups. The court's Friday ruling overturns a 2024 decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal that had allowed Shell and its partners to continue exploring for oil and gas off South Africa's coastline, Reuters reported. The prolonged legal battles have already delayed offshore exploration and weighed on investor interest in the country's emerging oil and gas industry. Shell faces setback as it prepares to exit fuel retail. The ruling comes as the British oil giant is pursuing another major change to its South African business. The company confirmed in March ...

Hormuz Crisis Pushes Asian Refiners Toward U.S. Oil

North Asian refiners have increased buying activity to secure U.S. crude oil supply as an alternative to the Middle Eastern crude that may not make it outbound from the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iran stalemate continues and the chokepoint remains effectively closed. At least four Asia-based refiners have bought U.S. crude volumes this week alone, traders told Reuters on Friday. This week, tanker traffic - and shipping traffic as a whole - at the Strait of Hormuz has slumped further, according to observable transits with AIS positioning on. Amid the Hormuz stalemate, Asian refiners are looking further afield for alternative supply as tight fuel markets and sky-high refining margins encourage refinery runs, if there is enough crude available. In the deals this week, GS Caltex of South Korea bought 2 million barrels of Mars crude from Shell for delivery in ...

Iran claims ‘trillion-dollar’ pollution damage as Gulf oil spills spread

An oil spill has reached Iran's Qeshm Island and a separate, far larger spill from a stricken Russian shadow fleet tanker is fouling Oman's southern coastline, as the war in the Gulf produces its first significant environmental fallout. Dark oily residues appeared along the shores of Qeshm Island earlier this week, spreading from Soza beach to the Shib Deraz area and the Hara mangrove forests near the village of Naqasheh. Iran's environmental officials said cleanup operations had largely cleared the slick by Wednesday evening, although monitoring continues. Iran's Foreign Ministry said preliminary evidence pointed to a foreign bulk carrier as the source and called for compensation from those responsible. "Restoring the marine ecosystem of the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and preventing further pollution, must be part of any future management arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz," Iran's ...

Hormuz closure squeezes global economy as oil demand destruction intensifies, IEA says

World oil demand is set to fall further than previously expected this year, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday, as the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz deepens. The IEA forecast demand will drop by 1.6 million barrels a day in 2026. That's 510,000 barrels a day more than its last monthly prediction in July. High fuel prices will continue to weigh on consumption, the institution said, though demand is expected to pick up through the year and return to growth in the final quarter. The situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains mired in confusion, with an agreement between Washington and Tehran to open the vital waterway failing to emerge as both sides continue to publicly issue demands. "Renewed hostilities and maritime disruptions" are undermining efforts to boost global oil supply, the IEA said Wednesday, which remained ...

Vance Says Cheap Oil and Gas Is Top U.S. Priority in Iran War

Low U.S. gasoline prices are the top priority of the Administration amid the war in Iran, Vice President JD Vance said, as the U.S.-Iran deadlock persists and the U.S. vowed to keep the blockade on Iran indefinitely. “I know that oil is down today and it's way down from the highs in the early days of the conflict,” Vance said on Fox News late on Thursday. “That's goal number one -- keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country,” said the vice president as Americans are paying the highest gasoline prices this late in any year. “And then obviously goal number two is ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon,” Vance added, in an apparent contradiction to the U.S. top goal stated early in the war that Tehran must never obtain a nuclear weapon. Vance's words came hours ahead ...

EDITORIAL: Trump and Texas coming to rescue Nevada drivers

Nevadans are sick of high gasoline prices. The White House and Texas have a plan that might help lower them in the long run. The Trump administration is pushing to restart shuttered oil refineries, Politico reports. That effort could include two major refineries in California. Last year, Phillips 66 closed its Los Angeles-area refinery. This year, Valero's Benicia refinery shut down as well. Politico reports the White House wants to find investors who would be willing to restart operations at those facilities. If the push is successful, that would be great news for Nevada drivers, who routinely pay some of the highest gas prices in the country. Those high prices are the direct result of Nevada's reliance on California. Around 88 percent of Nevada's gas comes from there. Nevada drivers have been collateral damage from California's decades-long war on fossil fuels. For the ...

‘No substitute’: Kuwait’s future tied to Hormuz strait fate

Kuwait's once prosperous oil sector has stood largely paralysed for months, with petroleum exports plummeting as fighting raged across the Gulf -- triggering the country's largest crisis in decades. Half a year into the war, Kuwait remains a hostage to its uncompromising need to access the Strait of Hormuz -- where the war between the US and Iran has choked off the once plentiful energy exports that moved across its waters. Oil has long been the bedrock for the tiny Gulf state's economy -- where more than 90 percent of government revenue and nearly all export earnings rely on reliable crude sales. The country is also home to roughly six percent of total oil reserves globally. Unlike Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait has no pipelines bypassing the strait -- forcing its crude exports to sail through the contested waterway to ...

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