Day: July 24, 2026

Saudi Arabia Is Running Into Oil Roadblocks—and How Will They Handle?

Energy News Beat Saudi Arabia’s carefully constructed workaround for oil exports is hitting severe constraints on two fronts at once: kinetic threats from Yemen’s Houthis and commercial barriers from the London marine insurance market centered on Lloyd’s. The result is a growing bottleneck at the Red Sea that threatens a key remaining outlet for Saudi […]

Mixed Rig Totals Signal Slowing on Active Rigs

Energy News Beat U.S. drilling activity showed mixed signals this week as different rig count providers reported divergent weekly moves against a backdrop of solid year-over-year gains. The latest WellDatabase US Rig Report (dated July 24, 2026) puts the active U.S. rig count at 575, up 1 from the prior week and up 47 from […]

China and India Looking to Russia for Oil: Can They Deliver?

Energy News Beat As Middle East supply risks escalate—with threats to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait adding to existing pressures on key chokepoints—China and India are turning aggressively toward Russian crude. Analysts had long flagged that a rebound in Chinese buying or a closure/disruption of Bab el-Mandeb could drive oil prices higher. Both factors are now […]

Matador’s $1.48B Delaware Deals Test the Price of Inventory

Energy News Beat Matador Resources Company (NYSE: MTDR) announced on July 23, 2026, a pair of strategic bolt-on acquisitions in the Delaware Basin totaling approximately $1.475–$1.48 billion. The larger deal involves the purchase of Paloma Permian LLC, an EnCap Investments portfolio company, for $1.275 billion in cash. A smaller complementary transaction with Ridge Runner Resources […]

Huge Geopolitical Impacts to Oil, Energy and Markets

Energy News Beat This article first ran on The Energy News Beat Substack – Head over there to comment.  The global oil market is once again being reshaped by simultaneous disruptions across multiple critical maritime and pipeline choke points. As of late July 2026, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal routes, and […]

Brent over $100 and a Crisis Brewing at Refineries

Energy News Beat Rey Trevino, Crude Truth Podcast Host, and President at Pecos Operating, stops by. This was recorded yesterday, and oil has dropped back down several dollars. The volatility will still be around until demand destruction kicks in. We have a wild stand-up with 8 huge stories. It is fun having guests on the […]

3 VLCCs Traverse the Strait of Hormuz

Energy News Beat Three Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) carrying a combined roughly 6 million barrels of crude oil slipped out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The vessels began transmitting automated position (AIS) signals as they entered the Gulf […]