Energy News Beat In the high-stakes world of energy markets, not all oil prices are created equal. “Paper oil” refers to benchmark futures contracts traded on exchanges like NYMEX (WTI) and ICE (Brent)—financial instruments where the vast majority of trading volume (often 95%+) never results in physical delivery. These are the headline numbers investors see […]
Energy News Beat Energy News Beat Channel Exclusive Analysis – March 21, 2026 The U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, which escalated dramatically in early March 2026, has rapidly transformed into a full-scale “energy war.” Both sides and their proxies have deliberately targeted refineries, gas processing plants, LNG terminals, oil storage facilities, pipelines, and tankers. These strikes […]
Energy News Beat Iranian missile strikes have inflicted “extensive damage” on Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, home to the world’s largest LNG export complex and a facility that historically supplied roughly one-fifth of global LNG. QatarEnergy declared force majeure on its entire LNG output following the attacks, with two of 14 production trains damaged and […]
Energy News Beat In a sign of cautious optimism across the U.S. energy sector, drillers added oil and natural gas rigs for the second consecutive week — the first back-to-back gains since early February — according to the latest Baker Hughes weekly rig count released Friday. The total number of active rotary rigs climbed by […]
Energy News Beat In a shocking escalation of the escalating Middle East conflict, Iranian missile and drone strikes have delivered a devastating blow to QatarEnergy’s core operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City — the world’s largest LNG export hub. The attacks have shuttered 17% of Qatar’s LNG production capacity for up to five years, triggering […]
Energy News Beat California’s refining industry — once the backbone of the West Coast’s fuel supply — stands at a make-or-break moment. With just seven refineries still operating as of March 2026, the state is weeks away from the next wave of closures that will slash capacity by another 17–20%. Phillips 66’s Wilmington complex shut […]
Energy News Beat America’s energy future is bright—but only if we build the pipelines to deliver it. Surging electricity demand from data centers, AI, manufacturing, and electrification is driving a wave of new natural gas-fired power plants. The U.S. has abundant, low-cost natural gas thanks to the shale revolution. The missing link? Pipeline infrastructure to […]
Energy News Beat What a wild day on the Energy News Beat Stand Up. We have a special guest, David Blackmon, Forbes, Daily Caller, and Substack Author, and we have a blast. Key points: “Secretary Scott Bessent: President Trump is talking about, and to be clear, he has focused on Karg Island since 1988, before the […]
Energy News Beat In a dramatic escalation of the ongoing Middle East conflict, QatarEnergy — the world’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) — has confirmed it will likely invoke force majeure on long-term supply contracts with buyers in Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China. The move stems from extensive damage to key production […]
Energy News Beat As the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran roils global energy markets and pushes benchmark crude above $100 per barrel at times, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is wielding sanctions policy like a supply-side tool. With the Strait of Hormuz under pressure and Iranian exports partially disrupted, Bessent has already pulled several levers — temporary […]
