The hottest Oil & Gas Substack posts right now

The war in Iran is rattling energy markets, sending crude, LNG, coal, and refined fuel prices sharply higher and creating volatile moves like the Brent–WTI spread swinging to parity and back.
China has told refiners to halt diesel and gasoline exports to prioritize domestic needs, a move that will likely cause regional shortages and big price gaps for refined fuels if Middle East flows stay disrupted.
The US is a major oil producer and net exporter, so its refineries will run harder and raise demand for WTI; but such price spikes usually trigger short-term economic contraction and longer-term boosts to crude supply alongside fractured, protectionist energy markets.

Social media and algorithms are amplifying propaganda about the war, feeding half-truths and shaping public opinion toward narrow narratives.
Politicians are quick to use war-related shocks as political ammunition, blaming opponents for immediate pains like rising gas prices.
The conflict has already moved energy markets sharply—Brent/WTI spreads, LNG prices, and coal all jumped in days—so short-term price action is a key signal for how broader economic fallout may unfold.

Floating LNG (FLNG) has matured into a commercially viable technology that can start production faster and more efficiently than many onshore projects, as shown by recent successful projects.
FLNG provides a strong security and logistical advantage by operating offshore and being towable, which makes developing gas in remote or politically unstable regions much more feasible.
If FLNG is widely adopted, it could significantly expand global gas supply, push the idea of ‘peak cheap oil’ further out, and change global LNG export patterns as new floating projects come online.

U.S. propane production has surged with the shale boom, rising roughly fivefold since 2010 to nearly 2.5 million barrels per day.
Storage, pipeline, and transport capacity are being stretched, so the coming flood of propane will strain infrastructure and create risks for energy producers.
Propane is widely used for home heating and farm grain drying, but demand is limited, so the growing surplus could depress markets and most people outside the industry don’t realize it yet.

When China makes a sector a national priority it uses subsidies, IP acquisition, and lax oversight to propel state-backed companies to global dominance.
China now dominates auto manufacturing and electric vehicle sales—producing over 30 million vehicles a year and exporting lots of parts—which threatens foreign automakers and helps cut its oil dependence and urban pollution.
China sits on the world’s largest shale gas and huge shale oil resources but has struggled with technical and geological barriers; recent signs suggest it may be close to unlocking those resources, which could shake up global energy markets.

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ExxonMobil has made a significant discovery using petroleum coke as a proppant, which can boost oil production in shale wells by up to 20%. This technology is expected to play a big role in their growing production numbers.
Despite concerns about oil production peaking, companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron are demonstrating increased efficiency and technology advancements that could mean more oil recovery rather than a decline.
Many people believe we are running out of oil, but a more optimistic view is that technology will help find and create more energy resources, leading to lower long-term prices for oil and gas.

Since 2014, U.S. shale plus oil sands and deepwater supply made oil much more responsive and eroded OPEC’s price power. That structural change likely keeps oil in a roughly $40–$65 per barrel range in the medium term.
Renewables, natural gas, and electric vehicles are slowly eating into oil’s remaining strongholds (transport and petrochemicals), so fossil fuels’ share of energy should shrink long term and petrostates face capped revenues and greater fiscal stress.
Improved productivity and cost declines have opened real opportunities in unconventional and deepwater plays (e.g., Argentina’s Vaca Muerta, Mexico, North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Brazil), though geopolitical shocks like a Saudi–Iran conflict could still cause sharp, but unlikely, price spikes.