Petroleum industry

America’s Must-Win Battle of Hormuz

The only hope to win the war is to deprive the Islamic Republic of control over the crucial strait.

Saudi Arabia closes its East-West pipeline after attacks from Iraq

Saudi Arabia announced on September 11 that the East-West Crude Oil Pipeline, its main Hormuz-bypass route to the Red Sea, was closed following multiple drone attacks the day before in the country’s...

Former US ambassador Khalilzad visits Kabul, attends Taliban oil deal signing

As the Taliban enters its sixth year in power following the fall of Kabul, it continues seeking international legitimacy and foreign investment. The recent visit by Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US ambassador...

Operation Economic Outcast Commences, And Where It Could Head

And so, it begins. On Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department launched Operation Economic Outcast in a bid to expand the architecture of U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its network...

Energy Wars: America, Iran and the Battle of Hormuz

Tehran is losing its grip on Hormuz, and with it all its leverage

All the noise around Iran’s supposed stranglehold on oil supplies transiting through the Strait of Hormuz is missing the point. The reality is that the combination of Operations Midnight...

Syria’s Break With Russia Must Go Beyond Oil

Syria’s current leaders and Russia once stood on opposite sides of the battlefield. Yet since the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow’s longtime ally during the Syrian civil...

The Houthis Are Hitting Saudi Arabia’s Energy Pipeline — and Here’s Why That Matters

Saudi Arabia has weathered Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz by relying on its east-west pipeline to send crude from the kingdom’s energy-rich eastern province to the Red Sea terminal...

The Middle East Moves Toward a Multifront Maritime War

Yemen’s Houthis have brought the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait into the conflict between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran — blocking millions more barrels of oil from easily...

Syria focuses on energy deals, works to revive infrastructure and institutions

Syria is positioning itself as an alternative route for oil exports from Iraq amid the Iran conflict and its disruption of oil exports via the Strait of Hormuz. On July 17 in Washington, DC,...

Houthis announce blockade of Saudi Arabia, ships reroute to avoid Bab al Mandeb Strait

The Houthis announced a complete maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 20. In response, a growing number of vessels are rerouting to avoid the Bab al Mandeb Strait, the southern...

Why the Houthis Declared a Blockade on Saudi Arabia

The Yemeni militant group is poised to disrupt another key chokepoint in the global energy supply.

How Iran Plans to Consolidate Its Victory

Trump took bold actions other presidents never dared, only to end up where they were all along.

Here’s how to crush Tehran in three moves

The small group of Islamist regime loyalists now ruling Iran by committee may be able to fool the world with AI-generated propaganda videos, paper statements attributed to an invisible ayatollah and...

5 Things To Know About China’s Wartime Support for Iran

China is Iran’s top trading partner and one of the regime’s most important economic lifelines. Beijing is not seeking a wider Middle East war, especially one that threatens energy flows through the...

The Ramifications of the UAE Leaving OPEC

Time To Bury OPEC

OPEC is dying. The announcement by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that it will leave the cartel effective May 1 may be the fatal blow. As OPEC’s third-largest producer, the UAE’s exit follows Qatar’s...

Evaluating the Economic Damage to Iran From Operation Epic Fury: An Initial Estimate

With the conflict still unfolding, FDD estimates economic damage to Iran at approximately 40 percent of its pre-war GDP — a first accounting that speaks to the breadth and depth of Iran’s losses. Specifically,...

U.S. Forces Interdict Vessel in Indian Ocean Transporting Oil From Iran

Vessel Interdicted: The U.S. Department of Defense announced on April 23 that “overnight, U.S. forces carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned...

Iran’s War on Iraq’s Oil Industry

Iran-aligned militias in Iraq have been attacking the country’s oil sector while the world’s attention focuses on the Strait of Hormuz.