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Is this better than using our own resources, Ed Miliband?

UK allows diesel and jet fuel imports from Russian crude via sanctions carve-out

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-allows-diesel-jet-fuel-imports-russian-crude-via-sanctions-carve-out-2026-05-19/

Shell paid just £122m in UK taxes and other fees, whereas in Norway, where the company also operates, it paid £3.8bn to the government.

https://archive.md/bTPjV

Compare our market cap and EV to this Canadian that is drilling in the Dutch part of the North Sea :

Tenaz (TNZ) : Production Q1 2026 : 16 183 BoE/d Market cap : Ca$ 1.93 Bn EV : Ca $ 2.29 Bn

And look at what that share price has done!

I expect some more fossil fuel rollercoaster- and petrostatedictatortalk soon enough :

Britain's domestic energy price cap is forecast to rise by around 13% in July from current levels, analysts ​at Cornwall Insight said on Tuesday,

Energy bills are ‌forecast to rise by 209 pounds ($280) to 1,850 pounds a year for a typical dual-fuel household from July. The new cap would represent ​an increase of 13% on the current 1,641 pounds ​annual bill.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/britains-energy-price-cap-rise-13-july-cornwall-insight-says-2026-05-19/

Https://archive.md/BnJRw

Https://archive.md/ZnsIp

(continued)

Observed global inventories, including oil stored on tankers, have fallen by 246 million barrels since the start of the ​war, equivalent to about 4 ⁠million bpd, according to the IEA.

Meanwhile, refiners will soon seek to ramp up supplies ahead of the crucial Northern Hemisphere summer demand season, when fuel consumption typically peaks.

The U.S. export surge may face political hurdles. Rising summer domestic demand and shrinking U.S. inventories could push up gasoline prices sharply. While the Trump administration has rejected any claims that oil export restrictions are in the cards, that could change if American consumers truly start to feel the pinch.

Overall, the market’s response to the Hormuz shock – from shipping and storage to ⁠trading and finance – ​is a testament to the flexibility and depth of the global oil system. But the shock absorbers are thinning with each passing day that ​Hormuz remains obstructed. As summer begins, the economic impact of the conflict is likely to become more visible – and far more painful.

The physical oil market is in the eye of the storm - a deceptive calm after the initial scramble to cope with the biggest oil crisis in history. The blow from the Iran war has been cushioned so far by a dramatic pullback in China’s purchases and a surge in U.S. exports. But with the peak demand season looming, ​this delicate balance may not hold for long.

The crude market is surprisingly calm despite the abrupt loss of almost 20 million barrels per day of Middle Eastern oil. That is because much of the world is still securing adequate supplies through a complex, fragile adjustment. The U.S. and other Atlantic Basin producers have ramped up exports, plugging a significant portion of the Middle Eastern supply gap. At the same time, China has deliberately cut back purchases and countries around the globe have drawn down inventories at an extraordinary pace.

That unexpected availability has eased pressure on prices. Physical Brent crude is trading near $110 a barrel, well below its crisis peak.

But ​this balancing act is unsustainable. With the Hormuz closure likely to extend for at least several more weeks amid sputtering peace efforts, the oil market is poised to enter a new and potentially more dangerous phase.

The ​initial response to the Middle Eastern supply crunch in the hardest-hit regions was to slash consumption. Asia, which until February sourced about 60% of its oil from the Gulf, bore the ⁠brunt. Refiners shut down units, governments rolled out energy-saving measures and released emergency reserves at scale.

Asian crude imports in April fell to just 18.7 million bpd, down sharply from an average of around 25 million bpd in 2025, according to ​Kpler shipping data. At the same time, refiners scrambled to source alternative feedstock from far afield, turning primarily to the U.S. and Latin America.

That shift has fundamentally reshaped global trade flows. U.S. seaborne oil exports surged to a record 8.55 million bpd ​in April and are set to climb above 10 million bpd in May, according to Kpler, cementing America’s role as the world’s largest oil and gas producer.

This wave of emergency buying drove a sharp spike in physical oil prices throughout March and April. Crude from the Atlantic Basin hit a record high of nearly $150 a barrel as refiners competed for limited supplies.

The long distances involved in shipping oil from these regions to Asia created a lag of four to eight weeks between purchase and delivery, meaning replacement barrels are just now arriving. This, ​and the dramatic drawdown in global crude inventories, helps explain why prices in the physical market have fallen significantly in recent weeks....................

Today's relative calm should not be mistaken for a new equilibrium.

As the Hormuz crisis is set to enter ​its 12th week, most of the world’s oil stockpiles are depleting rapidly.

Off-topic, but revealing about Net Zero- and EV-madness: Honda Motor posted its ​first annual loss in nearly 70 years as a listed company on Thursday, hit by more than $9 billion in costs ‌to restructure its electric-vehicle business, and the firm scrapped its long-term EV sales target.

Revealing its worst financial report since Honda listed on the stock market in 1957 underscores how risky an aggressive bet on EVs can be for a legacy automaker when it slams into weaker-than-expected demand.

It is impossible to escape the conclusion that Miliband is adopting scorched-earth tactics. He knows, even if only subconsciously, that he is losing the argument on energy policy. When even impeccably liberal countries such as Canada, Mexico and Norway are increasing production of domestic fossil fuels the argument for closing down domestic production has effectively been lost.

Britain stands alone in the world as the one country with significant oil reserves that is determined to leave all that energy untapped. The global mood is shifting, but Miliband is determined to do as much damage as possible while he still can.

This is a terrifying glimpse into what a Miliband premiership, if that is how the chaos in the Labour Party resolves itself, will operate. From climate change, to unlimited welfare, to trade union power, and rejoining the EU by stealth, he will attempt to lock his version of socialism into the system so securely that it will be very, very hard for a Reform or Conservative government to change anything.

Rather than acknowledge his way isn’t the only way, the energy secretary is doubling down

https://archive.md/MDcEy

Labour plans to make it harder for a future government to reopen oil fields

https://archive.md/qVrM5

The Energy Secretary is operating in fantasy land if he thinks he can get renewable costs down

Kathryn Porter in DT : https://archive.md/Z6PSi

Read this on the HBR-board : "The 2026 King’s Speech confirmed the UK government’s commitment to banning new oil and gas exploration licences in the North Sea via an "Energy Independence Bill". The legislation aims to accelerate the transition to clean energy, emphasizing that new licenses do not improve energy security. Existing licences will not be revoked, focusing instead on a managed transition."

Traders clinging to hopes of a ceasefire fail to grasp the reality of our dwindling reserves

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/10/headline-oil-prices-are-detached-from-reality/

....................

The oil futures market is yet to appreciate the massive supply disruption from the Middle East, a shock now in its third month, lasting far longer than almost anyone expected when Trump lit the touchpaper in late February.

Brent crude futures are indeed $30-40 per barrel above where they were when this war began. But over the last week or so, those same futures prices have been trading some $30-$40 below the actual price at which physical cargoes are being sold, with these “on-the-ground” prices reflecting underlying supply-and-demand realities, with actual constraints and shortages now beginning to bite.

In north-west Europe, on secondary markets followed only by specialists, oil has been changing hands over recent days at $130, $140 and in some cases $150 a barrel. And if the geopolitics don’t improve markedly over the next week or so, futures prices will start to catch up. The likes of Brent crude and other widely quoted price metrics will hit levels now seen in physical markets, a wave of (highly leveraged) speculative money will enter the fray – and the headline oil price will crank up, in my view, beyond its 2008 peak.

Over the last quarter-century, North Sea oil and gas output has fallen from over 4m barrels of oil to way under a million. That’s partly natural depletion but largely net-zero posturing – by both the Tories and Labour – and a related, entirely prohibitive tax regime.

We import other nations’ carbon emissions, using oil and gas they produce, so we can tell ourselves we are virtuous – even though using our own would save huge sums, while generating billions of pounds in extra tax and hundreds of thousands of well-paid blue-collar jobs.

For all the talk of renewables, Britain still relies on oil and gas for some 70pc of our primary energy use – and, by 2030, having been an energy exporter little more than a decade ago, we’re now on course to import 70pc-plus of those hydrocarbons.

And people wonder why mainstream political parties are increasingly being rejected.

the snp’s stephen ***** secured the aberdeen deeside and north kincardine seat in holyrood – and he promptly pledged to be a “champion” for the north sea.

within moments of being named the successful candidate, ***** showed his support for scotland’s oil and gas sector, which employs many in the granite city.

“for those people in our city and wider region who work in the oil and gas sector know that in the scottish parliament you will have no greater champion,” he said.

***** has been a strong defender of aberdeen’s oil and gas industry in recent years, having highlighted issues facing the sector in pmqs and in wider political debates.

he has previously questioned the uk government’s approach to oil and gas and called attention to job losses in aberdeen, citing dwindling investment in the north sea.

on the ever-controversial subject of the energy profits levy, or windfall tax, ***** has not been shy in his opposition to the fiscal policy, which many operators have blamed for job losses and deterring investment.

he initially defended the introduction of the windfall tax in 2022 as the “right thing to do” but has since called for it to come to an end.

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/597213/stephen-*****-aberdeen-oil-and-gas-holyrood/

As the UK pays Oslo £20bn a year for oil and gas, experts warn against a growing energy dependency

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/08/labours-north-sea-retreat-making-britain-hostage-to-norway/

This one 's especially for Romaron : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recommended/garden/maintenance/turn-you-garden-into-a-hedgehog-haven-telegraph-readers/

Norway has confirmed plans to revive three gas fields containing enough supplies to heat millions of homes.

The reactivation project will lead to mothballed North Sea fields being reopened for the first time in three decades, as Norway races to meet growing demand from Germany and the UK.

The new supplies will increase exports to the UK at a time when its own oil and gas output is plummeting by about 15pc a year.

Steinar Våge, the European president of ConocoPhillips, the hydrocarbon company behind the reactivation, said the three fields would produce about 19 billion cubic metres of gas. That is equivalent to powering up to three million homes in the UK.

“By utilising existing infrastructure, we can produce substantial resources at low cost, and strengthen gas exports to Europe,” he said.

Norway’s push to ramp up oil and gas exploration represents a marked difference to what is happening in the UK, where about 180 of its 280 fields are set to close by 2030.

In the last 12 months, Britain spent £20bn buying oil and gas from Norway and that reliance is only set to grow further.

Government modelling shows the UK will need 40 billion cubic metres of gas a year in 2035, plus 40 million tonnes of oil products.

However, on current trends the UK’s own gas production will be down from 30 billion to seven billion cubic metres while oil is set to fall from 35 million tonnes to just 13 million.

It means the UK will be 80pc dependent on imports – mainly from Norway and the US.

The three gasfields to be reactivated – Albuskjell, Vest Ekofisk and Tommeliten Gamma – lie off southern Norway, near the giant Ekofisk reserve.

They were shut down in 1998, but new technology means the estimated 90 to 120 million barrels of oil they are thought to hold has now become accessible. They are scheduled to reopen in 2028 and operate for up to 20 years.

It comes as Ed Miliband still refuses to allow new drilling in the North Sea, despite the Iran war strangling global oil and gas supplies.

WHEN WILL THIS CRETIN BE REMOVED?

A large crude-oil (CL1:COM) (USO) short position is drawing scrutiny after market analysts on Wednesday flagged unusual trading activity ahead of major diplomatic news.

The Kobeissi Letter reported that nearly 10K contracts—worth about $920M in notional value—were placed at 3:40 a.m. ET, roughly 70 minutes before Axios reported the U.S. and Iran were nearing a 14-point memorandum of understanding to end the war.

According to Kobeissi, crude fell more than 12% by 7 a.m. ET, leaving the short position with an estimated $125M gain. Oil later reversed sharply after Iran announced the so-called “Persian Gulf Strait Authority,” sending prices up 8%. It remains unclear who was behind the trade.