Pressure Systems edition
Gulf Shipping Shocks Trigger Energy Crisis
September 27, 2026
What this edition shows
Escalating conflict across the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb has driven crude past $106 a barrel, pushing benchmark US Treasury yields to 19-year peaks and prompting the White House to weigh emergency diesel export bans. In response to compounding logistics costs, European capitals are rushing out tax adjustments and fuel subsidies to shield domestic industries. The breakdown of Gulf maritime security is rapidly converting regional warfare into sovereign debt pressures and protectionist supply interventions.
Reporting and analysis behind this edition 12 sources
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‘They called us’: Has Trump abandoned Bab al-Mandeb to the Houthis?
Washington’s response to the Houthi advance exposes the limits of the US security umbrella in the Gulf.
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Benchmark US government bond yield hits 19-year peak as oil prices surge
The 10-year US Treasury yield hit 5.02 percent on Tuesday for the first time since the 2007 global financial crisis.
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Why Middle East tensions are pushing oil prices above $100
Brent crude has risen above $100 a barrel as war in Iran disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
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By Nearly Every Metric, the U.S. Is Losing the Iran War
“It’s irrefutable that the U.S. failed in its main strategic goals,” one expert said.
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"Offensively cheap": Solar power is looking up
Chinese-made panels on rooftops across the world are changing the facts of life for big utilities.
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Oil prices jump after Yemen’s Houthis claim attacks on Saudi facilities
Brent crude tops $106 a barrel after Iran-aligned rebel group claims to have successfully attacked Aramco facilities.
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An Existential Threat to the Oil Industry
In late June 2021, the ghost of summertime future visited the Pacific Northwest. For three days, a heat dome hovered over Multnomah County, Oregon, broiling Portland’s drizzly landscape of evergreens and ferns with temperatures of 116 degrees Fahrenheit—much hotter than any resident, even the centen…
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Europe uses subsidies, taxes and policy pauses to offset the pain of high fuel prices
Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine are driving governments across Europe to craft subsidies, taxes and policy revisions that might shield their economies, companies and increasingly aggrieved citizens from record gasoline and diesel prices.
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Trump speculates on diesel fuel export ban as high prices ripple across US economy
Demand for rail freight shipping is up, as trucking becomes more expensive. Both use diesel fuel, but trains are more efficient at carrying heavy loads long distances. Scott Olson/Getty Images Diesel fuel powers long-distance trucks, freight locomotives, boats and barges, farm machinery, constructio…
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What would a US diesel export ban mean for global fuel prices?
Energy experts warn US diesel export ban could increase fuel costs domestically and internationally.
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A new solar cell could generate electricity underwater
The trick isn't using perovskites—the trick is making them last.
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Demand for EV chargers is outstripping supply, says ChargePoint report
EV growth is happening, even in the US, and those EVs will need plugs to charge.