(By Oil & Gas 360) – May 22, 2026– Energy markets spent the week caught between diplomacy and distrust. Headlines pointing toward a possible U.S.–Iran agreement pressured prices lower, but underneath the surface, inventories continue tightening, LNG concerns are growing, and confidence in global shipping routes remains fragile. Markets may be hoping for resolution, but they’re still pricing risk. THIS
(By Oil & Gas 360) – What began as wartime disruption has evolved into something far more strategic, Iran is increasingly turning access through Hormuz into geopolitical and economic leverage. The shift is becoming more visible by the week as Tehran expands operational control, imposes new transit procedures, and reshapes how commercial shipping moves through one of the world’s most important
(Oil & Gas 360) By Greg Barnett, MBA – For years, America’s rare‑earth and critical‑minerals problem was framed as a single failure: too much dependence on China, too little domestic mining. That framing was incomplete. What is emerging now is not a race to simply dig faster. It is a coordinated effort to rebuild capability across an entire system—using defense
(By Oil & Gas 360) Part II – Oil and gas companies once measured competitive advantage in barrels, acreage, and reserves; now they are increasingly measuring it in processing power, analytics capability, and data quality. Because the next phase of the industry is not just about producing hydrocarbons more efficiently, it is about understanding markets, assets, infrastructure, and risk faster
(Oil & Gas 360) – The Climate Still Minimizing Natural Gas Demand, Prices And Expectations Have A Notable Summer Rally Set Up. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 setting new highs need a Drilling Boom to keep fueling prosperity production and value increasing. Quite a few are pleasantly surprised by the NASDAQ (Figure 1, green line) and S&P 500 (blue line) setting
(Oil & Gas 360) By Greg Barnett, MBA – The difference between Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United States ultimately resolves into a simple question: how much oil is there, how much can be produced, and how certain is that production? The only way to answer that question rigorously is with numbers. The United States still possesses a vast hydrocarbon
(By Oil & Gas 360) Part I – For decades, the oilfield was built on horsepower, steel, and geology. Now it is increasingly being built on algorithms. Artificial intelligence and digital technologies are rapidly transforming how oil and gas companies drill wells, complete reservoirs, manage production, and reduce operational costs. What was once considered one of the world’s most traditional
(Oil & Gas 360) By Greg Barnett, MBA – If the Permian Basin is America’s oil engine, the Appalachian Basin is its natural gas foundation. Stretching across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, eastern Ohio, and parts of surrounding states, Appalachia has quietly become the largest natural gas producing basin in the United States—and one of the most consequential gas provinces in the
(By Oil & Gas 360) – Energy markets are becoming increasingly defined by shrinking buffers. This week, traders, policymakers, and producers all focused on the same concern: the world has less margin for disruption than it did even a year ago. Tight inventories, constrained LNG supply, and rising geopolitical pressure around Hormuz are forcing markets to reprice risk faster and
(Oil & Gas 360) By Greg Barnett, MBA – Ethanol has been embedded in U.S. fuel policy for more than a century, with modern support accelerating after the 1970s oil shocks and becoming structurally fixed through the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) enacted in 2005 and expanded in 2007. The stated objectives have remained consistent: improve energy security, reduce emissions, and support
(By Oil & Gas 360) – The longer the Iran war continues, the less this looks like a temporary geopolitical disruption and the more it resembles the early stages of a structural oil supply crisis. For months, markets have focused on headlines surrounding ceasefires, diplomacy, and tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. But beneath the volatility, the global oil
(By Oil & Gas 360) – For years, Vaca Muerta was viewed as one of the world’s great untapped shale opportunities, massive resources, strong geology, and comparisons to the Permian Basin, but limited by political instability, capital controls, and inconsistent energy policy. Now, the basin is entering a different phase. Located in Argentina’s Neuquén Basin, Vaca Muerta holds the world’s
