Crooked Bough News Round-up

+ Fresh Attacks Shatter ‘Open Hormuz’ Narrative as Iran Pushes New Maritime Regime—The fragile narrative that the Strait of Hormuz is “open” unraveled ag...

+ Iran’s Navy Tells Ships Strait of Hormuz Shut Again, Two Vessels Report Gunfire—ATHENS, April 18 (Reuters)Merchant vessels attempting to cross the Str...

+ Ukraine Strikes Two Russian Refineries, Baltic Sea Port—April 18 (Reuters)Ukrainian drones struck a handful of Russias oil fac...

+ Iran Requiring IRGC Coordination for Hormuz Transits—All ships can sail through the Strait of Hormuz but this needs to be c...

+ Greek Shipowner Sends Biggest Oil Tanker Yet Through Hormuz—(Bloomberg) A Greek shipowner whose vessels have repeatedly braved th...

+ Hold the Champagne: Oil Recovery Faces Weeks of Delay as Supply Chain Shocks Deepen—Don’t be fooled by the latest declaration that the Strait of Hormuz is...

+ Shipping Industry Pushes Back on ‘Open’ Hormuz Narrative as Risks Persist—The global shipping industry is urging caution after declarations from...

+ Europe Moves From Rhetoric to Planning as Paris Summit Weighs Hormuz Security Mission—The prospect of a multinational mission to secure commercial shipping ...

+ Iran and Trump Declare Hormuz ‘Open,’ But Route, Mines, and U.S. Blockade Cloud Reality—Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial shipping fol...

+ European Countries Have Capacity to Clear Mines in Hormuz, French Defence Minister Says—European countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and France have mi...

+ Pakistan Oil Tanker Makes Rare Entry and Exit Through Hormuz—A Pakistan-flagged tanker that entered the Persian Gulf over the weeke...

+ U.S. Coast Guard to Homeport First Two Arctic Security Cutters in Alaska—The U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday it will homeport its first two Arct...

+ Breaking the Bottleneck: Building a Resilient Future for U.S. LNG and Global Maritime Fueling—Amid escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery fo...

+ How the U.S. Could Clear Mines From the Strait of Hormuz—April 16 (Reuters)  As the United States embarks on clearing mines fro...

+ Six-Week Container Spot Rate Rally Runs Out of Steam—The six-week rally in global container freight rates has come to an en...

+ ABS and UNITED WATERWAYS Announce Planned Joint Venture to Advance Maritime Training—ABS and UNITED WATERWAYS (UW) have signed a letter of intent to establ...

+ U.S. Expands Iran Blockade With Global Boarding Powers, Broad ‘Contraband’ Crackdown—The U.S.-led maritime blockade of Iranian ports has entered a new and ...

+ Half-Full Tanker Heading to Japan Highlights Scramble for Oil—A partially filled supertanker heading to Japan after receiving its Mi...

+ US-Sanctioned Supertankers Enter Gulf Despite Blockade—A second U.S.-sanctioned supertanker has entered the Gulf via the Stra...

+ Iran War Pushes U.S. to Brink of Net Oil Exporter Status Not Seen Since WWII—The U.S. nearly turned into a net crude exporter last week for the fir...

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As of 4/18/26 2:59pm. Last new 4/18/26 1:05pm.

+ India’s oil and gas crisis is a wake-up call for transport electrification—The conflict in West Asia has once again exposed India’s vulnerability...

+ Energy market defined by “striking contradiction”, according to latest Willis Energy Market Review—Despite mounting loss activity, rising social inflation and geopolitic...

+ Oil prices crater below $90 after Iran, U.S. say Strait of Hormuz temporarily open—Oil prices tumbled below $90 a barrel on Friday after Iran and the U.S...

+ Trump’s ‘fossil fuelled war’ is the perfect opportunity to end reliance on oil and gas, experts say—Experts are calling on governments to ‘reduce the risk of every fossil...

+ The EU has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% since 1990—The European Unions greenhouse gas emissions fell a further 3% between...

+ Oil prices hover below $100 a barrel amid hopes for Middle East peace progress—Oil prices fell on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested ...

+ US fuel supply increases in April—The US has supplied 15% more fuel oil per day on average in April comp...

+ What’s in your gasoline? Understanding U.S. motor gasoline formulations—Motor gasoline in the United States is a blend of hydrocarbons and che...

+ India’s LPG shortfall spurs push for storage growth, supply diversification—India is accelerating plans to build strategic LPG storage and expand ...

+ Tax oil companies’ windfall profits, says European civil society—European NGOs call on Ursula von der Leyen to tax excess oil profits t...

+ Pakistan launches output from largest-ever oil and gas well, eyes $329 million annual savings—Pakistan on Wednesday launched commercial production from the largest-...

+ Running out of barrels: cumulative oil losses reach 430 mbbls—Cumulative crude and condensate supply losses in the Middle East have ...

+ Argentina on track to produce 1 million b/d of crude in 2026 and keep growing—Argentina is on track to produce 1 million b/d of oil this year and su...

+ The Commodities Feed: Oil trades lower on de-escalation hopes—Energy- US oil exports jump to record levels The oil market continues ...

+ The big chart: Where does the world’s oil come from?—In 2025, around 20 million barrels per day (mb/d) of crude oil and oil...

+ Technology to be integral part of shale development in US—Technology will continue to play a pivotal role in the US multibillion...

+ TTF Prices Hover Near 6-Week Lows—European natural gas futures steadied near €41 per MMBtu on Thursday b...

+ Platts changes maximum incrementability for Asia crude, fuel oil, bunker MOC bids, offers for April 15—Due to the high volatility in crude and refined products futures marke...

+ US Crude Oil Stocks Unexpectedly Fall: EIA—US crude inventories fell by 913,000 barrels to 463.8 million in the w...

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As of 4/18/26 2:59pm. Last new 4/17/26 3:56pm.

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As of 4/18/26 2:59pm. Last new 1/31/26 2:31am.

+ Europe and Asia’s response to 60% Middle East crude export collapse reshapes global energy trade—Middle East crude exports collapsed nearly 60% between early February ...

+ Lack of alternative supply pressures jet fuel markets—Global jet/kero supply has been significantly constrained following th...

+ U.S. natural gas exports to grow nearly 30% by 2027 as LNG facilities ramp up—In our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast that U.S. ...

+ Norway’s crude oil exports up 68% in March due to Iran war—Norway’s crude oil exports hit a record high in March as the war in Ir...

+ Europe’s ammonia imports fall in Q1 as buyers shun US product under CBAM—European ammonia imports dipped and buyers steered clear of US product...

+ TRADE REVIEW: Rising costs to support Asian nickel in Q2 despite supply surplus—This report is part of the SP Global Energys Metals Trade Review serie...

+ Aluminum Prices Retreat from 4-Year Highs—Aluminum futures in the UK fell to below $3,600 per tonne, pulling bac...

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As of 4/18/26 2:58pm. Last new 4/17/26 3:56pm.

+ Eurozone Current Account Surplus Rises in February—The Eurozone’s current account surplus widened to €21.1 billion in Feb...

+ Ankara pushes deeper economic ties with Astana ahead of Erdoğan visit—Astana and Ankara aim to boost trade, diversify exports and launch joi...

+ China Economy: China’s economy in first quarter of 2026 shows resilience amid global slowdown concerns—Chinas GDP grows by 5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, desp...

+ Strait of Hormuz disruptions force GlobalData to downgrade Gulf economic outlook—The war between Israel and Iran has sharply weakened economic outlook ...

+ ECB’s Lagarde says inflation risks tilted upward amid Iran conflict—European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Friday that ris...

+ Euro area international trade in goods surplus €11.5 bn—The first estimates of euro area balance showed a €11.5 bn surplus in ...

+ Europe is about twice as sensitive to oil shocks vs the US—Europe’s economy is about twice as sensitive to shocks as the United S...

+ EU’s employment rate grew above 76% in 2025—In 2025, 76.1% (197.7 million people) of the EU’s 20 to 64-year-olds w...

+ Weak Demand and External Shocks Weigh on China Credit—China’s credit outlook remains constrained by weak domestic demand, wh...

+ China’s GDP beats expectations amid intensifying global headwinds—Chinas GDP started 2026 off strong Chinas GDP came in at 5.0% year-on-...

+ Bets on Fed rate cut by year-end grow after Iran truce—Investors increased bets on Federal Reserve interest rate cuts after t...

+ BoE warns of ‘substantial shock’ as Middle East conflict rattles global stability—The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee warned Wednesday that...

+ US Manufacturing Output Falls in March—Manufacturing output in the United States decreased 0.1% month-over-mo...

+ NY Services Activity Contraction Eases in April—The Federal Reserve Bank of New Yorks general business activity index,...

+ Fed’s Williams warns Iran war driving up inflation pressures—Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said Thursday...

+ Trade in goods with China in 2025—In 2025, the EU exported €199.6 billion worth of goods to China and im...

+ China Industrial Capacity Utilization Hits 2-Year Low—China’s industrial capacity utilization rate fell to 73.6 percent in t...

+ UK Manufacturing Output Unexpectedly Falls—Manufacturing production in the UK edged down 0.1% month-on-month in F...

+ The world waits for a climbdown—Our new base case scenario It was 1983 when the movie WarGames taught ...

+ We (still) don’t expect the Bank of England to hike rates—No, the UK is not more vulnerable to the coming inflation shock Financ...

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As of 4/18/26 2:59pm. Last new 4/17/26 5:06pm.

+ Employment and labour force participation remained stable in most OECD countries in Q4 2025—In the last quarter of 2025, employment rates remained stable or broad...

+ Wars Impose Lasting Economic Costs, While More Defense Spending Means Hard Choices—War is again defining the global landscape. After decades of relative ...

+ China to grow 4.4% in 2026, IMF forecasts—The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday projected Chinas economy to...

+ IMF: War Darkens Global Economic Outlook and Reshapes Policy Priorities—Despite major trade disruptions and policy uncertainty, last year ende...

+ International aid fell sharply in 2025, says OECD—International aid from member countries and associates of the Developm...

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As of 4/18/26 2:59pm. Last new 4/17/26 3:56pm.

+ Owners need to consider the scope of their war risk cover as claims expand beyond high-risk zones, warns London P&I Club—Shipowners and brokers need to take greater consideration of the scope...

+ Harnessing the giants: safer windmill blade logistics—As wind‑energy deployment accelerates globally, the logistics of trans...

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As of 4/18/26 3:00pm. Last new 4/17/26 3:56pm.