BlackMask Breaking News

Chevron Corp. CFO Eimear Bonner said on Thursday that major oil companies are “doing everything [they] can” to bring gasoline prices down as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continues to normalize. However, she told CNBC that “it’s going to take time,” pointing to a lag between a drop in oil prices and gas prices at the pump. “We’ve optimized through the conflict and continue to optimize the levers that we have to deliver the energy the world needs and to deliver products to consumers,” she said. Yesterday, United States President Donald Trump warned that oil majors will be in “big trouble” if they engage in price gouging.

NN: Translation Its all about the elections. Pollsters have told Trump he must have gasoline under $3.00 a gallon. In  order to avoid Big Bubba in cellblock C and about a hundred pardons

 for the week ending June 19, 2026

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 6.1 million barrels from the previous week. At 412.1 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 7% below the five-year average for this time of year. U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 17.1 million barrels per day during the week ending June 19, 2026, which was 81 thousand barrels per day less than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 96.1% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging 9.5 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production increased, averaging 5.2 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.6 million barrels per day last week, increased by 436 thousand barrels per day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 5.7 million barrels per day, 4.1% less than the same four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 647 thousand barrels per day, and distillate fuel imports averaged 135 thousand barrels per day. Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 2.1 million barrels from last week and are 5% below the five-year average for this time of year. Both finished gasoline and blending component inventories increased last week. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 3.1 million barrels last week and are about 10% below the five-year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories increased by 2.6 million barrels from last week and are 35% above the five-year average for this time of year. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 0.5 million barrels last week. Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.5 million barrels per day, up
by 2.1% from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.8 million barrels per day, down by 3.0% from the same period last year. Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 3.6 million barrels per day over the past four weeks, up
by 3.2% from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied was up 0.9% compared with the same four-week period last year.

Crude oil prices continued to fall on Wednesday as investors’ supply concerns eased after the shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was restored. Oman announced that it had established a temporary corridor through the maritime route in coordination with the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO), to ensure toll-free navigation. Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump said that Iran told the US that it is not seeking to charge tolls for the passage through the strait, but also warned that negotiations with Tehran would end “if this is false information.”

WTI for August deliveries plunged 3.82%, going for $69.92 per barrel at 9:35 am ET. A minute later, Brent for the same month’s settlements dropped 4.10%, selling at $73.72 a barrel.

TotalEnergies Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said on Tuesday that building pipelines that bypass the Strait of Hormuz should be an “absolute priority.” “The reality is that the Strait of Hormuz represents a genuine threat,” Pouyanne said during an energy conference in Paris. “To ensure it doesn’t remain a threat, there is ​only one solution: we must invest in pipelines to bypass the strait; that ‌is ⁠an absolute priority,” he stressed. Pouyanne pointed to alternative export routes through Abu Dhabi, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. He added that TotalEnergies helped build an Iraq-Syria pipeline nearly a century ago, saying: “If our predecessors did it 100 years ago, I believe we should be capable of doing it again today.” Earlier this month, Adnoc Executive Vice-President for Trading Philippe Khoury said the company was considering new fuel export pipelines that would allow Gulf producers to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

NN: Pipelines are the solution to Iranian  control of the Straights

At least 16 American military sites have been damaged in Iranian strikes, making up the majority of US positions in the Middle East. The damage includes high-value targets, raising questions about America’s footprint in the region.

NN: Without boots on the ground Trump decided to turn tail and run

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani said that the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the restoration of traffic in the waterway will take time and effort. In an interview with the Financial Times published on Wednesday, the prime minister stressed that Qatar will oppose any Iranian plans to impose transit fees for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. “This is against this international protocol. For a country like Qatar, it’s our only water corridor,” he noted. Furthermore, the official insisted that establishing a hotline between the United States and Iran is a condition to prevent any a condition to keep any malicious actor from blocking the critical maritime route.

NN:  I have one word for the Gulf oil states

PIPELINE!

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian revealed on Tuesday that Iran’s missiles are not in the memorandum of understanding signed with the United States. He further stressed that they will never be added there. Speaking from Islamabad, Pezeshkian insisted that Tehran will “never negotiate its defensive ability with anyone.” He mentioned that without missiles, “our country would have been destroyed.” “We do not trust the United States because it attacked us twice during the negotiations. Despite this, we remain ready for dialogue and peace,” the Iranian president remarked.

NN: Still surrendering. Iran’s has the largest missal arsenal in the world. Including long range hypersonic virtually  unstoppable ones. And they can hit all of Europe. And they get to keep them with a 100 billion in cash to make more.  Does this make any sense?