WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Friday, readers!
The top energy story of the day, and the past two weeks, is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its effects on the global energy market. We have all the latest updates on this important story, including some signs that the passageway could be opened a bit. 🇮🇷🛢️🚢
Elsewhere in news from overseas, Cuba’s president has acknowledged that the government is in talks with the Trump team, and that the effective oil embargo has forced negotiations. 🇨🇺
If you, like us, are tired of the chilly weather, take heart from the news that the cherry blossoms have moved on to the second stage on the way to peak bloom. 🌸
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN earlier this week that, “We’re going through short-term energy disruption for just huge long-term gain. You’re seeing Iran’s behavior. They’re attacking every country in the region.”
Iran has warned that the world should prepare for oil at $200 per barrel, but Wright said that price is “unlikely.”
He added, “[W]e are focused on the military operations and solving a problem. I’m not gonna guess on short-term trading. That’s based on psychology more than flows of oil. The world is very well supplied with oil right now.”
THE LATEST ON THE WAR AND THE OIL MARKET: The status of transit through the Strait of Hormuz has become one of the top global stories to watch as the conflict with Iran stretches into a second week.
Hegseth says it will be open: War Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a press conference this morning that the strait will be reopened to traffic, although he did not specify how.
“There’s a reason why we chose as one of our primary objectives to destroy their Navy,” he said. “We have a plan for every option here. That’s not a strait we’re going to allow to remain contested.”
European countries reportedly open talks with Iran about safe passage: The governments of France and other European nations opened talks with the Iranian regime about a deal to negotiate safe passage for their ships through the strait, the Financial Times reported.
Also helping ease prices this morning was the news that an India-flagged oil tanker successfully transited the strait with gasoline bound for Africa, according to the Indian government.
Still, Brent crude was above $100, up 1.7% to around $102 as of this midafternoon. West Texas Intermediate was up 1.85% to $97.50.
Russia a ‘big winner’: The run-up in oil prices has benefited Russia. The government of Vladimir Putin is taking in as much as $150 million a day in extra taxes thanks to the boosted export sales, according to a Financial Times calculation.
Sumit Ritolia, a lead Kpler analyst in New Delhi, told the publication that “Russia is the big winner of this conflict.”
Treasury gives Russia waiver: Meanwhile, the U.S. gave countries a 30-day waiver to sanctions, allowing them to buy Russian oil, a step that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as a “narrowly tailored, short-term measure.” He said that it only applied to oil already in transit, and wouldn’t provide much fiscal benefit to Moscow. A waiver had already been issued specifically for India.
European leaders pushed back against the decision, saying it would aid Russia in its war against Ukraine. “We think that’s wrong,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, according to Politico. “There is currently a price problem, but not a supply problem.”
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said that “Russia will get money for its war machine and there are a lot of drones that are built on Russian soil to destabilize the Middle East.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley also criticized the decision, writing on X that “Every $ frm sales fuels Putins war& prolongs suffering in Ukraine.”
Leading Senate Democrats, too, blasted the waiver, saying that the war is benefiting Putin. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, and Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen said in a statement that “President Trump is offering more relief to the Kremlin than he is to American families, who are now paying more at the pump and for most other essentials because of this conflict.”
PRICES AT THE PUMP: Regular gasoline prices remain elevated, with the national average at $3.63 per gallon as of today, according to AAA. Currently, California has some of the highest prices in the country with $5.41 per gallon.
RIG COUNT UPDATE: The number of U.S. oil and gas drilling rigs rose by two on the week to 553, Baker Hughes reported this afternoon, and is now down 39, or 6.6%, on the year. The net counts of oil and gas rigs were both up by one on the week.
Total oil production edged down in the most recent week, to 13.68 million barrels per day, according to the EIA, but is still not far off the all-time highs of November.
GLOBAL EV SALES DROPPED IN FEBRUARY: Global sales of electric vehicles continue to drop this year, with February showing a similar downward trend.
Global EV sales last month were down 11% on the year through February, and also down 11% on the month, according to the Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. North America sales of EVs are down 36% compared to this time last year. Meanwhile, in Europe, EV sales are up 21%.
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data manager Charles Lester said, “The global EV market’s divergence has sharpened further as 2026 progresses, with February’s performance underlining stark regional contrasts. Europe continues to act as the engine of growth, while North America remains in retreat and China adjusts to structural policy changes at home, even as exports accelerate.”
The downward trend in the U.S. follows a series of policy changes the Trump administration implemented to shift away from EVs. In the last few months, car companies like General Motors and Honda have adjusted their electrification strategies and written off tens of billions in investments.
CUBA ACKNOWLEDGES OIL BLOCKADE HAS FORCED IT INTO TALKS WITH TRUMP: The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, acknowledged today for the first time that he is in talks with U.S. officials, CNN reported.
And he said that he had been forced into negotiations by the oil blockade that Trump has imposed on the island since capturing Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela, which had supplied much of Cuba’s oil.
“It is a situation for which we have been preparing in advance,” he said, adding that “no fuel has entered the country for three months.”
“The impact… is tremendous. It is most brutally manifested in these energy issues,” he said, and has caused “anguish” for the people.
He said that tens of thousands of people are waiting for surgeries that cannot be performed because of the lack of electricity.
Trump said recently that Cuba “is going to fall pretty soon.”
ICYMI – DOE INVESTS $1.9 BILLION TO UPDATE GRID: The Department of Energy yesterday announced it would invest about $1.9 billion to update the country’s power grid as part of an effort to meet rising energy costs.
Projects will be selected through the Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades, or SPARK. The selected projects will showcase how to replace existing power lines with higher‑capacity conductors with Advanced Transmission Technologies to expand grid capacity, the DOE said.
The application deadline is in May, with project selections in the summer of 2026.
SPARK is a rebranding of the Biden administration’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program, with two rounds of funding. DOE said the program has provided up to $10.5 billion in funding over five years to states, tribes, and utilities.
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