WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon Daily on Energy readers, and Happy Arbor Day! The White House Correspondents Dinner weekend kicked off yesterday and will continue through Sunday, with Washington’s top journalists putting on their very best. 💃🕺 Maydeen and other Washington Examiner reporters will be at tomorrow night’s highly anticipated dinner, so be sure to say hello if you will be in attendance. 

As much fun as this weekend will be, there’s still a few hours left in the work week, so let’s dive right in. Today’s edition of Daily on Energy takes a closer look at the increased economic pressure the Trump administration is putting on Tehran, as it has imposed new sanctions targeting Iran’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers. 🛢️🚢🇮🇷 Keep reading for all the details. 

Plus, the administration is extending its waiver of the Jones Act in an effort to counteract surging gasoline prices that most voters are blaming President Donald Trump for. ⛽💲 We have all the latest below. 

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: While the Trump administration has urged domestic oil and gas producers to increase operations to offset surging crude prices, one executive isn’t confident the industry can make a significant dent in global disruptions. 

“I do think you’ll see US production respond slightly, but it’s nothing compared to the size of the issue, like putting a garden hose into an emptied Olympic-sized swimming pool,” Diamondback Energy CEO Kaes Van’t Hof said at a Columbia University energy conference earlier this week. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UPS PRESSURE ON IRAN VIA SANCTIONS: The Trump administration is imposing a new round of sanctions on Iran and its “shadow fleet” of oil tankers, just hours before peace negotiations were set to resume. 

The details: Earlier this afternoon, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued sanctions on an independent Chinese teapot refinery as well as dozens of shipping firms and vessels associated with Iran’s shadow fleet.

It comes a few days after the administration’s temporary waiver allowing the transport and sale of Iranian crude – issued last month to counteract surging oil and gas prices – expired. 

The new sanctions are a part of the administration’s “Economic Fury,” the economic war on Iran that has raged while military action has largely been on a pause. 

The administration is targeting a Chinese teapot refinery, at least 19 oil tankers suspected to be a part of Iran’s shadow fleet, and nearly 20 shipping companies accused of operating in Iran’s oil or petrochemical sectors.  

“Constraining Iran’s maritime trade through the blockade, directly targets the regime’s primary revenue lifelines,” a senior administration official said. “Any person or vessel facilitating these illicit flows —through covert trade and finance—risks exposure to U.S. sanctions.”

The timing: The sanctions came one day before U.S. and Iranian officials were scheduled to resume ceasefire discussions in Pakistan. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed earlier in the day that Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff would be in Islamabad for negotiations tomorrow.

You can read more on the sanctions from Callie here. 

TRUMP EXTENDS JONES ACT WAIVER: President Donald Trump has extended the Jones Act waiver for 90 days, allowing more time for refiners to use foreign-flagged ships to transport fuel between U.S. ports. 

The president last month issued a 60-day waiver of the law in an effort to lower the cost of transporting oil from Gulf of Mexico (renamed the Gulf of America) refineries to the East Coast and other parts of the country. 

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers wrote on X that “new data compiled since the initial waiver was issued revealed that significantly more supply was able to reach U.S. ports faster.”

The waiver was set to expire in mid-May, but the extension will allow refiners to use foreign vessels until July. The initial waiver applied to hundreds of products, including crude, coal, natural gas, and fertilizer. 

Yesterday, we noted that Phillips 66 used the Jones Act waiver to move crude from Beaumont, Texas, to Pennsylvania by using a Malta-flagged tanker. 

Reaction: The Offshore Marine Service Association argued that the waiver does not lower fuel or food prices and sidelines American workers and ships. 

“Extending this waiver undermines that foundation by signaling that American ships can be sidelined, driving away the long-term investment, possibly permanently,” said Aaron Smith, president of OMSA. 

Read more by Maydeen here. 

TRUMP GETS THE BLAME FOR GAS PRICES: More and more Americans are saying Trump is to blame for surging gasoline prices, further complicating Republican efforts to keep the majorities in the House and Senate this fall. 

The details: A new poll released by Reuters/Ipsos today found that roughly 77% of registered voters believe Trump holds at least some responsibility for the recent rise in prices at the pump.

It also appears that voters across the aisle share this view, as 55% of Republican voters, 82% of independent voters and 95% of Democratic voters said Trump bears responsibility for surging prices. 

The poll, conducted among more than 4,000 U.S. adults from April 15-20, even found that higher prices, and Trump’s war in Iran, is causing some voters to rethink how they will cast their ballot come November. 

Roughly 58% of voters – including around 20% of Republicans – said they are less likely to support candidates who support how Trump is handling the Middle Eastern conflict. 

Key quote: "Trump has made affordability and bringing down prices a cornerstone of the Make America Great Again movement, ​and with costs going up in the country, that is a hard circle to square, messaging wise," Republican strategist Erin ​Maguire told Reuters. 

WHERE PRICES ARE NOW: Gasoline prices have remained fairly stable around $4 per gallon all week, ticking up slightly by just over $0.20 today. AAA reported that the national average price of gasoline as of Friday was around $4.059 per gallon. Diesel was slightly lower than yesterday, with the national average price sitting at $5.465 per gallon. 

What about oil? International and domestic prices of oil had slightly fallen early this afternoon, dropping by less than $2. Just before 2:30 p.m. EDT, Brent crude dropped 0.15% and was selling at $104.91 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate also fell by 1.97% and was priced at $93.96 per barrel. 

‘DRILL, BABY, DRILL’ UPDATE: The number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the U.S. increased by a count of one this week, according to Baker Hughes. 

Data released by the oilfield service company this afternoon found that the total number of active rigs in the U.S. is now 544, roughly 43 fewer than this time last year. This week, two rigs located on land were added to the count while one rig offshore was removed, accounting for the smaller total increase. 

Broken down further, Baker Hughes found that the number of gas rigs increased by four while the number of oil rigs dropped by three. 

U.S. AND EUROPEAN UNION SIGN CRITICAL MINERALS AGREEMENT: Secretary of State Marco Rubio and European Union Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic signed a memorandum of understanding initiating a partnership on critical minerals, aimed at countering China’s grip on the supply chain. 

“This shows a growing awareness and commitment throughout the world, particularly with our allies in Europe, the importance of supply chains and critical minerals to the success of our economies and our national security,” Rubio said at the signing ceremony. 

“The over-concentration of these resources—the fact that they're dominated by one or two places—is an unacceptable risk,” he added.

The administration has pursued agreements with allied countries to diversify the supply chain of critical minerals. 

Separately, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Sefcovic today announced an action plan for critical minerals, in which the two will coordinate on trade policy and measures for the supply chain. The two will discuss measures such as price floors, standards, investments, stockpiling, and more. 

USTR has signed similar action plans with Mexico and Japan. 

FRANCE DROPS ‘CLIMATE’ FROM G7 AGENDA: France has dropped climate from the G7 meeting to appease the United States. 

Environment ministers from the G7 nations met in Paris this week to discuss several topics, such as biodiversity, marine protection, and plastic pollution in water. 

But France decided to drop climate change from the agenda. 

⁠French Environment Minister Monique Barbut said leaving it out was "a more pragmatic approach" ⁠that ​avoided "the risk of certain partners walking from the ​negotiating table.” 

"Nobody wanted a confrontation and everyone is relieved this G7 meeting happened in ⁠good conditions. Everybody was willing to find a positive ⁠outcome and work on widely shared issues,” she said. 

The Trump administration has removed the U.S. from international groups and initiatives that focus on addressing climate change. 

JAPAN GETS CREATIVE TO CURB ENERGY DEMAND: With energy costs soaring worldwide, one Japanese city is looking to cut local demand by reducing the use of air conditioning. In order to put that in action, officials are now encouraging workers to change their clothes. 

A new France24 and AFP report reveals that Tokyo’s metropolitan government is now urging staffers to wear shorts rather than pants in order to reduce reliance on air conditioning as temperatures rise this spring. The dress code change upgrades the city’s “Cool Biz” initiative that was first launched in 2005, relaxing dress codes during the summer. 

A Tokyo official confirmed to the AFP that the change is in part due to the global energy crisis caused by the war in Iran. 

RUNDOWN 

Politico The world is searching for oil. This summit is looking to get rid of it.

Axios Trump's oil export surge — and ceiling

Bloomberg Data Centers Are Finding a Surprising Way to Deploy Batteries