Failed blockade runner
** A US Navy fighter jet disabled the rudder of an Iranian-flagged tanker on Wednesday with its 20 mm cannon. The tanker was trying to bypass the blockade of Iran’s ports, the US military said.
Strait of Hormuz
** Shipping intelligence firm Lloyd’s List says the Strait of Hormuz is now closed, as Iran says an agency it just created is in charge of clearing vessels for transit. President Trump is again voicing optimism for a peace deal, saying the war will be “over quickly” and insisting it’s going “unbelievably well.”
Oil—up or down?
** Global oil prices fell by as much as 12% Wednesday, then pared nearly half of those losses as the market weighed reports of progress toward a U.S.-Iran peace deal and the potential impact on the growing crude-supply crisis in the Persian Gulf.
UAE oil hub
** As the Strait of Hormuz has now been closed for nearly nine weeks, the oil hub at Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become an even more prominent oil export and bunkering hub than it has ever been.
Closing to increase hunger
** The U.N. World Food Program claims an estimated 45 million people could experience hunger, mostly in Asia and Africa, if the strait does not open soon. The blocking of fuel and fertilizer shipments could soon push the price of food and other necessities out of reach for those already in a precarious situation, it said.
US Energy
** The Justice Department is probing “suspiciously timed trades in the oil market just ahead of major announcements by President Donald Trump and a top Iranian official about the war in Iran,” ABC News reports.
** Shell beat expectations with a $6.9 first quarter profit, more than twice its adjusted earnings in the last three months of 2025.
** Residents in Richland County, Ohio, voted narrowly Tuesday to keep a ban on utility-scale solar and wind across much of the community — a setback for those who hoped the referendum could serve as a blueprint for overcoming local restrictions on renewables nationwide.
** Rivian is working on undisclosed variants of its R2 electric vehicles, the company’s CEO said, days after starting volume production of the smaller and more affordable SUVs.”