There is continued coverage of the Iran war and its impact on energy globally. The New York Times reports that, even if the war ends immediately, “it may still be weeks, if not months” before oil and gas prices begin to decline again. It continues: “An end to the war would abate a geopolitical crisis and most likely help to reopen clogged shipping lanes in the Middle East, nudging down oil and gas prices from their recent highs. But any relief would arrive gradually for most consumers – and probably not fast enough to undo the damage to the US economy.” Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, tells the newspaper that, when it comes to the energy industry: “Prices rise like a rocket, fall like a feather.” 

Politico reports that oil and gas executives gathered at the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston called the crisis “the worst” on record and a “nightmare”, adding: “Executives from the world’s largest oil companies appeared more astonished about the scale of the supply disruption from the war than thrilled about the higher prices.” Speaking at the conference, Germany’s minister for energy and economy Katherina Reiche said the EU should loosen its “rigid” adherence to climate neutrality and allow itself to miss its 2050 net-zero goal by up to 10%, reports Politico. At the same event, Shell chief executive officer Wael Sawan warned that Europe will soon begin to experience the same kind of disruption to fuel supplies that Asia has faced in recent weeks, reports Bloomberg. The Daily Telegraph, Reuters and Independent all have the story. 

MORE ON ENERGY CRISIS

• The Philippines has declared a “national energy emergency” and pledged to boost coal power in response to the energy crisis, says Agence France-Presse.
• Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is preparing a $3bn plan for companies affected by the energy crisis and US tariffs, reports Bloomberg.
• Italy is hoping to secure more gas supplies in Algeria amid the crisis, says the Financial Times.
• CNBC speaks to analysts about how the “fallout from the Iran war is likely to expedite the shift away from fossil fuels and make countries think differently about the role renewables can play in shoring up energy security”.
• Semafor: “Solar is south-east Asia’s cheapest buffer against future shocks.”

In a phone call with Donald Trump yesterday about the war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz – “a key route for India’s energy imports” – Bloomberg quotes India’s prime minister as saying that “India supports de-escalation and restoration of peace at the earliest”. According to Reuters analysis, the war and blockage of the strait are “likely to halve this month’s imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)” to India. This comes as Reuters reports that Iran has told the UN security council and the International Maritime ​Organization that “non-hostile vessels” may transit the Strait of Hormuz if ‌they coordinate with Iranian authorities. 

Also yesterday, the Indian government issued an “extraordinary” order to expand the country’s gas infrastructure that will “make it mandatory on landowners to grant” access to land to build gas pipelines, the Hindustan Times reports. India’s petroleum ministry “justified the move” by saying that it would “contribute to improved air quality and lower emissions”, per the story. The government has ordered that cooking gas supply to households will be “cut off” if “consumers fail to switch to piped natural gas where such connectivity is available”, Press Trust of India reports.

In a Moneycontrol comment, former Hindustan Petroleum chief Pankaj Sharma observes that post-Covid “revenge” consumption “sidelined promises on climate action”, with a preference for personal mobility evident in “record-breaking vehicle sales”. Sharma continues: “Without a mainstream shift to electrification, demand for fossil fuels will continue to rise, forcing India to navigate increasingly complex global oil diplomacy.” Meanwhile, ethanol manufacturers tell the Indian Express that the “latest [oil] shock should be a wake-up call for India to replicate the Brazil model” of biofuel expansion. The Hindu Businessline reports that migrant workers are leaving cities for their home states, “where biomass cooking remains accessible”. As some Indian states lift emissions curbs on burning firewood and others tighten deforestation controls, analysts tell Mongabay the disruption “offers a critical moment to rethink India’s cooking energy mix”. 

MORE ON SOUTH ASIA

• Pakistan has offered to broker ceasefire talks amid a “new wave of attacks [and] Iran’s continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz”, the Washington Post reports. 
• India’s met authorities have issued a “critical three-day warning” for heatwave conditions in Kerala, per the Press Trust of India. Meanwhile, Mumbai is enduring its “fourth heatwave spell this month”, according to the Indian Express. 
• In a comment in Bangladesh’s Daily Star newspaper, geologist Dr Ahad Chowdhury argues that the country should declare the Ganges water “obsolete” as “India demands more water from rivers that climate change has already dried up.”

In the UK, there continues to be much coverage of right-wing commentators and oil and gas groups’ calls for more North Sea drilling, along with the response from the government. The Guardian reports that ministers have said that new drilling “would put the UK at further risk from volatile fossil fuel markets”. It quotes energy minister Michael Shanks as saying that the UK was “learning the right lessons from this conflict so that we’re not exposed to fossil fuels in the same way again, because this isn’t the first time that households across the country have paid the price of our exposure to gas”. The Financial Times has a story saying that Juergen Maier, chair of the UK’s state-owned clean energy company Great British Energy, has “joined those in favour of producing more North Sea oil and gas”. It is also in the Daily Telegraph. However, on LinkedIn, Maier said the story was “wrong” and that he is “fully supportive of the government position which is to use existing fields and tiebacks for their lifetime and not to support exploration licences for new fields”. 

The Independent interviews Octopus CEO Greg Jackson, who clarifies his position on new oil and gas by saying: “We’re deluding ourselves if we think we can get enough gas out of the North Sea.” The Daily Telegraph covers a misleading report from Offshore Energies UK, the largest oil and gas trade body, that claims that Labour’s licensing and tax policies will see the UK’s reliance on gas imports triple by 2035. [In reality, the North Sea basin is in terminal decline regardless of Labour’s policies. Carbon Brief analysis shows that the UK’s gas production in the North Sea is set to drop 99% by 2050, when compared to 2025 levels, with new licences pushing this figure down only slightly to 97%.]

Elsewhere, the Guardian reports that chancellor Rachel Reeves yesterday made a speech on energy bills, where she ruled out “universal” support to deal with price hikes, adding that “any government help would be targeted”. According to the Guardian, Reeves also said she would “review” the planned end to the fuel duty freeze in September, but “did not commit to delaying or postponing it”. Both the Times and the Daily Mail run frontpages claiming that Reeves’ remarks about “targeted” support suggest that the “middle classes” will have to pay for those on “benefits” to receive financial aid with their energy bills. Sky News reports that energy secretary Ed Miliband has told Labour MPs that he is “committed to looking at unhitching electricity prices from gas in a bid to bring down household bills”.

MORE ON UK

• Financial Times: “Farage’s Reform UK drops pledge to nationalise water and energy companies.”
• The UK government has a new £1bn scheme to help businesses switch to electric trucks and vans, says the Financial Times.
• The Times: “Flooding may make half a million households ‘mortgage prisoners’ by 2050.”
• The Guardian reports on how residents in Lincolnshire, which has experienced severe flooding, are growing increasingly frustrated with their Reform MP Richard Tice over his “climate-sceptic” stance.
• The government has failed to publicly acknowledge an internal report on how the UK’s food supply could be put at risk by climate change and biodiversity loss, says the Times.
• The pension fund for Anglican clergy has “pledged to vote against board directors at NatWest, Santander and HSBC, as it accused the banks of having ‘materially backtracked’ on their climate commitments”, reports the Financial Times.

Demand for Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) in overseas markets has jumped since oil prices began to soar amid the war in the Middle East, according to the China Passenger Car Association, reports business news outlet Yicai. The South China Morning Post quotes a director at consultancy group Wood Mackenzie, saying that “competitive advantage” over petrol vehicles will come sooner in countries with access to “low-cost” Chinese EVs amid the oil disruption. Financial news outlet Caixin reports that a surge in global oil prices could “renew momentum” for EV sales in China, lifting the demand from its “recent slump” due to “less generous” tax breaks and subsidies. State-run newspaper China Daily says that Chinese automakers are “moving up the ranks” in Australia’s auto sector amid rising fuel costs. Reuters reports investors are betting the oil shock will “boost global demand for green energy, a sector China dominates”.

Meanwhile, a “GT voice” article by the state-supporting newspaper Global Times says that decisions by 12 western automakers to scale back their EV transitions “not only undercut global green development, but also hindered global cooperation in industrial and supply chains”. Robin Zeng, chairman of Chinese battery maker CATL, told the Wall Street Journal that the US EV market will remain small “for several years” before it booms, and that building that future without CATL will be “difficult” and costly. Bloomberg reports that some African countries’ export controls on “crucial battery metals are dealing a blow to Chinese companies that have spent billions of dollars developing mines there to dominate supplies”.

MORE ON CHINA

• NEA released guidelines for formulating energy industry standards for 2026, with a focus on building a new energy system, reports International Energy Net.
• Huang Runqiu, head of the MEE, urged more targeted financial support for private companies’ low-carbon development, according to Securities Daily.
• A He Yin article by People’s Daily says China’s green transition is delivering “development dividends through pragmatic cooperation” in an uncertain world.
• IRENA’s Francesco La Camera writes in China Daily current Middle East tensions “reinforces the role of renewable energy” as a “compelling” source of energy security. Philippines president Marcos tells Bloomberg that these tensions may spur “talks”  with China over energy in disputed territory.
• NEA deputy director Wan Jinsong called for integrating AI to support “large-scale development” of new energy at CDF, reports BJX News.
• China Energy News reports China’s updated emission factor database marks a further “upgrade” of its emissions accounting system.

An editorial in the Guardian responds to chancellor Rachel Reeves’ announcement that the Treasury will not offer “universal” support for energy price rises at this time. It says: “Britain cannot achieve a clean energy transition on the cheap in a volatile world of disrupted supply and higher costs. [Prime minister] Keir Starmer has warned that the conflict may endure. The Treasury is behaving as if it will not.” An editorial in Daily Mail also responds to Reeves’ announcement, focusing on how support with energy bills might be channelled towards the UK’s poorest rather than its “middle classes”. A Daily Telegraph column by assistant editor Jeremy Warner strikes a similar tone.

Elsewhere, there is much comment in right-wing newspapers aiming to pressure the Labour government into issuing new oil and gas licences for the North Sea. An editorial in the Times says “it’s time to lift the ban on North Sea oil and gas exploration”, adding: “Miliband might not be able to stomach the abandonment of a policy on which he has staked so much, but if ­losing him as energy secretary is the price of making Britain’s energy supplies more secure, so be it.” Elsewhere, Times columnist Juliet Samuel also has an article in favour of more drilling, claiming: “North Sea gas is estimated to generate a sixth of the carbon emissions of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), especially where it is close to existing infrastructure.” [Carbon Brief analysis shows that CO2 emissions from UK production are actually only around 15% lower than those from LNG imports, when you consider the pollution from burning the fuel.] Military historian Tim Newark makes similar arguments in favour of drilling in the Daily Express.

The net-zero-sceptic Daily Telegraph runs a number of columns rife with misinformation. This includes a column from climate-sceptic “independent analyst” Kathryn Porter titled: “Even net-zero’s champions are realising we can’t do without oil and gas”; a column titled: “Labour would rather see your energy costs soar than admit they were wrong”; a column critical of Reeves’ planned end to the temporary fuel duty cut and, finally, a column attacking the zero-emission vehicle mandate. In addition, an editorial in the climate-sceptic Sun says that “Labour MUST axe fuel duty hike and drill for oil to help Brits in [the] energy crisis”. In BusinessGreen, former BBC journalist Roger Harrabin criticises misleading North Sea coverage and its “excruciating” lack of consideration of climate change.

MORE ENERGY COMMENT

• An editorial in the Washington Post says that cutting taxes on gasoline is “good politics, but terrible policy”.
• Gavin Maguire, global energy transition columnist at Reuters, explains why the Iran war deals a “harder blow to natural gas than oil”.