Oil fell on signs that the conflict in the Middle East may avoid disrupting crude production, with Iran seeking to deescalate hostilities with Israel. West Texas Intermediate slid 1.7% to settle below $72 a barrel after spiking to start the session and swinging in an $8 throughout the day. US President Donald Trump said Iran wants to talk about deescalating the conflict, helping quell fears that a protracted war would engulf a region that produces around a third of the world’s crude. “The question is — will Israel really be on board with that?” said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group. “What this does suggest, though, is that the chatter about the Strait of Hormuz may have been overstating the threat.” Still, oil markets remain on edge after Israel launched an attack on the South Pars gas field, forcing the halt of a production platform, following strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites and military leadership last week. However, critical crude oil-exporting infrastructure has so far been spared and there’s been no blockage of the vital Strait of Hormuz. While an attack on Iran’s gas production is a concern, the biggest fear for the oil market centers on Hormuz. Middle East producers ship about a fifth of the world’s daily output through the narrow waterway, and prices could soar further if Tehran attempts to disrupt shipments through the route. Oil prices remain significantly higher than where they were before the attacks began. Crude gained more than 7% in the session after air strikes began on Friday, leading to record volumes of producer hedging as well as futures and options changing hands. Wall Street analysts have been quick to highlight the risks the conflict could pose. RBC Capital Markets said the fact both sides have targeted energy infrastructure

Key OPEC+ nations added less oil to the market last month than the headline figure of its output plan, as the cartel’s leadership pushed members to atone for earlier over-production. The eight members involved in the group’s current accord raised production by 154,000 barrels a day, compared with a headline increase of 411,000 barrels a day, according to a monthly report from OPEC’s secretariat. Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Russia were among those compensating for past excess output. However, the eight countries’ total output was almost 400,000 barrels a day above their target for the month as Kazakhstan continued to pump well above its quota. Group leader Saudi Arabia has spurred OPEC and its allies to accelerate their planned output revival in a bid to punish members that flouted their limits with lower prices, and to reclaim the market share Riyadh has ceded during years of supply curbs. That push initially weakened oil prices, but markets have been roiled in recent days as Israel launched a wave of attacks on OPEC member Iran, including some strikes on its domestic energy infrastructure. US crude futures are trading near $73 a barrel after surging on Friday by the most in three years. With Iran’s crude exports so far unaffected, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais has said the organization doesn’t need to take any immediate action. Quota Cheats The report published by OPEC’s Vienna-based research department on Monday showed that members have taken a mixed approach in implementing their agreed production increases. Saudi Arabia largely went ahead with its mandated hike in May, raising production by 177,000 barrels a day to an average of 9.183 million per day. Kazakhstan and Iraq, who had pledged extra cutbacks as compensation for cheating, both reduced output in May. Astana cut by 21,000 barrels to 1.8

Israel and Iran exchanged fire for the fourth consecutive day on Monday, stoking fears of an all-out war with the potential to drag in others in the oil-rich region and force the US into a more hands-on stance. Iran fired several waves of drones and missiles over the last 24 hours, while Israel continued hitting the Islamic Republic’s capital, Tehran, and killing one more senior military official.  Since Friday, 224 people have been killed in Iran, according to the government, which said most of the casualties were civilians. Iranian attacks killed 24 people in Israel, according to the Israeli government press office, and injured 592.  Tehran is signaling it wants to deescalate hostilities with Israel and is willing to resume nuclear talks with the US as long as Washington doesn’t join the Israeli attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday citing Middle Eastern and European officials it didn’t identify. A similar report by Reuters says Iran conveyed the message through Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman.  Oil fell on the WSJ report, with Brent futures dropping around 4 percent – they rose over 10 percent Friday. US Treasuries pared earlier drops and European bonds gained as traders reacted to diminishing concerns about inflation.  It’s not clear whether Israel would agree to stop missile strikes. Israeli officials have said they want to ensure Iran doesn’t have the capacity to build a nuclear weapon. The exchange of missile salvos between Israel and Iran is the most serious escalation after years of shadow war. Analysts fear it might push the Middle East into a regional conflict, causing wider human loss and potentially disrupting energy flows and vital trade routes.  One missile landed near the US consulate in central Tel Aviv, causing minor material damages but no injuries to personnel, the ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said Monday.

Dive Brief: The Michigan Public Service Commission on Thursday ordered a series of reliability improvements for Consumers Energy and DTE Electric, including bolstering the utilities’ vegetation management programs and prioritizing equipment replacement programs “based on inspections and the actual condition of the equipment instead of solely on age of facilities.” Michigan regulators launched the audit in 2022 following a string of storm-related outages and downed-wires incidents that resulted in the death of a 14-year-old child. Restoration times at both utilities are “worse than average,” the audit concluded in September. Both utilities say they are reviewing the PSC’s order and taking steps to improve reliability. The two utilities serve more than 80% of Michigan residents. Dive Insight: Almost 500,000 Michigan customers lost power, some for several days, following severe storms in August 2022. And in addition to the young girl killed, two boys were critically hurt by contact with power lines downed in the storm. “After a thorough and detailed audit process, now is the time for implementation,” Commissioner Katherine Peretick said in a statement. “The recommendations provided by the third-party experts will now be embedded into decisions going forward, including distribution plans and rate cases for cost recovery.” DTE and Consumers serve more than 4 million customers combined. The audit was performed by The Liberty Consulting Group. The commission directed both utilities to file a report on downed-wires policies and resources by Aug. 29. “The steps the Commission is outlining today build on what we’ve learned from the audit and a series of initiatives going back nearly a decade and take concrete actions to continue addressing reliability issues that have frustrated customers,” PSC Chair Dan Scripps said.  For both utilities, the PSC ordered they focus on: Expansion of resources to address downed wires, and for the utilities to file information regarding personnel, protocols,

Will ERCOT’s streamlined connect-and-manage approach work for other markets? | Utility Dive Skip to main content An article from Deep Dive The Southwest Power Pool and other regions see flexible integrated system planning as a more reliable way to clear interconnection queues. Published June 16, 2025 The Electric Reliability Council of Texas uses a unique connect-and-manage interconnection process that is adding new generation faster than any other U.S. system, data shows. Wikipedia. (2024). “2024 RTO Map” [jpg]. Retrieved from WikiCommons. The need to speed interconnection of new generation continues to grow more urgent, but the Electric Reliability Council of Texas may have the solution, some analysts say. ERCOT uses a unique connect-and-manage, or C&M, interconnection process that is adding new generation faster than any other U.S. system, data shows. C&M may meet the current Texas spiking electricity demand but other markets need more price and reliability certainty from streamlined interconnection processes, stakeholders outside Texas said. ERCOT’s C&M approach “allows generators to enter the market as energy-only resources because it manages them as part of its proactive transmission planning process,” Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment Fellow Tyler Norris said. But those generators “face the financial risk of curtailments,” he added. Unlike ERCOT, most system operators’ reliability requirements and allocation of upgrade costs force detailed and redundant studies of generators seeking interconnection that result in backlogged queues, studies show.   “Most regions do studies to ensure generation is deliverable when and where it’s needed, which slows interconnection approvals,” said Carrie Bivens, vice president of Southwest Power Pool’s market monitoring unit and former director of ERCOT market monitor Potomac Economics. Dropouts from generator applicant clusters “force redundant studies and slows the process more,” she added. System operators are finding ways to streamline interconnection processes, analysts and regulators agree. But more flexible interconnection approaches could

Dive Brief: State utility regulators and ratepayer advocates are urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject a Midcontinent Independent System Operator petition that asks the agency to declare that “unsolicited” long-range transmission planning monitoring and evaluation is outside the scope of its market monitor’s duties. Market monitors from MISO, the PJM Interconnection and ISO New England said transmission planning and market oversight is linked, according to filings on Friday at the agency. “It is difficult to conceive of a coherent argument that transmission planning does not affect MISO’s markets and services,” Potomac Economics, the grid operator’s independent market monitor, or IMM, said in a filing. However, MISO transmission owners such as Ameren, Duke Energy and Entergy support limiting Potomac Economics’ role in transmission planning. “Unsolicited monitoring and evaluation of MISO’s transmission planning activities are beyond the bounds of Potomac’s tariff-assigned responsibilities and as such, should not be entitled to compensation by MISO customers,” they told FERC. Dive Insight: MISO’s petition grew out of Potomac Economic’s criticism of MISO’s needs and cost-benefit analysis that underpinned its roughly $22 billion Tranche 2.1 transmission portfolio that was approved in December, according to the filings. The market monitor argued that MISO overstated its transmission needs and the benefits from its proposed project portfolio. In its petition, MISO asked FERC to declare that unsolicited transmission planning and monitoring activities are outside the scope of Potomac’s engagement under MISO’s tariff and that the grid operator doesn’t have to pay for the activities. MISO defined “activities” to mean unsolicited monitoring, evaluations and analyses of the grid operator’s long range transmission planning, as well as advocating for Potomac’s positions, while seeking reimbursement for the activities from MISO, a regional transmission organization that runs the grid and wholesale power markets in 15 states and part of Canada, from