Crude rises as US-Iran agreement expires without extension
The WTI prompt-month contract rose $0.57 to $85.07/Bbl Tuesday morning (7:45 AM CT)
President Trump said he has little interest in extending the agreement with Iran, leaving the conflict in a prolonged standoff with neither side moving toward renewed military escalation or a diplomatic resolution
The administration is instead leaning on a renewed maximum-pressure campaign, including the naval blockade and additional economic pressure, in an effort to push Tehran toward more acceptable terms for reopening the Strait of Hormuz
The UKMTO reported another vessel attack in the Omani corridor overnight, while observable tanker traffic through Hormuz remains limited
“Everyone is walking around in fog these days,” said Bjarne Schieldrop of SEB, adding that “just sitting long waiting for the upside is a tough approach in today’s market”
Gas inches up as production pulls back
Natural gas is up 2.3c to $2.713/MMBtu (As of 07:45 AM CDT)
L48 dry gas production fell 1.2 Bcf/d to 111.8 Bcf/d (Criterion)
Weather forecasts shifted slightly warmer, with the L48 gaining around 4°F total day over day
The Midwest led the gain, up 10.7°F across the forecast period
Power demand is sitting at 51 Bcf/d today
It averaged 48 Bcf/d last week, and is expected to tick up to 48.5 Bcf/d this week (Criterion)
Natural gas-fired generation averaged 267.1 GW last week, the fourth highest on record (NGI)
Natural gas supplied about 44% of the total 603.33 total generation, down from 47% when the record was set two summers ago (EIA)
Wind and solar picked up approximately 34 GW more than the record in 2024
ERCOT outlines large load verification process in response to Abbott
After Abbott halted work on current PUCT and ERCOT batch zero interconnection with his directive, ERCOT responded with a redesigned verification process on Aug 18
The gird operator assumes that about 200 GW of large load are still eligible for batch zero, out of the 474 GW of large load applications
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