Author: Stu

The Subsidy Cliff and Your Power Bill: Wind, Solar, Storage and the Grid

Washington spent billions to put wind, solar and batteries on the grid, and the biggest wave yet is arriving right as the tax credits run out. Here is what the data says about your bill, what it does not say, and why grid stability is the question to watch. By Stuart Turley, host of the […]

Oil Over $100 as Markets Struggle to Balance Amid Tanker Attacks and Shipping Disruptions

Brent crude settled at $109.86 per barrel on Friday, October 16, after touching $110 intraday—the highest since May—while WTI closed at $101.41. The move capped a week of gains driven by persistent supply risks from the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict (now approaching eight months), Russian-Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure, Houthi activity, and a sharp acceleration in […]

The GeoTES Revolution Solving California’s Energy Crisis with Oil and Innovation

In this episode of the Energy Newsbeat podcast, host Stu Turley sits down with David Blackmon (Forbes contributor and Energy Impacts podcast host) and Mike Umbro (energy innovator and founder of California for Energy and Science) to explore a groundbreaking solution to California’s energy crisis. The conversation centers on Geologic Thermal Energy Storage (GeoTES)—a revolutionary […]

ExxonMobil Signals Soaring Refining Earnings as Downstream Boom Offsets Upstream Pressure

ExxonMobil’s preliminary third-quarter update has put refining front and center for investors. Higher refining margins are expected to add roughly $4.5 billion to downstream earnings compared with the second quarter—on top of the $4.1 billion the company already generated from refining in Q2. That surge comes even as upstream earnings face an estimated $1.3 billion […]

The IEA Speeds Up 20 Million Barrels of Diesel. That Is About Five Days of U.S. Use, Not Cheap Diesel by the Midterms

On Thursday, the International Energy Agency agreed to accelerate the release of more than 20 million barrels of diesel, with no timeline. By our math, that is about 17 hours of world demand, or five days of U.S. use. Emergency barrels help, but they do not build refineries. – The key is whether they actually […]

PJM, ERCOT, and SPP All Set New Summer Peak Electricity Demand Records This Summer

The summer of 2026 tested the U.S. electric grid with record heat and rising demand. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Hourly Electric Grid Monitor (based on Form EIA-930 data), three major regional transmission organizations (RTOs) set new peak hourly load records.⁠Eia PJM (serving roughly 65–67 million people across all or parts of 13 […]

Coal Making a Comeback: How Fast and How Long?

Europe’s remaining coal plants are generating unexpected profits while Asia burns more coal to fill an LNG gap created by Middle East disruptions. Global demand is heading for a record high in 2026. The rebound is real but uneven, largely temporary in the West, and more structural in Asia—until nuclear and cleaner alternatives scale meaningfully. […]

Morgan Stanley Leads Fundraise for $4 Billion Texas Refinery Project as America First Refining Advances Brownsville Plans

Morgan Stanley is leading an equity and debt fundraising for America First Refining’s planned $4 billion oil refinery at the Port of Brownsville, Texas—the first major new U.S. oil refinery in roughly half a century—according to the company. Chief Commercial Officer Tom Ramsey said at a Crude Oil Quality Association conference in Galveston on October […]

Europe’s Gas Prices Close to 2022 High as LNG Market Shifting

European benchmark natural gas prices remain near multi-year highs in mid-October 2026, approaching levels last seen at the end of 2022. The Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) front-month contract traded around €86 per megawatt-hour (MWh)—roughly $96.50/MWh—after a sharp rally driven by constrained Middle East LNG supplies and historically low storage heading into winter. Prices have […]

What the Defense Production Act Push at Delek’s Tyler Refinery Means for Your Fuel Bill

Vice President JD Vance says the administration “has used” the Defense Production Act to expand Delek’s 74,000-barrel-a-day plant in East Texas. Diesel is $6.32 and nobody has published the dollars, the barrels or the start date. Here is what is real, what is not yet, and whether one small refinery can be the start of […]