Janet Yellen, secretary of the US treasury
US struggles with global energy security champion role
The country faces a very particular version of the ‘energy trilemma’
The so-called energy trilemma—finding a balance between security, affordability and sustainability in how we access and use energy—has filled many column inches in recent years, while the tragic events unfolding in Ukraine have brought a renewed focus on the first of the three pillars in recent months. In Washington, the Biden administration faces an especially challenging version, in that its contribution to energy security is increasingly required to be global, while its actions have ramifications on the crude price benchmarks against which most of the world’s oil sales are indexed. And President Biden must navigate these global roles while satisfying a domestic environmental lobby that in
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Gas is a central pillar of Colombia’s energy system, but declining production poses a significant challenge, and LNG will be increasingly needed as a stopgap. A recent major offshore gas discovery offers hope, but policy improvements are also required, Camilo Morales, secretary general of Naturgas, the Colombian gas association, tells Petroleum Economist
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The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
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The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
