Oilfield Mayhem

05/18/2026

🚨 UPDATE

President Trump just halted a planned military strike on Iran at the personal request of the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

The demand on the table?

NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN. 🇺🇸

Trump has ordered the U.S. Military to be ready for a full-scale assault on a moment’s notice if talks fall apart.

This isn’t just a foreign policy story.

This is the Middle East oil supply, global energy markets, and YOUR livelihood on the line.

05/18/2026

🚨 TRUMP TO IRAN: DEAL NOW.
OR THERE WON'T BE ANYTHING LEFT.

"For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them."

That's the actual quote.

Trump on Truth Social, Sunday.

The ceasefire is crumbling.

Peace talks hit a wall this weekend, Iran rejected Washington's latest framework and the two sides are further apart than ever.

Here's what happened overnight:

🇺🇸 Trump's 5-point demand: Iran shuts all but ONE nuclear site and hands over 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. Enough material to build 10 to 12 nuclear bombs.

🚫 Iran's answer: No. They want sanctions lifted, frozen assets released, war reparations, and a ceasefire in Lebanon before any nuclear talks even start

- Iranian drones hit the UAE's only nuclear power plant overnight and started a fire

- Saudi Arabia intercepted 3 drones launched from Iraq in the same overnight window

- Strait of Hormuz, still blocked. 20% of global oil exports still choked off

Trump spent the weekend with his national security team going over military options if talks collapse completely.

⛽ WTI is sitting above $106 this morning & converging on the Brent price of $110.

📰 For hands in the field:
The Iran premium is keeping crude above $100 and operators are spending. Watch the rig count & frac crews if this gets hotter.

For people at the pump:
Gas is already pricing in the risk. A second round of strikes won't take weeks to show up at the pump.

The Strait doesn't reopen until somebody blinks.

Is Trump bluffing, or does Iran have 72 hours left to make a deal?

05/16/2026

Great news!

🚨 551 RIGS. $105+ OIL.AMERICA'S DRILLERS ARE DOING MORE WITH LESS.

Baker Hughes just dropped the weekly rig count for the week ending May 15.

US total: 551 rigs.

Up 3 from last week.

That's 4th straight weeks of gains.

Here's what makes that number wild.

💪 North America total: 675 rigs (US + 124 Canada)

At the peak of the 2014 shale boom, we were running nearly 1,900 rigs.

Today?

551 rigs.

And US production is sitting at 13.710 million barrels per day.

Fewer rigs. More oil.

The efficiency gains in this industry don't get enough credit.

Now layer in the market.

WTI closed the week at $105.40.

That's up $6+ on the week.

The Strait of Hormuz situation has traders spooked & disruptions at the world's most critical chokepoint have slashed global supply flows to a fraction of normal levels.

For hands in the field:
Four weeks of rig count gains with WTI above $100 means operators have margin to work with.

Don't be shocked if you see more permit filings and some stacked iron come back to life soon.

The economics are starting to pencil.

We are still about even since Feb 28th conflict begin so don’t buy that 2026 Ford Crew Cab yet 😂

For people at the pump:
WTI at $105 doesn't stay invisible at the gas station.

If tensions continue, we could start climbing higher toward the 2022 all time high of $5.02/gallon nationally.

The American oilfield is running lean and producing near-record volumes while the rest of the world is struggling.

What is your read here?

Is 551 rigs with $105 oil the sweet spot operators have been waiting for?

Or do we need prices to hold for another 60 days before anyone starts calling up stacked rigs?

Then there’s also the question of how much more volume Midstream can handle. We already know West Texas NatGas is way over supplied.

05/16/2026

Stockmarket climbing rapidly now scare anyone? Seem counterintuitive? 🧐

05/16/2026

🚨 551 RIGS. $105+ OIL.AMERICA'S DRILLERS ARE DOING MORE WITH LESS.

Baker Hughes just dropped the weekly rig count for the week ending May 15.

US total: 551 rigs.

Up 3 from last week.

That's 4th straight weeks of gains.

Here's what makes that number wild.

💪 North America total: 675 rigs (US + 124 Canada)

At the peak of the 2014 shale boom, we were running nearly 1,900 rigs.

Today?

551 rigs.

And US production is sitting at 13.710 million barrels per day.

Fewer rigs. More oil.

The efficiency gains in this industry don't get enough credit.

Now layer in the market.

WTI closed the week at $105.40.

That's up $6+ on the week.

The Strait of Hormuz situation has traders spooked & disruptions at the world's most critical chokepoint have slashed global supply flows to a fraction of normal levels.

For hands in the field:
Four weeks of rig count gains with WTI above $100 means operators have margin to work with.

Don't be shocked if you see more permit filings and some stacked iron come back to life soon.

The economics are starting to pencil.

We are still about even since Feb 28th conflict begin so don’t buy that 2026 Ford Crew Cab yet 😂

For people at the pump:
WTI at $105 doesn't stay invisible at the gas station.

If tensions continue, we could start climbing higher toward the 2022 all time high of $5.02/gallon nationally.

The American oilfield is running lean and producing near-record volumes while the rest of the world is struggling.

What is your read here?

Is 551 rigs with $105 oil the sweet spot operators have been waiting for?

Or do we need prices to hold for another 60 days before anyone starts calling up stacked rigs?

Then there’s also the question of how much more volume Midstream can handle. We already know West Texas NatGas is way over supplied.

05/15/2026

🚨 KUWAIT SHIPPED ZERO OIL. FIRST TIME SINCE 1991.

TankerTrackers just confirmed it.

Kuwait exported zero barrels of crude in April 2026.

35 years. Saddam was rolling tanks through Kuwait City the last time this number hit zero.

📉 Pre-war: 1.85M bpd flowing to China, India, South Korea

• By April, output had collapsed to 500K–1.2M bpd

• April 17: KPC declared force majeure to every customer worldwide

• Hormuz throughput: was 20M bpd (down over 90%)

KPC's reasons:
Tankers won't enter the Persian Gulf.

Kuwait's own oil infrastructure is under attack.
Hormuz passage is a death sentence.

WTI sitting at $105.43
Brent at $109.45

For consumers at the pump:
Kuwait was 2% of global oil exports. Gone.

You don't need a degree in economics to figure out it’s not just Iran’s oil effecting gas prices.

Oil is 90%+ of Kuwait's government revenue.

Their entire country is running dry while their wells keep pumping into storage tanks that have nowhere to send it.

Stockpiles building.

No tankers coming.

No buyers receiving.

Does Kuwait ever get back to 1.85M bpd in exports?

Or has this war permanently rewired the global oil map?

05/14/2026

On every job site in America 😂

05/13/2026

The White House: “Drill Baby Drill!”
Oil Companies: “Gimme a Minute”

05/13/2026

🚨 TRUMP CALLED IT GENIUS. DISAGREEMENT FOLOWS IMMEDIATELY

Trump went on camera May 11 and said the Strait of Hormuz closure is working out just fine.

His words:
"When people heard about losing Hormuz, they said 'Oh, this is genius. They're finding other locations.' Companies and countries are going to continue to go to Texas. They like it better. They said it's an extra 45 minutes. It's sort of amazing."

Here's what's actually happening:

🛢️ Hormuz normally moves 20 million barrels per day. Right now it's 2-5 vessels crossing daily vs. the usual 70

- 100 million barrels lost every week the strait stays closed, per Saudi Aramco's CEO

- WTI hit $103/barrel. National gas average: $4.51/gallon

- The IEA called this the largest oil supply disruption in history. Bigger than 1973. Bigger than 1979. Bigger than the Gulf War.

Now for the "extra 45 minutes" math.

Texas is exporting a record 6.44 million barrels a day.

The hole Hormuz left behind is 20 million barrels a day.

Texas fills 32% of that gap. That's it.

Asia sourced 60% of its oil from the Middle East. You don't reroute that in a weekend.

Saudi Aramco's CEO says the global market won't recover until 2027. He thinks the Strait may be closed until July.

Trump says it's “genius.”

It’s making US oil companies more profit & keeping workers busy. It’s choking out Iranian revenue.

Is that the genius part? Or does he think Asia cuts Gulf buy for good?

It’s also costing consumers worldwide more money.

But what does Trump mean by 45 minutes?

It takes 30-40 for tankers to travel from the US to Asia.

05/13/2026

What do you believe is true about the Iran & Hormuz situations?

The only boats we’ve seen lately from Iran are the little Fast Boats.

And the disabled Tankers.

Trump says the Iran Navy is destroyed.

Yet the US is still negotiating. Moving at a snail’s pace.

Or maybe this is what Trump wants.

Other countries buying our oil at increasing prices.

And the USD PetroDollar being held by more countries. Making it stronger.

Which picture are you seeing the clearest?