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Rising fuel costs, flight cuts raise concerns for troop travel in Europe

Passengers board the Patriot Express at RAF Mildenhall in England on Dec. 20, 2022. Rising jet fuel prices and supply concerns across Europe are driving up pressure on passengers just ahead of the summer months, the peak travel season for the U.S. military. (Viviam Chiu/U.S. Air Force) Rising jet fuel costs and supply concerns across Europe are putting pressure on passengers just before the summer months that mark the U.S. military's peak travel season. The strain comes as shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil chokepoint, prompt fears that Europe could face "severe" flight cancellations and reduced seating capacity this summer. Lufthansa announced Tuesday that it had cut roughly 20,000 flights, a move expected to save the airliner nearly 40,000 metric tons of fuel through October. The cancellations are estimated to reduce overall seat capacity by about 1%. The next ...

Lufthansa slashes 20K flights to save jet fuel as Iran war drives up oil prices

The German company that owns Lufthansa Airlines and other European carriers said Tuesday that it would cut 20,000 short-haul flights through October as the Iran war drives up oil prices and deepens worries that some countries may run low on jet fuel. The Lufthansa Group said the cancellation of less profitable routes, focused largely on its hub airports in the German cities of Frankfurt and Munich, would save the equivalent of approximately 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel. The company last week shut down one of its regional subsidiaries, CityLine, to cut costs. It said a "planned consolidation" within its European network also would involve Lufthansa Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS and ITA Airways, and hubs in Brussels, Rome, Vienna and Zurich. The price of jet fuel has more than doubled in some markets since late February, when the war began with ...

Hormuz ‘Reopening Optimism’ Is ‘Sliding Fast’, Analyst Warns

"Reopening optimism" for Strait of Hormuz is "sliding fast", according to Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) Chief Commodities Analyst Bjarne Schieldrop, who warned of risk of a "knee-jerk" oil price adjustment higher in a SEB report sent to Rigzone on Thursday. "What has been striking through April is how stable rest of year Brent price has been around $90 per barrel," Schieldrop said in report. "That stability rests on one key assumption: that the Strait of Hormuz reopens around 1 May. That assumption is now starting to slip," he warned. "Trump has been touting that a deal with Iran is imminent through most of April, but a deal now looks increasingly elusive. Polymarket bets in the U.S. for when SoH will reopen have declined sharply over the past week," Schieldrop pointed out. "Bets on a reopening by 13 May has declined 27 percent since ...

Seoul’s Struggling Self-Employed Turn to Loans Amid Oil Price Surge

Plastic products are displayed at a packaging store in Bangsan Market in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo courtesy of Yonhap News.Lee Sang-ryeol, a 50-something freight truck operator in Seoul, is facing deepening losses as high oil prices have turned his work into a money-losing endeavor. Fuel costs that averaged 300,000 won per day before the Middle East war have recently soared to 500,000 won. Meanwhile, freight orders have declined, with shipping fees dropping to around 350,000 won per job from 500,000 won. Combined with tollgate fees and interest payments on a 100 million won capital loan taken out when he purchased his vehicle five years ago, his business has become one where work no longer yields any profit. Lee eventually took out a 50 million won loan last month through "Vulnerable Business Support Fund," a policy program run by Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, ...

Why Diesel Has Become a Much Bigger Economic Problem Than Gasoline

The war in Iran has disrupted supplies of diesel, used to power trucks and heavy equipment, much more than gasoline, which is primarily used in passenger cars. The price of diesel has risen much more quickly than gasoline as U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has choked global oil supplies. That could have severe consequences for diesel-dependent transportation industry. Since the war began on Feb. 28, the average price of a gallon of diesel has gone up about 45 percent, while a gallon of regular gasoline has risen about 35 percent. The Energy Information Administration, a federal research agency, expects average diesel prices to peak at more than $5.80 a gallon this month. Gasoline, the agency said, would average $4.30 a gallon. Prices have gone down modestly in the past week on hopes for a peace deal, but the gap between diesel ...

Let’s get real about oil

As The Economist noted yesterday: To gauge how close the world is to energy catastrophe, The Economist has gathered a dashboard of indicators. It suggests that grave damage has already been done. Worse, without a reopening costs could soar, triggering events that cause fuel system to seize up. A reopening of strait now would—just—avoid a complete disaster. But some additional pain is already inevitable. Three factors are pushing world towards cliff edge. Oil cargoes available to buy are drying up. Refineries are slashing output of fuel. And demand remains artificially high, especially in Europe. Something big must give somewhere large for energy markets to balance. They added: Modelling ... for The Economist shows that European stocks will fall precipitously if Hormuz flows do not normalise by June. So, what is this all about? First, as The Economist notes, the global energy system is not adjusting smoothly ...

Russia to Cut Kazakh Oil Transit to Germany

Russia plans to halt the flow of Kazakh oil through the Druzhba pipeline to a refinery in eastern Germany starting May 1, the energy ministry in Berlin told AFP on Wednesday. The German subsidiary of Russia's state-owned oil company Rosneft told German regulators that the Russian Energy Ministry had ordered the suspension. Moscow has not confirmed the decision directly to the German government, officials in Berlin said. Rosneft Germany "is currently assessing the implications" of the pipeline closure for the refinery and is "utilizing all available options to ensure security of supply in Germany," the German energy ministry said. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak later confirmed the suspension, saying Kazakh oil will be redirected to "other available logistics routes." "This is due to current technical capacities," Novak told journalists without providing a timeline for resumption. "The Germans have given ...

Norway Monthly Gas Production Falls

Norway produced 349.3 million cubic meters (12.34 billion cubic feet) a day (MMcmd) of natural gas in March, down month-on-month and year-on-year, according to preliminary official figures published Tuesday. Last month's gas output marks a 1.6 percent decrease from February 2026 and 0.8 percent from March 2025, Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) reported. The March 2026 figure also fell short of NOD's projection by 0.5 percent. March 2026 marks the second consecutive month that the Nordic country's gas production declined both sequentially and by prior-year comparison. Norway sold 10.8 billion cubic meters (Bcm) of gas in March 2026, down 0.9 Bcm from the prior month. Oil production last month averaged 1.94 million barrels per day (MMbpd), down 1 percent from February 2026 but up 10.6 percent from March 2025. The figure for March 2026 exceeded the NOD forecast by 9.1 percent. ...

Iran attacks oil tankers in Hormuz, sending oil back above $101 a barrel

Global oil prices settled above $101 a barrel on Wednesday after Iran reportedly fired on three ships in Strait of Hormuz and escorted two to coast. The flare-up comes following President Donald Trump's unilateral announcement Tuesday of an indefinite cease-fire with Iran, after a second round of planned peace talks set for Wednesday fell apart. That led prices for Brent crude to gain about 3.5% to end at $101.91 a barrel on Wednesday afternoon, according to FactSet. That was highest settlement value for international benchmark since April 7. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery ended 3.7% higher, at about $92.96 a barrel. The jump in oil prices comes as world leaders struggle to find a pathway to fully reopen Strait of Hormuz. The Washington Post on Wednesday reported that Pentagon told Congress it could take six months to ...

Iran Menaces Hormuz

Iranian gunboats fired on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday as Tehran maintained its grip on the vital energy channel, while two of its own oil supertankers tested a US blockade. The UK Maritime Trade Operations, a naval liaison with the shipping industry, said on X that a cargo ship and a container ship came under fire in the waterway. Meanwhile, analytics firm Vortexa said Iran moved supertankers into the Arabian Sea, an area where the US has sought to block Iranian shipping. Iranian state TV reported later that the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had seized two ships — identified as MSC Francesca and Epaminondas — in Hormuz and brought them to shore for inspection. The Wall Street Journal reported that both came under attack, as well as a third, Euphoria. Technomar Shipping Inc., manager of Epaminondas, confirmed the ...

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