I guess it’s back to busing it work today as rain is coming ⛈️
Usually that’s a sign that the forecast is terrible wrong, but whatever, I’ll bus it work and maybe catch the earlier local home if luck would have it. Probably but it’s a buck thirty and a dream as they say.
Apple pancakes 🥞 for breakfast today. Good, I thought about shredding some zucchini to put in the mix but I am still missing my grater, which I think is hiding out somewhere ein my truck. I really should find it before vacation as I don’t think I’ll be bringing my food processor on vacation.
Last night it was out to Five Rivers 🌸 to check out the wildflower gardens and poke around until dusk, though I left a bit earlier as my phone battery was almost dead, 🪫 and it’s like well I should get home relatively early and get some sleep. 🛏️ I stay up too late during these summer days but still wake up when the sun rises. I don’t know how dairy men do it.
The wildflowers 🌼 were great, quiet but pretty night at Five Rivers. Tonight rain, and tomorrow I think I have another public meeting about yet another development in the Albany Pine Bush. 🦋 I think when I own land, I’ll plant lots of wildflowers between the hog and goat pens, 🐐 around the trash burning barrel 🛢️ and edges of pastures. 🐑 Something needs to absorb up those chemicals from the burnt plastic. 💀 I was reading another article about how black loctus tree while both a nuisance are still a very valuable wood both for firewood and fence post, and even commercially. 🪓 There’s a reason why farmers brought them all over the northeast, even if they do take over pastures if not maintained. I know from parents place.
I noticed that the starting Battery Gauge 🪫is reading super high again on my truck. I think there is an issue with the ground to the frame and how I’m reading the starting voltage from the neutral rail which is a different potential. I need to research it further but I’m guessing the frame ground is the problem. I want to get it fixed before vacation as it’s kind of important to know the status of the starting battery and because a bad connection means a risk of fire. 🔥
I think today I will commit to the Vacation Plans, taking off Friday this week then next Thursday heading out to the Finger Lakes until August 9th. 🩴 ⛱️ Figuring it best to get out before the oil markets blow up further ⛽ keeping my fuel tank full as much as possible. I look forward to how much better the SuperDuty will be on the hills. I was looking at that crack and hole where the wall shifted in my apartment this morning and was thinking it best to get that filled and plastered over before the cold of winter, especially with energy prices expected to be mad high. Even if I keep my heat at 48 degrees most of the winter.
Well, I need to get going because of the bus, 🚌 as unlike biking to work I don’t have unlimited options on when I exactly leave, because the bus has a pretty strict schedule. Probably wear jeans 👖 today for the first time in quite a while to work, because of rain expected. With a rain coat. Hopefully it won’t be a real soaker catching the bus 🚏 in the evening.
What is happening with world oil markets and gas prices as we head into the second half of the summer?
Global crude oil prices are swinging sharply today, hovering near five-week highs as a fragile Middle East peace proposal battles a fresh round of naval blockades and infrastructure damage. The global benchmark Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged past $91 and $84 a barrel early today following a breakdown in the U.S.–Iran ceasefire, before paring some gains on news of proposed emergency negotiations. Retail gas prices are taking a immediate hit, with the U.S. national average breaching $4.00 a gallon again, marking a rapid turnaround from a brief early-July price relief. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
Key Drivers Moving the Energy Markets Today
- Strait of Hormuz Disruptions: The brief U.S.–Iran ceasefire framework collapsed over the weekend. Iran reported intercepting four commercial vessels, keeping 20% of the world’s daily oil supply severely constrained. [1, 2]
- Expanded Regional Conflict: Iran launched retaliatory drone and missile strikes targeting critical infrastructure, including hitting a Kuwait Petroleum facility and forcing QatarEnergy to throttle production. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
- The Houthi Red Sea Blockade: Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced a complete ban on maritime traffic from Saudi Arabia. This effectively closes off the primary alternative pipeline route to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. [1, 2]
- Black Sea Supply Stops: Unrelated drone strikes heavily disrupted loading docks at Russia’s Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal, adding a secondary choke point to the global supply crunch. [1, 2]
Impact on Gas Prices for Late Summer & September
The renewed oil market volatility is creating a “double hit” for drivers: standard peak summer demand combined with an acute global inventory deficit. Energy analysts expect pump prices to react through distinct phases for the rest of the season: [1, 2, 3]
1. Late July to Mid-August: Sustained Upward Pressure
- Stuck at the Pump: Expect prices to remain volatile and elevated well above $4.00 a gallon in most states.
- Supply Chain Lag: Even if today’s 10-day diplomatic ceasefire proposal succeeds, Morgan Stanley notes it will take several weeks for tanker flows to physically normalize. Refineries are still processing previously purchased, high-cost crude. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
2. Late August to September: The Post-Labor Day Relief Valve
- The Demand Drop: Historically, fuel consumption drops sharply after Labor Day as the summer driving season winds down. [1, 2, 3]
- The “Summer Blend” Switch: In mid-September, refineries switch from expensive, environmentally mandated summer-blend gasoline to cheaper winter-blend fuel, which typically shaves 10 to 15 cents off wholesale margins. [1]
- Gradual Market Rebalancing: Institutional forecasters like HSBC and the EIA assume a highly probable, albeit slow, recovery of Gulf exports by late September. They project retail prices to ease toward a national average of $3.40 a gallon by the fourth quarter. [1, 2, 3]
