Free Republic

The average price of a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. reached its lowest late-summer price of the past four years this month — but not in Oregon, where gas prices rose over the same time period. So far this month, the U.S. average for a gallon of gas has been about $3.13, a 3-cent drop from August 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Meanwhile, the average this month for a gallon in Oregon has been about $3.98, a 20-cent increase from August 2021, according to figures provided by AAA. Adjusting for inflation, national gas prices are...

Britain, France, and Germany have triggered the so-called snapback mechanism of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to reinstate UN sanctions against Tehran. The European trio, known as the E3, wrote to the UN Security Council on August 28 to initiate the process, which takes 30 days. In a statement, the E3 foreign ministers said, "We will use the 30-day period to continue engaging with Iran regarding our extension offer or any meaningful diplomatic efforts to restore its compliance with commitments." They emphasized that they "share the fundamental objective that Iran must never seek, acquire, or develop a nuclear weapon." This...

Phillips 66 will begin shutting down its 139,000 bpd Los Angeles-area refinery as soon as next week , sources told Reuters, moving forward on a closure plan announced last year. Units at the plant will idle in phases through Q4 2025, with the facility permanently offline by year-end. The decision isn’t a surprise—Phillips 66 said in October it would exit the site, citing “market dynamics.” But it comes with fallout about 600 employees and 300 contractors will lose their jobs by December, with only a handful reassigned to the company’s marine terminal. The company insists it will support workers through...

Trapped in underground rocks, a potential energy resource has eluded generations of British politicians. It's called shale gas and the method of getting it out of the ground, known as fracking, has proved politically difficult. Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, has been banned many times by different prime ministers since 2011 over concerns about earthquakes and environmental impacts. And yet despite this, Reform UK - which is leading in national opinion polls - believe it's worth going after the gas again. "We've got potentially hundreds of billions of energy treasure in the form of shale gas," Richard Tice, the party's...

The British government sought on Tuesday to limit the information it would disclose at a planned inquest into the death of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former officer in the K.G.B. who succumbed to radiation poisoning in London more than six years ago. The coroner hearing the case said that it may now be postponed. “Due to the complexity of the investigation which necessarily precedes the hearings,” the coroner, Sir Robert Owen, said, “it may not be possible to adhere” to the planned May 1 start date for the hearings. The inquest would be the first — and probably the only...

The first American sanctions on Iran since a moderate cleric won the presidential election there on June 14 went into effect on Monday, expanding the number of penalized industries and imposing rules that theoretically could halt all gold and currency trade by the country. Proponents of the latest round of sanctions said they could deprive the Iranians of billions of dollars of income that had evaded earlier rounds — particularly with the new prohibition on gold trade. Bullion dealers in other countries who flout the prohibition risk severe American penalties, including expulsion from the United States precious metals market.

A new and potentially significant source of demand is that of demand from Iran. Iran imported a massive $1.2 billion worth of precious metals from Turkey in April alone. Turkish exports of gold, precious metals, pearls and coins to Iran rose to $1.2 billion in April from a tiny $7,500 a year earlier, according to figures released by the state statistics institute in Ankara yesterday. This is a massive increase in demand and suggests that there may be official involvement in the imports from the Central Bank of Iran. This trend continued in May when Turkish gold imports leapt by...

Is Abby Grossberg: Tucker Carlson’s “Mordecai”?Tucker Carlson has long trafficked in dog whistles and culture war grievances—but his rage toward Abby Grossberg, a Jewish former Fox producer who challenged him legally, seems to cut deeper. In classic authoritarian fashion, when confronted by a credible critic, Carlson didn't just fight back—he allegedly let that grudge fester into something uglier. Like Haman targeting Mordecai in the book of Wsthet [Esther 3:4] Purim story, Carlson’s hostility toward Grossberg hints at something broader and more dangerous: when a powerful man can't take accountability, he looks for someone to blame—and too often, it’s the same...

Since January, Tucker Carlson has been funded by Qatar and has become an opponent of Trump. The journalist is part of an Arab influence strategy over North American media. 18/06/2025 by Editorial Team. Since the beginning of this year, American journalist Tucker Carlson, an icon of media conservatism, has started generating controversy due to a notable "ideological shift." According to various investigations, this is because Carlson is part of a Qatar influence strategy over American media. Official documents submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) reveal Qatar's growing influence in strategic sectors of...

Indian refiners, the top importers of Russian crude oil, are searching for alternative suppliers ahead of Friday’s summit between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, is looking to switch up its procurement process after Trump imposed a total 50% tariff rate on New Delhi, accusing the country of effectively fueling Russia’s war machine. Oil importers are hedging their bets that even harsher punishments are in store for anyone who purchases petroleum from Moscow once Trump meets with Putin, with India’s state processor buying large bulk quantities of non-Russian crude this week to...

The Texas General Land Office (GLO) has formally objected to a plan by Pilot Water Solutions LLC to drill three new saltwater disposal wells in the Permian Basin, warning the project could contaminate state-owned crude reserves in North America’s top oil field, according to the Dallas Morning News. Founded in 1836, the GLO manages 13 million acres of state land and generates billions of dollars for Texas public schools through oil and gas leasing. It argues the proposed disposal sites in Loving County near the New Mexico border pose “significant risk” to mineral interests under its control. Bloomberg reports that...

The oil market is shrugging off President Donald Trump’s threats to impose heavy tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy exports. Trump has given Russia until Friday to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. If Moscow does not comply, the U.S. will impose 100% “secondary tariffs” on countries that buy Russian exports, the president has said. This would in theory force countries to choose between buying Russian oil or trading with the U.S. India, China and Turkey are the most exposed as the three biggest importers of Russian oil. Trump on Wednesday targeted India with a 25% tariff for buying...

India on Monday denounced as unfair the mounting pressure from the United States and European Union over its continued purchases of Russian oil. Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said the country would safeguard its economic interests amid threats of steep tariffs from President Donald Trump. What did New Delhi say about trade with Russia? "The targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable," said Jaiswal, asserting the country's sovereign right to secure energy supplies in line with its needs. "Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security," he added. Jaiswal also...

India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of penalties, two Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday, not wishing to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. On top of a new 25% tariff on India's exports to the U.S., Trump indicated in a Truth Social post last month that India would face additional penalties for purchases of Russian arms and oil. On Friday, Trump told reporters he had heard that India would no longer be buying oil from Russia. But the sources said there would be no immediate changes. "These are...

Donald Trump recently announced that the United States would help Pakistan develop its "massive oil reserves," suggesting it could export oil to India in the future. In response, Baloch leader Mir Yar Baloch has written an open letter to the US president, highlighting how encouraging the exploitation of Balochistan's oil reserves would make the US complicit in enabling ISI to enhance its global terror networks. In his letter, the Baloch leader warned against allowing Pakistan's radicalised military and rogue ISI, long accused of sponsoring Al-Qaeda and various proxy groups responsible for the deaths of thousands of US soldiers in Afghanistan,...

Pipeline agreement between the USA and Alberta, Canada on July 29, 2025. The agreement, led by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, deliberately bypassed federal approval from Ottawa Preliminary work on the pipeline is expected to begin within months, positioning it as a key step in enhancing cross-border energy ties. Alberta finalizing a $350 million deal with the United States for a new mid-capacity crude oil pipeline from northern Alberta to Montana—occurred on July 29, 2025. The agreement, led by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, deliberately bypassed federal approval from Ottawa to avoid delays seen in past projects like Keystone XL, focusing instead...

"This trade generated as much as $70 billion for Iran, propping up the regime and its nuclear weapons program." China is reportedly using a “dark fleet” to conduct secret ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil in an effort to evade U.S. sanctions on Tehran’s tankers. CBS News sent a crew to scout an area roughly 80 nautical miles from Singapore and found four ship-to-ship transfers occurring; all the “dark fleet” tankers had their transponders switched off, and “clearly do not want to be identified,” the outlet reported. “Both ships have a net or something, a tarp, deployed over the stern, covering...

At least two vessels loaded with Russian oil bound for refiners in India have diverted to other destinations following new U.S. sanctions, trade sources said, and LSEG trade flows showed. The U.S. Treasury Department this week imposed sanctions on more than 115 Iran-linked individuals, entities, and ships, some of which are involved in transporting Russian oil. U.S. President Donald Trump has urged countries to halt purchases of oil from Moscow, threatening 100% tariffs unless Russia agrees to a significant peace deal with Ukraine. Three ships - the Aframaxes Tagor and Guanyin and the Suezmax Tassos - were scheduled to deliver...

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he had heard that India might no longer buy oil from Russia, though he acknowledged he was not certain about the claim. "I understand that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard, I don't know if that's right or not. That is a good step. We will see what happens," Trump told ANI. Trump's remarks come days after his tirade against India for buying Russian oil and the White House's decision to levy 25 per cent tariffs on all exports to America and an...

The move to develop the Amu Darya field aligns with the Taliban’s goal of self-sufficiency, but can the cash-strapped regime go it alone?In late July, Afghanistan’s Taliban-run government decided to pursue unilateral development of the Amu Darya oil field, at least for the time being. It seems unlikely the cash-strapped regime will be able to maximize the potential of the oil field without foreign investment, but it will still be able to collect millions of dollars in revenue by going it alone. The move aligns with the Taliban’s oft stated goal of self-sufficiency. However, international investors may be troubled by...