Fresh military strikes on Iranian targets have disrupted maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, instantly reversing the recent oil price slump. Meanwhile, Russia’s worsening fuel shortages are disrupting freight logistics, and Gazprom officially scrapped its corporate dividends for the fourth consecutive year.
Global market
Following fresh weekend strikes by the United States Central Command against Iranian targets in response to an attack on the Ever Lovely container ship, global oil prices immediately rebounded. Brent crude increased by 1.18% to reach $72.84 per barrel as tanker owners pulled back from the Strait of Hormuz to assess the safety of transit routes. Compounding the maritime uncertainty, authorities in Oman warned European officials that vessels passing through the strait may soon face unprecedented transit fees while still complying with international maritime law.
The renewed geopolitical tension instantly strained regional energy supplies, forcing the state-owned Pakistan LNG to issue an urgent tender for an emergency cargo delivery between June 30 and July 4. In North American corporate developments, the US pipeline giant Williams is nearing a $5.5 billion deal to acquire the gas operator Momentum Midstream. Furthermore, the European Commission finalized an industry pact with 22 member states to deploy between 30 and 35 gigawatts of new energy storage capacity over the next two years.
Russia & CIS
The deepening domestic fuel crisis is spilling over into the broader logistics sector, with road freight carriers officially warning of imminent price increases due to severe supply disruptions in southern Russia. In response to the growing deficit, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak mandated that regional authorities assume strict control over fuel distribution to ensure adequate supplies for agricultural operations during the harvest season. Expanding the geography of rationing, Yakutia’s state-owned supplier Sakhaneftegazsbyt implemented strict retail limits of 30 liters of gasoline and 200 liters of diesel per vehicle.
Despite the escalating costs of jet fuel, Aeroflot CEO Sergey Alexandrovsky pledged to cap ticket price increases within the inflation rate without utilizing financial hedging mechanisms. On the corporate front, shareholders of Gazprom officially approved the board’s recommendation to cancel dividends for 2025. Simultaneously, the Russian Armed Forces launched strikes on a gas distribution station in the Kharkiv region, while emergency power outages struck Ukraine’s Rivne and Khmelnytskyi regions.
Armenia
The escalating fuel shortages across the Russian Federation are beginning to impact Armenian supply chains, with domestic media reporting that disruptions in road freight transport threaten to inflate import costs for the republic. Amidst these logistical challenges, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin remarked that Yerevan is proceeding cautiously and is in no rush regarding a potential referendum to withdraw from the EAEU, highlighting the ongoing political complexities surrounding the economic bloc.
In the broader regional energy context, the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced the successful installation of the containment dome at the second unit of Turkey’s Akkuyu NPP. This structural milestone paves the way for advanced commissioning works, introducing significant new baseload capacity near Armenia’s borders and amplifying the strategic need for continuous energy security and generation developments within the South Caucasus.