The United States Department of Justice is preparing to revive nineteenth-century prize law to accelerate the legal confiscation of tankers carrying Iranian crude oil. This unprecedented legal strategy aims to offset the mounting costs of Washington’s naval campaign in the Middle East as global energy demand enters a volatile new phase.
Global market
The United States Department of Justice is preparing to revive nineteenth-century maritime prize courts to accelerate the legal seizure and forfeiture of tankers transporting Iranian crude oil. This legal maneuver is designed to offset the rising expenditures of Washington’s naval campaign in the Middle East. Meanwhile, shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz ticked slightly higher to 10 commodity vessels on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, up from 8 transits on Tuesday, though it still lags the ten-day average of 15 crossings. To bypass these Middle Eastern transit risks, international operators are shifting focus toward South America, where US oilfield services giant SLB and Hunt Oil have announced landmark partnerships with Venezuelan state-backed operator PDVSA last week to unlock the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
Concurrently, global electricity grids are facing structural supply issues. In India, 45 coal-fired power plants are operating with critically low inventories—below 25% of their mandatory targets—due to El Nino-driven power demand and monsoon rain disruptions. This comes as the Energy Institute’s 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy revealed that the artificial intelligence boom has nearly doubled global data-center electricity consumption over the past five years, primarily driven by data centers in the United States. Seeking to expand clean baseload capacities, Nordic energy company Fortum and its project unit NuCore Energi have submitted a state aid application to Sweden to construct a new nuclear power plant in the municipality of Oskarshamn.
Russia & CIS
In the Russian domestic fuel sector, acute local shortages have forced regional authorities to implement emergency fuel conservation measures. In Ryazan and the surrounding Ryazan district, filling stations have introduced an “even-odd” license plate rationing system to manage massive queues, with local volunteers deployed to coordinate retail distribution. These supply disruptions are impacting industrial performance, as Russian forestry giant Segezha Group reported a four-fold drop in first-half OIBDA to 0.66 billion rubles, identifying severe fuel and lubricant shortages as a primary operational headwind. In Kazakh logistics, Caspian CPC Blend oil exports for September have been projected at 1.5 million barrels per day, down slightly from August, because of planned maintenance at the Karachaganak oilfield.
Conversely, some relief came to the domestic power grid as the third reactor unit of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant successfully resumed electricity generation following brief scheduled maintenance. Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that Hungarian oil and gas major MOL is on track to finalize the purchase of a share in the Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) refinery from Russia’s Gazprom Neft by September 2026.
Armenia
Armenia’s domestic energy and fuel markets remained remarkably stable on August 27, avoiding the retail fuel shortages and rationing schemes affecting Russian regions like Ryazan. Local consumer tariffs for natural gas, petrol, and diesel remained unchanged, and utility deliveries proceeded without interruption. The only domestic fuel-related incident occurred in the city of Gavar, where a commercial GAZelle vehicle crashed into earth embankments and overturned, leaving three passengers injured, including one minor.
This domestic tariff insulation continues to be secured through Yerevan’s strategic membership in the EAEU. Under existing bilateral treaties with Moscow, Armenia enjoys the duty-free import of Russian natural gas and petroleum products at stable, long-term fixed rates. This preferential administrative model completely isolates the domestic market from international spot volatility and ensures that local consumer tariffs are shielded from fluctuating international market price assessments.