We know what’s coming and we are prepared.
🇺🇸⛽️ US refiners face historic stress test as global crisis looms
U.S. refineries have operated near maximum capacity for the longest sustained period in over a quarter century, scrambling to capture windfall profits created by the Iran war. But history offers a cautionary tale: “Super refining” runs that push plants too hard can cause major failures.
This has global implications. U.S. refineries’ ability to sustain today’s elevated operating rates for months, or potentially years, could mean the difference between an exceptionally tight global fuel market and a full-blown supply crisis marked by acute shortages, demand destruction and widespread economic pain.
The result of the U.S-Israeli war on Iran has been a collapse in global fuel production. Global refinery throughput in July fell to 81 million barrels per day (bpd), nearly 5 million bpd, or about 6%, below the level at this point last year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The U.S., the world's largest crude producer and second-largest refiner after China, responded by ramping up exports of crude, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to record levels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), helping avert a truly cataclysmic supply shock.
For the U.S. refining industry, the past six months have been an unprecedented bonanza. Benchmark margins for converting crude into transportation fuels have averaged more than $50 a barrel since the start of the war, more than double their 10-year average.
To generate those bumper profits, many companies postponed planned maintenance and kept plants running at full tilt. U.S. refinery throughput has averaged around 17 million bpd since the start of the conflict, significantly above its five-year average.
The question now is how long this can last before something breaks.
Over the past 11 weeks, U.S. refinery utilisation rates have hovered above 95% — a sustained level not seen in more than 25 years. In fact, refineries have only achieved such prolonged rates three times, based on EIA data going back to 1990.
The closest parallels came in 1997 and 1998, when U.S. refineries recorded two separate 24-week stretches of utilisation rates above 95% — first between May and October 1997 and again between April and September 1998. In the summer of 1998, the refinery fleet exceeded 100% utilisation – the only time this has occurred in EIA records.
That extraordinary performance was driven by a rare combination of low crude prices and consistently strong fuel demand, giving refiners every incentive to keep operations running flat out.
A similar episode followed in 2000, when refineries operated above 95% utilisation for 13 consecutive weeks, but the conditions were markedly different.
Running complex refining systems at breakneck speeds for extended periods inevitably increases the risk of equipment failures, accidents and unplanned outages.
Faced with soaring margins and a global fuel shortage, many U.S. refiners have deferred essential maintenance originally scheduled for the second quarter, pushing much of the work into late 2026 or even 2027.
The risk is that doing this could ultimately lead to sharp, unplanned capacity losses.
Azerbaijan: This Turkish country has destroyed more Christian monuments than ISIS.
Based off satellite data, Azerbaijan erased 108 Armenian monasteries, churches and cemeteries - in just one region.
By comparison, ISIS destroyed dozens of churches.
How is this okay?
@NoAgendaLara
UPDATE: Outrage erupts as there has been a SURGE in Islamists ATTACKING and vandalizing Japanese shrines
Security footage shows people wearing HIJABS storming up and unleashing on the Soya Shrine in Hadano City
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American wages are not keeping up with inflation.
US average hourly earnings adjusted for inflation fell -0.3% YoY in September, marking the 5th consecutive decline in real wages.
This follows a -0.2% YoY decrease in August, -0.3% in July, and -0.8% in June, the largest decline since May 2023.
This marks a sharp deterioration from +1.3% YoY growth in real wages recorded in February.
This all comes as US CPI inflation has remained above +3.0% for 6 consecutive months, the longest such streak since mid-2024.
Meanwhile, in nominal terms, average hourly earnings rose +3.0% YoY in September, their slowest growth since May 2021.
Nominal wage growth has been in a downtrend since March 2025, when earnings grew +4.2% YoY.
Inflation is eroding the spending power of Americans.
(@TheKobeissiLetter)
🦠 🇷🇺 🇺🇸 US closely monitoring case of lab worker who ‘possibly’ died of plague in Siberia, says Rubio
Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee at the anti-plague institute in the city of Irkutsk, became ill at work. She died two days later on the night of 2 October at a regional hospital in the nearby town of Shelekhov.
It remains unclear how she became unwell. Unconfirmed reports in Russian media have suggested Shipilova may have been infected after a mishap at the laboratory. Officials have not publicly confirmed that account.
Local media have reported that the institute has subsequently been locked down, with staff forced to sleep on the floor and on chairs. “They’ve been isolating everybody since Friday – more than 60 people,” one relative, Roman, told the news portal Siberia.Realities.
He said family members were allowed to drop off food at a checkpoint while tests were carried out inside the building. Similar quarantine restrictions have been placed on several ...
ELLIOT PAGE FEATURED ON NEW YORK MAGAZINE’S FIRST MEN’S STYLE ISSUE
Transgender actor Elliot Page is among the cover stars of New York Magazine’s first-ever issue dedicated entirely to men’s style. The magazine says the special issue explores men’s fashion after decades of covering the subject, with a debut photo shoot featuring male stars wearing “some fashion, but hardly any.”
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