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.
China is now closing mosques and converting them into barns for raising chickens as a way to fight radicalism. China officially considers Islam a ‘mental illness.’ Do you like this idea?
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📝 🇸🇪 🚷 Peter Sweden on X: 35.7% of the population in Sweden now has a foreign background.
Only 64.3% of the population has a Swedish background.
Swedish people are already a MINORITY in the third largest city of Malmö.
Here is what the media doesn't tell you about Sweden.
New statistics show something that would have been unheard of in the 90s.
What would you think if I told you that Sweden is changing, it is happening fast.
In fact, Swedish people are now already a minority in Malmö which is the third largest city in the country.
If you had told someone in the 90s that this would be the case, then you might have been labelled a ”far-right conspiracy theorist”.
However, it is happening.
The borders are still wide open in Sweden it seems. Because since 2020, around 600.000 people have gotten residence permit in Sweden. That is over 5% of the population in just a few years.
Some on the left see this as a good thing, with more cultural diversity.
But others on the right think this is going too far....
🇺🇸⛽️ Costco Is Now Rationing Motor Oil Because the Global Shortage Is Getting Real
A Kirkland Signature oil change has nearly doubled in price, but that's not the most concerning change to how Costco's selling lubricants these days.
Not only does 10 quarts of Kirkland Signature full-synthetic now cost $58 when it used to go for as low as $30, but stores are now imposing a two-per-customer, per-week limit.
The obvious culprit is supply—or, rather, a lack thereof. Demand remains strong as ever as global stock has dwindled due to our ongoing Middle East entanglement. As The Auto Wire highlighted in its own story unpacking the factors at hand, motor oil ultimately comes out of the same barrel that also gives us gasoline and diesel, and right now, refineries can earn more money finishing crude into gas compared to what Costco stocks on its shelves. We’re all getting the short end of the stick at the pump as it is, so it’s not difficult to imagine the pressure the motor oil ...
I heard about this meeting then found out it actually happened. Had Grok give a run down.
Cardinal McElroy — Labor Day Sermon, September 6, 2026
Sermon details
• Date: Sunday, September 6, 2026
• Location: Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington, D.C.
• Organized by the Catholic Labor Network and the Archdiocese of Washington; reception co-sponsored by the D.C. labor federation
Who attended the Silicon Valley trip
• Cardinal Robert McElroy — Archbishop of Washington
• Cardinal Blase Cupich — Archbishop of Chicago
• Cardinal Joseph Tobin — Archbishop of Newark
• They spent several days in August with the leaders of the AI teams at the so-called frontier labs. The engineers spoke openly about AI’s destructive elements, including the work question.
Was the meeting secret?
• Yes — unannounced at the time. The only source that mentions it, Letters from Leo, says explicitly it was “a trip no outlet has reported.” Nothing surfaced in August from ...
