The Iran War has brought a golden opportunity to U.S. oil companies to expand their position. So far, this hasn’t translated to major investments in new wells.
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| “Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they please.” |
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Good morning, it’s Monday. Here are today’s top stories: |
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While U.S. oil companies have been increasing their output as the Iran War cuts off oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz, they’re holding off on investing in new wells. Here’s why.
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Newark, New Jersey, has issued a curfew near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that experienced fiery protests on Saturday.
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The House recently passed a major bill aimed at boosting housing affordability. Here’s what to know about the package, which is now being considered by the Senate and is backed by the White House.
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Underdog Spencer Pratt is shaking up the race for LA mayor with his viral film-like AI videos. These low-cost AI videos could signal the future of campaigning.
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🍵 Health: Our series on near-death experiences continues with the unexpected message that people bring back from the beyond.
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Workers change pipes at a gas drilling rig exploring the Marcellus Shale outside Waynesburg, Pa. (Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images) |
The war in Iran, which continues to trap about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply in the Persian Gulf, is seen by many as a golden opportunity for American oil companies to expand their position as the world’s leading energy producers.
“We’re seeing a combination of trying to reopen the Strait [of Hormuz] while simultaneously recognizing that there are going to be alternative routes to get oil and gas to market, including expanding production in new places and expanding production in the United States,” Caleb Jasso, policy expert at the Institute for Energy Research, told The Epoch Times. “The world as a whole is really reevaluating global energy supply chains and the need for a greater level of diversification.”
Thus far, however, America’s oil industry has remained cautious, holding off on major new investments and focusing instead on increasing output from existing wells. The combined number of oil and gas rigs operating in the United States declined from more than 700 in May 2023 to 558 today, according to Baker Hughes, an industry analytics firm. And while the oil rig count has increased from 410 at the beginning of this year to 429 as of May 29, most producers remain reluctant to pour significant money into new wells.
“Operators are getting more barrels out of the rigs they already have through longer laterals—some wells now exceed three miles horizontally—better completion designs, simul-frac and trimul-frac operations [developing multiple wells in a single fracking operation], and AI-driven targeting,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told The Epoch Times. “That efficiency curve is the only reason production is holding near records while the rig count keeps drifting lower.” Why Oil Companies Are Holding Off
What is holding up major new investments is a combination of uncertainty about oil prices, a history of costly overproduction in a chronically boom-and-bust industry, and lingering fears that a changing of the guard in Washington could resurrect the Biden administration’s anti-fossil-fuel policies. (More)
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- Which voters do Democrats need to win back in 2028? 12 state parties just answered. Three groups came up again and again. Latinos. Rural and working-class voters. The South.
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Organizers of the Great American State Fair, an event celebrating the country’s 250th, said that Trump will “kick off” the festivities. This comes as several performers pulled out of the event.
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Trump said that he is in no hurry to make a deal with Iran to end the war, saying that neither Washington nor Tehran has signed an agreement yet.
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Eileen Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, California, pleads guilty to one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of China.
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Blue Origin’s rocket explosion last week destroyed the only launch pad that was meant to be used for NASA’s mission to the moon later this year, bringing uncertainty to NASA’s plans.
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A crash in Virginia that killed five people last week involved a non-English-speaking driver of a bus who obtained a commercial license in New York state, U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy said.
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- The European Commission said that the European Union’s current trade and investment relationship with China is no longer sustainable, reflecting growing concern in Brussels over industrial competition and economic security.
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Five patients have recovered from a rare type of Ebola, the World Health Organization said. At least 43 people have died, and 263 patients currently have the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
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Reading, Writing, and Chromebooks—by Brittany Calavitta (Read)
- Do We Really Believe in Freedom?—by Mollie Engelhart (Read)
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A dog dressed as Maverick poses for fans aboard the USS Midway Museum during the Top Gun 40th Anniversary celebration in San Diego on May 22, 2026. (Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images) |
🇺🇸 America in Photos: Big Boy Locomotive Journey, Queen Mary Anniversary Celebration, and 100 Years of Marilyn Monroe (Look) 🏃 Workouts: 5 Exercises to Preserve and Restore Your Knees (Read)
💸 Money: Generating Tax-Free Income in Retirement (Read)
🎵 Music: Mozart’s Sonata In C, KV 14 (Listen)
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(Illustration by The Epoch Times) |
I was interviewing the third person who told me they had died, when I noticed they were all saying the same thing. Their accounts of the other side differed in nearly every detail. One had been guided through an unearthly realm by a young woman on a butterfly’s wing. Another had communicated with a man who had died years before. The third was met by angels in an operating room.
What they had in common was more discreet: while recounting their experiences, there was a shared gentleness in their eyes and a poised confidence about the nature of death and the meaning of life. They all carried a sense of mission that, decades later, had not faded.
I’ve been making a documentary, “Final Hours,” about people who have come back from clinical death, known as near-death experiences (NDEs). By the third interview, I wasn’t so interested in what they saw, but rather, what they brought back. This is what they brought back.
Dr. Eben Alexander III was given up for adoption when he was eleven days old. His adoptive father was one of the most respected neurosurgeons of his generation, and Alexander followed him into the same field, eventually teaching neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School for 15 years. He was a confident materialist. “The brain produces the mind. Period.”
However, in November 2008, he was admitted to the emergency room, seizing from a rare bacterial meningitis—an infection in his brain. By the end of the week, his doctors put his survival chance at two percent, with zero percent chance of recovery. They were recommending the family take him off the ventilator.
Yet he miraculously recovered. (More)
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Thanks for reading 🙏 Have a wonderful day! |
—Cathy He, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li. |
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