Julian Lee

Russia has already dispatched a record amount of oil through its section of the Arctic Circle this year, expediting cargo deliveries to China in what is an environmentally sensitive area.

Jump in exports was partly offset by another drop in weekly average prices

(Bloomberg) -- OPEC's crude production declined sharply last month after a political crisis slashed supplies from Libya.

OPEC production slumped by 480,000 bpd to 26.61 million bpd last month.

Targeting the industry would certainly hurt Tehran, but risks sending prices soaring.

Oil tankers waiting nearby Iran's biggest crude-loading facility fled the area in the days since Tehran launched a missile salvo toward Israel on Monday and the world waits to see what the response will be.

(Bloomberg) -- The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, is rarely far from the center of global tensions. A major shipping route that handles almost 30% of the world's oil trade, it's closely watched for signs of disruption. The escalating conflict between Iran and Israel has again raised concerns that shipping through the vital waterway could be at risk.

(Bloomberg) -- Moscow's use of the tankers sanctioned for their involvement in the Russian oil trade is accelerating, with close to one-third of the blacklisted vessels back at work.

Large numbers of oil tankers are still anchored off Iran’s oil export terminals at Assaluyeh, even as vessels have fled the anchorage at Kharg Island, further to the north.

A cargo of Russian oil appears to have been switched between ocean-going tankers near a Spanish exclave in north Africa, restoring a clandestine practice that Madrid thought it had ended last summer.