Winter Is Coming: Saudis Warn European Refiners Of Crude Shipment Disruptions Next Month

Winter Is Coming: Saudis Warn European Refiners Of Crude Shipment Disruptions Next Month

TYLER DURDEN

Hopes earlier this week that Saudi Arabia could restore roughly half the capacity of its East-West pipeline and resume crude loadings for Europe faded by the end of the week. The pipeline bypasses the Strait of Hormuz and carries crude to a Red Sea export terminal, making its recovery critical to restoring disrupted shipments to the energy-stricken continent.

Bloomberg reports that Saudi Aramco told at least two European refiners they would receive no crude deliveries next month, with the decision reportedly extending to all European buyers.

The suspension would force refiners to secure replacement barrels elsewhere and bid up crude in international markets, potentially raising feedstock costs and adding pressure to Europe's petroleum products market ahead of the Northern Hemisphere winter, when already tight diesel and natural gas supplies leave limited room for further disruptions.

OECD countries in Europe imported 577,000 barrels a day of Saudi crude in June, according to the latest data from the International Energy Agency. That figure illustrates the scale of the disruption.

Some European buyers are already panicking and rushing to cover the shortfall. Poland's Orlen has issued more than 10 tenders this week seeking alternative supplies, highlighting the urgency of replacing contracted Saudi barrels before winter arrives.

The East-West pipeline shutdown following a drone attack earlier this month has dealt a major blow to an oil market that had already seen Brent crude futures exceed $100 a barrel.

Saudi Arabia had operated the 7 million-barrel-a-day route at full capacity since the start of the US-Iran conflict, as Iranian attacks on shipping brought traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill. Those attacks have continued to this week.

The chaos in the Middle East prompted JPM's head of commodities, Natasha Kaneva, to write a wild note to clients on Thursday, warning:

 "For the first time since the start of the Iran conflict, we don't have a baseline view. We simply don't know how to model the endgame."

Brent crude trades around $103 a barrel on Friday morning, while WTI trades at $101.

The US diesel crack spread trades around $112 as the global refining crisis raises the risk of "echoes of the 2008 gasoline shock," as recently explained by Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone.

Midwest Braces For Diesel Crisis After Exxon's Joliet Refinery Suffers Disruption

A major refinery in the US Midwest went offline this week after a power outage, adding to global refining disruptions as US diesel prices reach record highs.

One of the largest diesel refineries in the Midwest is offline pic.twitter.com/JSwuHrNfBw

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 18, 2026

Exxon Mobil shut its 275,000-barrel-a-day Joliet refinery in Illinois on Sunday after a power failure triggered the facility's safety flare, Reuters reported. A Thursday filing also disclosed that floodwater had overwhelmed a pump at the plant.

Exxon traced the power outage to ComEd's primary and secondary lines supplying the refinery and said it had fully restored electricity by Thursday. Power restoration, however, does not mean fuel production has resumed.

Located about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, Joliet can produce about 11 million gallons of gasoline and diesel daily, primarily for Midwest consumers. Its processing capacity represents roughly 6% of Midwest refining capacity and 1.5% nationally. 

UPDATE: $XOM Joliet reported to have suffered a "total power outage". this refinery capacity is 275kbpd, a large facility and it looks bad. https://t.co/IdAgfWhhUz pic.twitter.com/Sb52uXIviK

— Patrick De Haan (@GasBuddyGuy) September 14, 2026

A prolonged shutdown would tighten regional fuel availability and risk further price increases across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan. 

"There's an additional likelihood of further price increases in the Great Lakes. Gas: OH is at *high* risk of largest jump, WI, IN are at *med* risk of moderate jump, MI, IL at low/med risk but could go past $5/gal. diesel: will likely jump in most these areas mod/large jump," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote on X. 

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Trump Weighs Return to Major Iran Strikes:

Trump Weighs Return to Major Iran Strikes: ‘I Have a Big Decision Coming Up’

Joshua Klein

President Donald Trump said Thursday he is approaching a “big decision” over whether to resume large-scale U.S. strikes against Iran in an effort to bring the nearly seven-month conflict to an end, ahead of talks with Gulf leaders that could help shape Washington’s next move.

“I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them [the Iranian regime] or do I not? It’s a big decision. Anything could happen with me,” Trump toldAxios.

The president is expected Tuesday to meet leaders or senior officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, with the next phase of the conflict expected to figure prominently in the talks.

“I want to find out where they are and how they are doing. We have been very protective of them,” Trump said.

The Gulf states have a direct stake in whether Washington resumes major combat operations. Iran has repeatedly targeted countries across the region, striking U.S. bases and other military and civilian infrastructure, while Tehran has continued threatening retaliation against regional governments that support American operations. Saudi Arabia is also facing an escalating campaign of missile and drone attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

The threat of another Iranian response has already weighed on Trump’s calculations. In early August, he held off on resuming major attacks after Saudi Arabia and Qatar raised concerns that Tehran could retaliate against Gulf oil and gas infrastructure, Axios reported.

While holding off on another major offensive, Washington has continued intensifying its campaign to economically isolate Tehran through a widening sanctions campaign and a naval blockade aimed at cutting off the regime’s remaining sources of revenue.

Trump’s approaching decision follows increasingly explicit predictions that Iran cannot sustain the conflict much longer and is looking for a way out.

Last week, Trump predicted the conflict would end “immediately after” the midterm elections because Iran “can’t hold out any longer,” while making clear that the terms of any future agreement would extend considerably beyond the nuclear restrictions at the center of earlier negotiations.

“I’m doing much more than a nuclear deal. There’s a lot more than nuclear,” Trump said, explaining that issues not contemplated in earlier negotiations were now on the table.

Trump went further Wednesday, saying he is hopeful the conflict is approaching its end and confirming that Tehran had communicated with Washington directly.

“Hopefully we’re toward the end of the war,” Trump told reporters. “They want to make a deal. We’ll see how that works out.”

Asked whether the contact was taking place through intermediaries, Trump responded: “We deal directly.”

Later Wednesday, during a rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, Trump said Iran “can’t go on” and predicted the conflict would “end soon,” while leaving open whether a conclusion could come before or after the midterms.

“You watch what’s gonna happen to Iran,” Trump said. “It’s gonna be a really good conclusion.”

As Trump considers how to proceed, the United States is maintaining the military presence needed to resume large-scale operations if he orders them.

Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth have instructed the military to maintain its current force levels in the Middle East through the end of the year, keeping U.S. forces prepared for a potential return to full-scale combat, U.S. officials told Axios.

But officials said the military cannot remain at its current posture indefinitely without greater clarity over Washington’s ultimate objective.

“At some point you have to decide what is the end game,” one U.S. official said.

The administration has meanwhile continued squeezing Tehran through its naval blockade and expanding economic pressure campaign, while using military force to enforce restrictions on Iranian maritime trade and protect commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump pointed Thursday to the blockade as evidence of the pressure already being brought to bear on the regime.

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The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Tim Moore

Shortly after the Apostle John finishes describing the final outpouring of God’s wrath in the Bowl Judgments, as described in the book of Revelation, he pivots from the declared doom, prophesied fall, and worldly lament over Babylon. John then hears praise resonating in Heaven. With a loud voice, the great multitude shouts, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her” (Revelation 19:1-2). Four times the multitude cries, “Hallelujah!” The last exclamation emphasizes the finality of the judgments poured out upon the Earth: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns”(Revelation 19:6).

We might expect that the next scene John witnesses is Jesus Christ returning in glory at the Second Coming, as described later in chapter 19. But first, John tells of a great marriage feast that will take place before Jesus returns to defeat the Antichrist and the armies of the earth gathered in the Valley of Jezreel.

The details of the Marriage Supper remain somewhat mysterious, but we know from Scripture that it is an “invitation only” event.

Continuing to record the expressions of praise by the heavenly multitude, John hears them say, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His Bride has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). This passage alone presents several questions:

• Who is the Bride?
• How has she prepared herself?
• What is the nature of the relationship between Jesus Christ (the undisputed Lamb of God) and the Bride whom He marries?
• When and where exactly does this marriage (and accompanying supper) take place?
• Are other attendants invited who are not the Bride?

Let’s step through those questions one by one to get a handle on the great promise made to all who have put their trust in Jesus Christ.

The Bride is the Church of Jesus Christ. That includes every Jew and Gentile who has confessed their sin and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ—trusting in Him alone for eternal salvation. As the Bridegroom, Jesus gave Himself for the Bride (Ephesians 5:25-27). He loves His Bride and is eager to gather her to Himself and bring her into His Father’s house.

Bible scholar Dr. Randall Price emphasizes the beneficiaries of this special promise: “This is designed for the Church—the raptured saints, and that’s why it’s the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”

The idea conveyed here is that the Bride takes a proactive role in preparing for the marriage. In Jewish tradition, once a betrothal had been agreed upon, the marriage was legally binding. But it was not fully manifested (or consummated) until the bridegroom came to collect his bride and take her back to the place he had prepared in his father’s house. While she waited, the bride was expected to keep herself pure, prepare her heart, mind, and body for the covenant and conjugal relationship of marriage, and eagerly await her bridegroom’s arrival.

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'Christians Are Not Welcome in Syria': Leader Imprisoned 19 Months in Syria as Persecution Rampant

'Christians Are Not Welcome in Syria': Leader Imprisoned 19 Months in Syria as Persecution Rampant

STEPHEN LITTLE

A persecution watchdog group is speaking out for Christians in Syria, citing one disturbing case as an example of a much broader problem in the country. 

In Defense of Christians (IDC) is rallying Christian advocacy groups to call on President Trump and Congress to help free a Syrian Christian leader, held without charges for 19 months.

Suleiman Khalil is the former mayor of Sadad, a historic Christian town he helped defend against ISIS's mass killings and kidnappings in 2015. Syria's transitional government arrested him in February of 2025.

Advocates say he has been denied an attorney, and his family says he has been prevented from practicing his Christian faith in prison. They say his case reflects a broader threat facing Syria's Christians.

Richard Ghazal from IDC said, "He was abducted from his home and thrown in prison without access to counsel, limited access to family and medical care." 

"The detention of Suleiman Khalil is not simply about an individual," Ghazal explained. "This event is not unique; it's happening all across Syria. But it sends a message to Christians that you are not welcome in Syria. You're visitors, you are guests, and this is how you'll be treated." 
 
The groups are urging U.S. leaders to press Syria's government for Khalil's immediate release and greater protections for religious minorities.

The coalition letter was signed by IDC; Christian Solidarity International; Ambassador Sam Brownback, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom and Co-Chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit; Nadine Maenza, Chair of the Institute for Global Engagement and former Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; Shai Fund; the American Syriac Union; and the Alawite Association of the United States.

UN Chief Guterres Ready to Claim Bureaucratic Primacy in Global AI Governance

UN moves forward with plans to take control of AI globally

Simon Kent

Nobody panic. The UN and its vast globalist elite bureaucracy is ready to claim central oversight, control, and administration of future artificial intelligence (“AI”) development to ease worries about the fast-developing science.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made the declaration Wednesday, warning world leaders AI poses ‌risks – known and unknown – that cannot be ignored.

The former Portuguese Socialist Prime Minister spoke after pushback from President Donald Trump, who called threats that AI might destroy humanity “a HOAX” and claimed efforts to limit the technology are part of a “SICK conspiracy.”

He and Mark Zuckerberg both argue market pressure, not government mandates and centrally administered bureaucracy, will keep AI developers in line.

Guterres disagrees, embracing political and industry AI controls rather than trusting the marketplace.

Cautioning that “the world cannot afford a race to the bottom on AI safety,” the chief bureaucrat said concerns raised by those on the front lines of AI technology that its development “is racing ahead of our understanding of the risks” can’t be ignored, the Associated Press (“AP”) reports.

Governments must assume their first responsibility to protect civilians from AI threats, which means “national action is essential,” Guterres told UN reporters. “But global coordination is also indispensable.”

“We need guardrails to build trust – and that make AI safe, transparent, accountable, with human dignity at the centre.”

That’s where the UN and its strictures come in, Guterres outlined.

He said AI will be a major topic in his discussions with world leaders at their annual gathering next week for the high-level session of the UN General Assembly.

“The United Nations will continue to explore practical ideas and approaches in the immediate days ahead,” Guterres said, per the AP report.

“We need a shared understanding of how to advance the safe, secure and responsible development of AI – while identifying when increasingly powerful systems may require stronger safeguards, or additional measures to manage potential risks.”

Expect a global UN summit sooner rather than later on AI controls, Guterres said in response to a question asking whether next week’s meeting of top officials from the UN’s 193 member nations wouldn’t be the perfect opportunity for talks on curbing the excesses of AI.

The career bureaucrat said, “I think it makes full sense at the right moment to have a serious international summit on artificial intelligence.” And at a summit, he said, “it is absolutely essential to have everybody on board” – governments, companies, scientists and civil society – “and I hope that this will be possible.”