Oil prices ease from 3-year highs after Brent crude rockets above $70 a barrel

The best approach to decarbonization provides the greatest environmental benefit at the lowest possible cost. Current regulations do neither while unleashing inflationary consequences that will be felt for decades to come. EV mandates for the trucking industry are an enormous mistake for many reasons validated by a new study from the American Transportation Research Institute. The report, Renewable Diesel – A Catalyst for Decarbonization, provides data using the U.S. Department of Energy's GREET model that proves renewable diesel (RD) has a much smaller carbon footprint over its lifecycle than do battery-electric trucks, and that widescale adoption of RD in trucking can be achieved at a fraction of the cost of electrification. To be clear: the trucking industry is not opposed to battery-electric vehicles (BEV). Some fleets are testing them, and the initial results are mixed at best. What's abundantly clear from early adopters of this technology is that the hurdles to widescale adoption are so massive and undeniable that target and timelines mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) can be described as nothing more than utterly disconnected from reality.

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.374; Month Ago: $3.502; Year Ago: $3.845. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.718; Month Ago: $3.833; Year Ago: $4.356.

Iraqi forces advanced toward the disputed city of Kirkuk, as the government sharply intensified its efforts to stall moves toward a Kurdish state by seizing the oil fields that would underpin its economy. Crude exports from the disputed area were flowing normally on Monday. State-run Iraqiya television said the military had also captured a refinery, a gas plant and a main road in Kirkuk, which has emerged as a flashpoint in the power struggle between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government. The Associated Press reported that Kurdish fighters had abandoned their positions outside Kirkuk’s airport while civilians were fleeing the city, where sporadic gunfire could be heard. Click Read More below for additional information.