Fuel Oil Supply Strangled

Something I overlooked is that fuel oil supplies for ships are being affected by the war in the Persian Gulf. The Middle East is a major supplier of the fuel oil required for ships, and Singapore is a major refueling point which imports its fuel oil from the Middle East. Fuel oil prices have therefore surged 30-40%, and supplies will run out toward the end of March.

The cost of goods will rise worldwide as shipping costs adjust upward, and some countries that rely on exports for their income may simply be unable to ship to their customers. Likewise, energy imports will be choked off.

Australia and New Zealand are two countries impacted, and the rest of the Far East as well.

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/HSFO-Prices-Jump-40-as-War-Chokes-Key-Singapore-Bunkering-Hub.html

The price of fuel oil has surged this week as the stalled tanker traffic at the Strait of Hormuz is tightening supplies of the fuel in Asia, the key bunkering hub for fuel oil used in ships. 

The Middle East is a major global supplier of fuel oil, especially of high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO). But the Iran war has all but halted traffic via the Strait of Hormuz, stranding supplies for Asia and its key bunkering hub of Singapore. 

As a result, prices have soared and are set to continue rising, traders and analysts told Reuters on Friday.  

Strait of Hormuz

Commentators predicting an oil crisis following Iran's closing of the Strait of Hormuz are well wide of the mark. That is because Saudi Aramco has started shipping more oil out of its Red Sea facilities (see link). Furthermore, Egypt is offering its pipeline to move Saudi oil to the Med.

https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/egypt-offers-sumed-pipeline-to-facilitate-saudi-oil-exports-amid-hormuz-closure/

I've also seen predictions that some of the people in the Gulf states will starve. But anyone looking at a map will see that there is a land corridor to these states, and so food can get in to feed stranded tourists. The same land corridor could be used to evacuate people from Dubai, Doha and the like. Buses are starting to look mighty useful.

However, there are some serious issues regarding the viability of the United Arab Emirates long term. Dubai as an airport hub could be lost. Ethiopia has been promoting Addis Ababa as a useful mid-point stopover, and they've commenced building a new international airport there. 

Dubai's status as a tax haven sanctuary may be over, too. The rich don't like adding bombs to the risk assessment. It'll also be interesting to see how the large sovereign wealth funds based in the Persian Gulf fare now that their economies are toast. This will massively impact the United Kingdom. Interesting times ahead indeed.

Iran appears to have lost its navy and air force, and this war will end when it runs out of ordnance. I give it another three weeks at this rate. Will China and Russia come to their aid? I doubt it, as Russia has its own issues, plus it'll be selling more oil right now. China tends to be all talk; they've never won a war, and if they enter the fray, they too will lose their entire navy.

South Korea, Japan, South-East Asia and Oceania may experience the rapid onset of an energy crisis, and in Australia and New Zealand, there seems to be little urgency. The latter two really do have useless leaders. 

How Much in the Tank?

Australia has less than a month of fuel in reserve. Watch as it implodes as the conflict in the Middle East worsens. I made only one prediction for this year and that was - Australia will collapse in 2026.

Fuel Prices Set to Spike

The utter stupidity of the New Zealand government is now on full display as the price of fuel is set to rise following the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

New Zealand has its own oil, but now has no ability to refine it. The NZ government allowed its one refinery to close down. 

Get working now you cockwomble NZ government. Get that refinery up and running again, pronto.

US Strikes Iran

The Winter Olympics have wrapped up, the US carriers are in place; time to end the Iranian regime. I hope this can be a swift victory and that Iran can go back to being a civilised country.

 

 Goldie Ghamari has started a live feed

Green Breakthrough UK

There appears to be a major political shift taking place in the United Kingdom. The Green Party has won the byelection in the Gorton and Denton electorate, a traditional Labour seat. What's more, Reform UK came second. Labour came a distance third, while the Conservatives didn't even get their deposit back.

Polling across the country has reflected this shift, with the Green Party rising and Reform UK polling the highest. This is different to the 1980's when the newly formed SDP came close to replacing Labour. Now, there are several challenges to Labour's supremacy and the Conservatives are also under pressure from Nigel Farage's Reform, and Rupert Lowe's recently established Restore.

It is about time we saw the old corrupt hegemony deposed. May this trend be repeated worldwide. I realise this comes with risk - be careful what you wish for - but since tyranny has taken hold, we need swift and sweeping change to at least punish those who tried to cancel our freedoms.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/27/green-party-wins-gorton-and-denton-byelection-in-blow-to-keir-starmer

The Green party has pulled off a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection in a significant blow to Keir Starmer.

Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority.

Labour came third in the tightly contested race, 5,616 votes behind the Greens on 14,980 votes, while Reform UK finished second with 10,578 votes. The result represents a 25.3% drop in Labour’s vote compared to 2024.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats lost their deposits as they won fewer than 5% of the votes, with both under 2%.

Cash Is King, Says Reserve Bank of New Zealand

New Zealand's Reserve Bank has issued a statement pointing out how important cash is to the economy. They are commencing moves that require banks to make cash available, quickly and easily. 

Cash is of paramount importance. NZ is regularly impacted by natural disasters and the power can be out. Cash is all that works in such times, forget credit cards. 

Remote rural communities, these days, often have no cash withdrawal or deposit machines, leading to long drives to major towns and cities to do just a little banking. This works as a major handbrake on the country as a whole. 

Credit where credit is due, it appears the Reserve Bank has listened to voices shouting loud and clear; cash is critical, we must keep cash. 

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/587887/banks-must-provide-cash-services-to-customers-reserve-bank-says

RBNZ director of money and cash Ian Woolford said providing and handling cash should be a basic banking service.

"We believe banks must provide cash services to customers, free-of-charge, because cash is an essential part of a customer's relationship with their bank."

He said banks had been reducing the places where customers could get cash, bank cash or get change, especially in rural areas, with about 40 percent of bank branches closed over the past decade.

"We want this to change, and we are open as to how," Woolford said.

"Cash benefits society, as it is used for economic, social and cultural reasons, and as the steward of cash we are focused on ensuring the cash system is healthy and available."

MSM Dead

Anyone wondering why exactly the mainstream media is effectively dead needs to watch this video. They're a bunch of liars, and people are sick of it. 

Prince of Darkness Arrested

The dominoes are starting to fall, but I get the feeling they're only arresting people now as a form of damage control and not due to some high-minded reason, like seeking justice and accountability. Had the Epstein Files not been released, then I don't believe anyone would have been arrested. There is a lot more to come out yet, I'm sure. What has been released in the US is only a small proportion of what they have, and they appear to be redacting the files to protect suspects, not victims.

Royal Lodge Search

Police searching Royal Lodge, the home of Andrew for the last 20 years, seem to be concentrating on a building next to the main house. I wonder what is of interest in there?

What's Up Between FIFA and Trump?

At last someone has called this out. FIFA is meant to be about sport, and sport is meant to be above politics - right? 

Well, no, it appears FIFA has crossed the line. It's about time another organisation took over world soccer - or association football for all you nerds who insist on the correct name.

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2026/02/20/donald-trump-and-gianni-infantino-are-ruining-fifa-and-football/

In recent years Gianni Infantino, the most senior official at the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), and Donald Trump have been hogging international sporting, and political headlines.

The latest came on Thursday 19 February when FIFA announced an initiative to assist Mr  Trump’s Board of Peace rebuild Gaza using sport. Mr Infantino’s declaration to “foster investment into football for the purpose of helping the recovery process in post conflict areas” was made at the Trump Peace HQ.

<snip>

Mr Trump’s ethically questionable control over world football seems mild in comparison with command of violent ICE agents or his takeover of Venezuela. But as always with Mr Trump, he has managed to gatecrash and despoil much of what he touches; in this case, the world’s beautiful game.      

The Andrew, Formerly Known As Prince, Arrested

About time, this has been like watching paint dry. Looking up the last time a royal was actually arrested, you've got to go back to Charles I, who lost his head. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c70kjr9wjw0t

Everything we know about Andrew's arrest so farpublished at 23:1

In the last few minutes we have learned that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested. Here are the key details.

• Thames Valley Police arrested Andrew, who turns 66 today, earlier this morning
• The former prince was arrested on suspicion of of misconduct in public office and he is in custody
• Police are searching addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk
• Thames Valley Police said he was arrested after a "thorough assessment", with an investigation now opened

OpenStar Nuclear Fusion

New Zealand nuclear fusion company, OpenStar Technologies, has reached a critical milestone, and the NZ Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, was there to push the big green button as the process was turned on in Wellington.

OpenStar could do a better job of explaining exactly what they're doing. Imagine we are all 10 years old. I say this because I'm left wondering what exactly this milestone was?

Wellington at Risk

New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, could be about to experience a serious depopulation event. That's because its ageing infrastructure is collapsing but its idiotic and immature council insist on prioritising cycleways over sewers. 

Currently, the main sewage processing facility is out of action, and this may go on for months. But, added to that is the underground pipes are old and giving away. Not only that, but the fresh water supply sees the streets leaking. This is a matter of urgent public health concern as sewage may get into the fresh water supply. If this gets much worse, I can see Wellington having to be evacuated, it is that bad. Birmingham type bad.

The government seems unable or unwilling to do anything about it. The New Zealand prime minister, Christopher Luxon, should sack the Wellington City Council and put in commissioners to run the city. In the last 16 years across NZ, this has occurred three times, but this disfunction in Wellington is by far the worst NZ has seen in 40 years - but nothing is done. Luxon is a craven middle manager, scared of his own shadow. He's indecisive and weak. 

Sack the Wellington City Council and put people in charge who actually know how to get things done. 

How Much Do Chinese Know About the World?

Chinese people, when asked questions in the street, do not seem to know that much. They appear to be as bad as Americans, but with better humour. Rather strangely, they did know 9/11 was New York, but someone thought the capital of the US was Boston.

The person who thought China fought Vietnam in the Vietnam War was nearly right as China did invade Vietnam soon after the Vietnam War ended. But so many thinking India was in Africa was really unforgiveable. I laughed at how often England got a mention; their soft power is clearly still evident.

Climate Foolishness Out, Industry In

The Greens will be spewing, but the trend now is to rollback all the net-zero nonsense and get back to making stuff, and using clean, efficient energy derived from coal, natural gas, and nuclear. Add to that hydro and geothermal where possible. 

Something we are not going to able to do is power an industrial economy using solar and wind. That's because the energy from these sources is far too dispersed. These sources of energy are uneconomic.

Get with the programme, industrialise.

https://www.euronews.com/2026/02/13/us-president-trump-makes-most-aggressive-step-yet-to-roll-back-us-climate-rules

The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA's new rule cancels a 2009 "endangerment finding" which says that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The Obama-finding is the legal basis for most climate rules under the Clean Air Act covering emissions from cars, power plants and other sources that warm the planet. Court challenges are expected.

The repeal wipes out all greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks and could open the door to rolling back on rules on power plants and oil and gas sites, according to experts.

Interesting Information

 A lot of people around Jeffrey Epstein ended up dead, how about this one, found at the bottom of a cliff - Al Seckel

Missing Minute Found

There are some clever people out there; the missing minute from the security footage from inside the prison housing Jeffrey Epstein has been restored from a pdf file. They took the pdf link from the Epstein Files and changed the suffix to .mp4. When played, the mp4 link shows the missing minute. A prison guard gets up from their desk and walks toward the staircase to Epstein's cell. Remember, we were told the guards were sleeping. Were they sleep walking?

Joe Rogan Sold Out?

Kyle Kulinski has an entertaining rant about how disappointing Joe Rogan has become.

Super Bowl LX

I watched maybe 45 minutes of Super Bowl LX, and was lucky to see many of the scoring plays. Basically, I'd never go out of my way to watch such stuff, but I was following the winter Olympics at the same time, so did change channels from time to time. 

This was some of the worst football of any football code I've seen. How can anyone watch such rubbish? This was worse than rugby union, which has gone down the same road of incentivising less play while trying to look good doing it. For examples of football sports that actually play foot-ball, try rugby league or soccer. With these, the ball is in play almost continuously.

The big problem with American football for me is players being allowed to throw the ball out. In all other football codes that's not allowed. In soccer, you throw the ball in from out of bounds, but throwing it out is hand ball and a penalty, likewise in rugby it is also a penalty. The game is foot-ball, you kick the ball with your foot, if you want the ball out, you must kick it out. 

For the first time I saw the kick-offs where no-one can move after the ball is kicked, which is counter-intuitive, and looks silly. The ball has been kicked, but everyone waits like a field of pansies. And the scoring team kicking off is also silly, they tried this in rugby league and it failed back in the 90's. There is talk of bringing back some version of this again, but it's a bad idea, the scoring team usually receives the kick off in other football codes. To explain the thinking behind this, it prevents the team scored against ending up perpetually trapped in their own half. It is counter to the spirit of the game and would be very boring to watch, which American football is actually, very boring.

Anyway, back to the Winter Olympics for me, where athletes actually compete and do not stand around comparing their tutus.