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By Haley Zaremba of OilPrice.com

The war in Iran has exposed a critical vulnerability in Southeast Asia’s energy markets. The region is heavily dependent on fossil fuel imports, and demand is continuing its steep growth trajectory even as global crude oil prices remain punishingly high. Though the Strait of Hormuz is finally reopening, restoring flows of crude oil out of the Persian Gulf and toward Asian buyers, global oil markets have a long road toward recovery. Luckily, the wheels are already in motion to electrify the continent and move away from heavy dependence on imported oil and gas, but the interim will be a rocky chapter for energy security in the rapidly developing region. 

When the Strait of Hormuz initially closed in February, in response to the United States and Israel’s military campaign in Iran, Asian markets were hit hard and hit early by the cutoff. Southeast Asian nations were especially vulnerable to price volatility because of the region’s relatively high dependence on energy imports and low capacity to absorb market shocks thanks to economic constraints. 

In the weeks and months after the Strait closed, the Philippines declared a national energy emergency, and governments across the region turned to energy rationing, work-from-home mandates, and even four-day work weeks to manage the strain. However, the same crisis has also kickstarted a much-needed and arguably overdue renewable revolution that will bolster regional energy security, independence, and autonomy going forward. Getting there is the hard part. 

“Rising fuel imports and fast-growing electricity demand are increasing [Southeast Asia’s] exposure to market disruptions and volatility,” the International Energy Agency fwrote in a news report earlier this week. However, “closer cooperation can strengthen its ability to respond,” the article continued.

“Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most dynamic regions, but its rising needs for energy to power its economic growth face challenges in an increasingly uncertain global energy landscape,” said International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol. “Energy security must be built into decisions across the whole system from oil stocks and gas infrastructure to electricity grids and more efficient use of energy. By working more closely together, ASEAN countries can make better use of their collective resources and respond more effectively when disruptions occur.”

A large part of the coordinated response will need to focus on building up supportive clean energy infrastructure in addition to clean energy production capacity. While solar energy is taking off across the region, grid expansion and refurbishment, energy storage capacities, and transmission infrastructure are lagging behind, risking a major bottleneck in the region’s electrification trajectory. 

According to an August report from Climate Home News, “inadequate grid capacity and maintenance is already proving a major factor in the region’s stuttering rollout of new clean energy projects.” The report also points to “issues ranging from unclear power purchase agreement (PPA) structures, a failure of power policies to keep up with investor needs, permitting and licensing approval delays, grid connection constraints, limits to private sector involvement in electricity markets, and policy and tariff uncertainty.”

Indeed, the region’s renewable revolution risks stalling out before it even really starts if these issues are not addressed quickly. A May report from consultancy Bain & Company and Standard Chartered found that between the years of 2021 and 2025, 50 to 60 percent of renewable energy projects in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia were cancelled or stalled thanks to inadequate infrastructural and policy support.

These issues are set to intensify as rapid economic development continues across Southeast Asia. “More than 100 TWh of new electricity demand is expected to arrive by 2030, driven by data centers, electric vehicles (EVs), and industrial clusters,” the Bain & Company report finds. “However, while demand from these sources is set to materialize in one to three years, grid infrastructure takes five to fifteen years to build. This mismatch has made the grid a key binding constraint that increasingly determines where capital flows.”

The International Energy Agency’s new report argues that there is still hope, however, if the region’s governments work together to forge and maintain increased resilience in the face of volatile global markets and local pressures. The report recommends “stronger national preparedness and deeper regional cooperation across different sectors and fuels to help members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) withstand supply disruptions and volatile prices.”

A Baltimore City nonprofit that received $1 million in federal pandemic funding reported more than $427,000 in salaries and wages while listing zero employees on its federal tax filing, according to Chris Papst, lead investigator for FOX45's Project Baltimore.

Papst has tracked nonprofit KEYS Empowers since FBI agents raided the nonprofit linked to a Baltimore City school board member who abruptly resigned.

KEYS Empowers' latest Form 990 filing, covering 2024, reported $2,001,754 in revenue, with $427,201 paid out in salaries and wages. But as Papst noted, the filing lists no employees.

Papst added more color to KEYS Empowers' filing:

• $2,001,754 in revenue
• $427,201 in salaries and wages
• $79,701 in travel expenses
• $242,288 for conferences, conventions, and meetings
• Zero employees

At the center of KEYS Empowers is Mujahid Muhammad, who resigned as a member of the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners after the FBI raided his nonprofit.

"I'm extremely concerned," said Torrey Snow, a contributing member of the Baltimore Sun's editorial board.

Snow continued, "Maryland taxpayers are heavily subsidizing the work in Baltimore City, and they need to know that officials that are in these areas are keeping an eye on where this money is going."

In 2022, left-wing Mayor Brandon Scott's office announced a $1 million award in American Rescue Plan Act funding to KEYS Empowers.

"If public money is going into these nonprofits, it is the official's responsibility to ensure that these nonprofits are engaging in activities that are necessary and benefiting the public," stated Snow.

Publicly available data show KEYS Empowers' corporate structure and link Muhammad and Ashiah Parker, both appointed to the Baltimore City school board by Mayor Scott, to the nonprofit. This points to overlapping nonprofit leadership, school board appointments linked to Scott, and government funding for a highly questionable nonprofit.

The relationship map places Mujahid Muhammad between not just KEYS Empowers but also K.E.Y.S. Development T.A. LLC. 

Reporting more than $427,000 in salaries and wages yet listing zero employees is a major red flag.

The questions remain: who received the taxpayers' money, what services did they provide, and who approved the payments? Whether this is simply sloppy Form 990 reporting or something more serious, taxpayers deserve answers.

A 35-year-old Philadelphia Water Department employee is facing murder and attempted murder charges following a weekend shooting that left one police officer dead and another fighting for his life, according to CBS News.

Eric Lewis, who prosecutors say fired on at least 11 officers during an extended confrontation in West Philadelphia early Saturday, was arrested after authorities discovered him hiding in a tree near the scene. He appeared in court Sunday and remains jailed without bail ahead of an October 26 preliminary hearing.

The violence claimed the life of Shane Seiber, 40, a decorated 10-year police veteran and father of two who had recently completed SWAT training. Seiber, who previously served at Dover Air Force Base from 2007 to 2015, suffered three gunshot wounds and died despite emergency medical treatment.

CBS writes that a second officer, 33, and the father of five children, was struck by 12 bullets and remained in critical condition. Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said his recovery was far from certain.

The confrontation began around 1 a.m. when officers were dispatched to a home on North 52nd Street following reports of an armed individual outside the residence. Gunfire erupted as police approached, prompting a large response involving patrol officers and tactical units.

According to District Attorney Larry Krasner, Lewis subsequently fired toward nine other officers, although none were injured. Authorities eventually apprehended him after he reportedly spent several hours concealed in a nearby tree.

Investigators collected a shotgun and two pistols from the property, including a handgun reportedly taken from one of the wounded officers.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Amen Brown, who lives nearby and observed the arrest, described Lewis as having "an extensive criminal record".

Brown also alleged that the suspect made statements indicating he wished more officers had died.

Lewis is reportedly employed by Philadelphia's Water Department and represented by District Council 33, a union that has expressed sympathy for the victims and promised to assist investigators.

The shooting has intensified discussion among local officials about public safety and behavioral health policies. Mayor Cherelle Parker called for expanding Pennsylvania's involuntary commitment statutes to address serious substance abuse and mental health problems.

Meanwhile, Gov. Josh Shapiro directed that flags be lowered to half-staff in Seiber's memory. Sen. John Fetterman also expressed support for the officers' families and hopes for the surviving officer's recovery.

Via The Cradle

Several top energy executives were dropped from the schedule of Saudi Arabia's ongoing WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh on Monday, as the kingdom insists on holding the conference despite the threat to the capital posed by the Ansarallah-led Yemeni Armed Forces (Houthis). 

The event began on October 11 and is meant to run until 15 October. The head ?executives of ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell, Chevron, and BP were expected at the event. 

On Monday, they were no longer listed on the agenda that the conference organizers put out.

"To everyone who traveled to Riyadh, thank you," said Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman while making the opening comments at the WPC Energy Congress. 

"You know this ?country is safe and that we hold your protection at whole heart… Our gathering here ?does not mean the risk is gone," he said. 

He said that the YAF’s operations targeting the kingdom were "serious" and deserved an "equally serious" response. The event had been planned for April but was postponed when the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran was launched in February.

"Unfortunately, due to travel ?disruption, we are unable to be there in person. We greatly value our long-standing partnerships across the region," said a BP spokesperson cited by Reuters. The spokesperson added that the firm made “every ?effort to participate.”

Shell declined to comment, and TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, and Chevron did not ?immediately respond.

The event is taking place 10 kilometers from Riyadh’s King Khalid Airport, which was bombarded by the YAF over the weekend, resulting in 12 deaths.

At the conference, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said pressure across the energy world will only worsen until the Strait of Hormuz is fully reopened by Iran.

"Globally, the squeeze on crude oil is serious," he said. The surge in refined fuel prices is making things worse, he added. 

Offshore inventories are “well below” 6 million barrels, he went on to say, warning that it could take up to two years to refill while meeting demand. Meanwhile, crude oil prices climbed to their highest level in two weeks on Monday.

Brent crude rose 1.25 percent to $106 per barrel, while US WTI crude traded at $92 per barrel, marking their highest levels since 29 September.

Riyadh has suffered significantly as a result of its renewed war on Yemen and Sanaa’s retaliatory strikes, widening the country’s budget deficit and pushing the Saudi economy to the brink of "contraction," the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Monday.

Over the weekend, Riyadh’s international airport came under heavy Yemeni bombardment. The halt to operations at King Khalid Airport was extended on Monday. Sanaa had repeatedly issued warnings over recent days, but Saudi authorities insisted on keeping airports running.

The kingdom's Abha International Airport has also been under fire. Major Aramco sites across the country have been repeatedly struck, including refineries. 

Heavy clashes inside Yemen are ongoing as well, as Ansarallah-led forces clash with the kingdom’s proxies in a bid to expel the Saudi-led coalition from the country. In September, the YAF seized Bab al-Mandab, much of the western Yemeni coast, and several Red Sea islands. Ansarallah-led forces are now pushing toward the city of Taiz.

Sanaa’s large-scale campaign of retaliatory strikes against Saudi Arabia and its proxies is the result of the kingdom’s July escalation against Yemen. Indiscriminate Saudi bombing of Yemen has escalated in recent days, resulting in civilian casualties. 

Update(1828ET): President Trump in a late in the day Monday exchange with reporters said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin must come together to end the war.

He told the press at the White House that there had been violations of his proposed "energy ceasefire" by both Ukraine and Russia. Trump had previously stated that the warring sides agreed to an energy ceasefire, which Zelensky has balked at, saying specifics of when such a ceasefire is supposed begin must be shared with him. That's when this exchange happened:

REPORTER: You said Russia and Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire but both sides said they have not agreed to that. US PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, they agreed. You know why? Because I said: "you agree." That's why. They agreed because I said they agreed. https://t.co/RUzKtvgxfz

— Status-6 (@Archer83Able) October 12, 2026

Trump responded: "Well, they agreed. You know why? Because I said: 'you agree.' That's why. They agreed because I said they agreed." We'll see how Zelensky and Putin respond to this. It will probably be with a shrug.

Meanwhile Reuters is newly reporting in the overnight hours (local): 

Russia hit at least six energy targets during a night and morning of deadly airstrikes across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday, adding this showed Moscow had no interest in ?an energy ceasefire announced by Donald Trump.

Under pressure over high energy prices ahead of US midterm elections next month, US President Trump blindsided Kyiv and its European allies over ?the weekend by declaring that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to hit each other's energy systems.

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US relations with Ukraine are once again spiraling fast, especially following President Trump's 'shock' declaration Saturday while addressing Zelensky's anger at the diesel deal with Russia, "I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal… And I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president."

The rebuke had been in response to Zelensky blasting the diesel arrangement as "not fair and not honest" and a "sign of weakness" by Trump, and a "birthday gift" to Putin.

And then on Sunday morning, again to the great surprise of Western allies, Trump announced on social media a new energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia - except that Kiev quickly said it knows of no such ceasesfire.

"Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!"

The last such energy ceasefire attempt announced by Trump was in mid-September, but it didn't hold and in fact collapsed rather quickly after. In reality it never so much as got off the ground, before both sides were back at hammering each other's oil, gas, and electricity infrastructure.

Very soon after this latest announcement by Trump on Sunday, Zelensky told US media that it was "news to me". He said to Axios while reacting to Trump's Truth Social post: "If President Trump negotiated it with Putin, please tell us when the ceasefire begins. We are ready, and we will accept it."

And yet the dilemma for Kiev remains: it is vehemently against a US-Russian diesel deal, but any pause in energy attacks would serve to protect that very deal.

This unusual and very public back-and-forth is happening as the Ukrainian capital has been plunged into darkness:

BLACKOUT leaves parts of Kiev in total darkness Mayor’s urged people to LEAVE city 'temporarily' as capital forced into 'survival mode' https://t.co/nAq2f7CKLp

— RTVisual (@RT_Visual_on_X) October 11, 2026

Zelensky has in follow-up said on X that he was "awaiting details from the American side" - and has also complained that Russia has continued hitting Ukraine's energy sites on Sunday. According to more of the latest from Zelensky:

Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of striking a power plant in Kyiv after Donald Trump announced an "energy ceasefire".

The Ukrainian president says in a post on X that he has briefed Trump on the "brutal Russian strikes that continue unabated". He says earlier "the Russians struck a power plant in Kyiv with a 'shahed' drone, and many districts experienced power outages".

"Later, there were strikes on energy facilities in the Kharkiv region. And all of this happened AFTER the President of the United States made his statement about an energy ceasefire," he says.

His fresh video address:

Today, there was a statement from the President of the United States that an energy ceasefire has been secured. This is good news for everyone – and it is important that it become reality. Unfortunately, Ukrainian skies have been infested with Russian “shaheds” all day today. There have been glide bomb strikes and strikes on our energy infrastructure too. A power plant in Kharkiv was attacked this evening. Overall, this past week alone, the Russians have carried out more than 200 strikes on our electricity generation and transmission facilities in Ukraine, and another 17 strikes this week targeted gas and oil facilities. They have killed more than 150 of our people, and more than 700 people have been wounded. Ukraine has proposed many de-escalatory steps. Putin had one answer to all of them – “nyet.” We do hope that he will finally say something to America, Ukraine, and the entire world that will lead to a real and dignified peace. Ukraine wants peace. The question is whether Russia does. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have received all the appropriate orders. We are awaiting clear details of the dialogue between America and Russia – and we expect Putin to follow through on what President Trump said.

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / ????????? ?????????? (@ZelenskyyUa) October 11, 2026

Meanwhile Washington still has considerable leverage over Ukraine, putting Zelensky between a rock and a hard place. The Trump White House can always block weapons and funds - something it has previously threatened to do but never pulled the trigger on.

Fresh reporting in Financial Times is already putting specifics on the table to be potentially revoked:

SCOOP @FT: The Trump administration is threatening to stop the PURL procurement system that provides Ukraine with weapons in order to press Kyiv to halt its deep strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, according to officials in Europe. The officials, who received calls from American officials on Saturday and Sunday or were briefed on them, said the US was lobbying European capitals and Kyiv in an attempt to end the attacks on Russian oil refineries. The White House declined to confirm or comment on the calls. w/ @HenryJFoy @ahauslohner https://t.co/0dwv7GovPf

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) October 11, 2026

American diplomats are said to be currently lobbying ?European capitals to pressure Ukraine end ?the attacks on Russian oil refineries:

The message from the ?US included threats to cut off intelligence sharing ?and Purl (the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List) mechanism for procuring US weapons ?for ?Ukraine, the report added.

One official who was given a message from a Pentagon official stated: "They are calling Kyiv?. ... They are calling everyone [in Europe]" in order to lean on them.

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