Good morning, here's what the Oilman has for you today:

• World’s Shippers Rush to Leave Middle East Waters

• Greens Attack UK Oil Project in Court

• Upcoming Oil and Gas Events

• Tweet of the Day

World’s Shippers Rush to Leave Middle East Waters

Five of the world’s largest shipping companies have instructed their crews to avoid the Suez Canal.

The moves follow a string of attacks on ships off the Yemeni coast.

Now, pirates have joined the party, too.

The Great Red Sea Exodus

It all began with the Yemeni Houthis.

They threatened this month to target any ship traveling to Israel.

And they lived up to the threat.

With missiles and drones.

Sure, the U.S. Navy is around to respond to distress signals, but shippers have had enough.

Moller-Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC, CMA CGM, and Maersk Tankers are all avoiding the Red Sea now.

Especially after pirates boarded a Bulgarian bulk carrier and took it to Somalia.

To be fair, this is a bit too much.

Oil tankers as targets

Any militant activity in this part of the world normally leads to an oil price surge.

This time it’s different.

Because the Houthis’ motive is different.

Few believe they would start targeting oil cargo in the area.

But the market is getting nervous.

Freight rates are skyrocketing.

Because the alternative to the Suez Canal is the Cape of Good Hope.

Which is at the bottom of Africa.

That’s a lot of added days to a ship’s journey from the West to the East and back again.

As if we needed any more causes for inflation.

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Greens Attack UK Oil Project in Court

Greenpeace and something called Uplift are suing the UK government.

Their problem: the Rosebank oil project in the North.

The government approved it a couple of months ago, citing energy security.

Not so fast with the security concerns

Energy security is a totally valid reason for developing your own resources.

Instead of relying on foreign suppliers, not all of them are politically friendly.

But not for Greenpeace and Uplift, which appears to be some climate campaign group.

For them, the net-zero plan is above all, and Rosebank is incompatible with this plan.

So, they want the court to stop it.

Like a Dutch court sentenced Shell to cut emissions by 45%.

It is not like the Norwegian court that ruled against Greenpeace in another oil case.

Who cares about energy security when we have a net-zero agenda?

Lawsuit-happy activists

It’s sad, but it’s a safe bet that such court cases will multiply.

It’s ironic, really.

While governments sober up on energy security, activists intensify the pressure.

Rosebank could produce 70,000 bpd of oil and 21 million cu ft of gas.

That’s a lot of local, secure oil and gas.

That’s what energy security looks like.

We in America know this better than anyone else.

Except perhaps Russia and Saudi Arabia.

It’s an upside-down world where you get challenged in developing your own resources because they interfere with an arbitrary transition plan.

Upcoming Oil & Gas Events

• January 16: TIPRO/IPAA Leaders in Industry Luncheon, Petroleum Club of Houston, Houston, TX

• January 17: IPAA Private Capital Conference, The Post Oak at Uptown Houston, Houston, TX

• January 17-18: GO-WV Winter Meeting, Marriott Town Center Hotel, Charleston, WV

• January 18: Kansas Oil and Gas Day Legislative Reception, Kansas State Capital, Topeka, KS

• January 23-25: POWERGEN International, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans

Around the Global Patch

🇿🇦 Invictus secures gas sales agreement for Zimbabwean discovery.
🇨🇦 ExxonMobil receives approval for the Canadian oil project.
🇦🇺 Australian oil company CEO departs abruptly.

Tweet of the Day

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