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The Trump administration is not expected to grant the Chevon Corporation another waiver to operate in Venezuela as the United States begins planning to increase pressure through sanctions on the regime run by Nicolas Maduro.  The most recent waiver granted to Chevron is the fourth instance that has allowed Chevron to operate in the South American country since sanctions commenced in 2018.  The waiver is set to expire on April 22.

Last week, Iraq announced that they are holding a fifth bidding round for exploration and development of natural gas fields in the province of Diyala. Located in eastern Iraq, the fields of Diyala are expected to produce more than 750 million cubic feet of natural gas within the next three years.  This latest round of bidding for the country’s underdeveloped fields comes at a time where the United States has pressured the country to reduce its dependence on gas imports from Iran.

President Trump recently threatened to tax, nearly $300 billion dollars of Chinese products, by 10%. The already volatile oil market, seems to have room for some extra volatility. The volatility would largely cycle around China’s response to the U.S. tariffs. If China responds by purchasing oil from Iran, analysts speculate crude could rapidly approach $30 per barrel. Trump could impose the sanctions on the Chinese imports as soon as September 1^st. Trump also threatened that he could raise the tariff, if no progress has been made towards a trade deal.

According to reports, Iran is quickly going to breach the Uranium-stockpile limit set by the current nuclear deal.  President Hassan Rouhani of Iran has already warned that a new deal needed to be in action by Sunday June 7, 2019 or the Islamic Republic will increase enrichment of Uranium.  Globally, there is much concern with the growth rate of Iran’s uranium cache, because they are just a step away from weapon-grade levels of uranium.

Early this morning the U.S. navy responded to an attack on two burning tankers after reports came that there was an attack in the Gulf of Oman. Off the coast in Iran, the USS Bainbridge was dispatched after the vessels suffered severe damage.