Dear Reader,
America is now the world's top oil exporter.
Not a forecast. A fact. US crude and fuel exports hit 10.5 million barrels per day in May. Russia exports 7.0 million. Saudi Arabia fell to 5.9 million. We beat them both.
The Gulf war did this. Iran's conflict with the US crippled two of the world's three biggest oil powers. American shale stepped in and filled the gap. It happened fast.
Markets watched the Dow swing 930 points in one session on Iran deal news. I watched something else. America just became the world's energy dealer. That shift has a price tag. Most investors do not know where to find it yet.
THE WIRE
• THE BARREL: US exports hit 10.5 million barrels per day in May, past Russia and Saudi Arabia both. Hormuz closed again on June 11. What that does to the price structure is not what most investors expect.
• THE GRID: US producer prices jumped 6.5% over the past year, the biggest spike since 2022. Gasoline at the wholesale level rose 23.4% in a single month. The power source that solves this long-term is not solar, not wind, not batteries.
• THE POLICY DESK: Trump threatened to seize Kharg Island, Iran's main oil port handling 90% of its crude before the war. The Iran deal called "largely done" in May still has no signature. What stalls a $100 billion peace tells you more than the deal itself.
• THE PLAY: When empires fight over a shipping lane, the smart money is not in the tankers. It is in the assets on dry land that collect a toll no matter who controls the water.
THE BARREL
The numbers are in. US crude and fuel exports hit 10.5 million barrels per day in May 2026. Ship-tracking data from Vortexa, published by Reuters this week. America is the world's top oil exporter for the third straight month.
Russia is at 7.0 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia fell to 5.9 million. Both were hurt badly by the Gulf war. America stepped in. We now hold the top spot by a wide margin.
Brent crude was at $87.59 per barrel this morning, down 3% on Iran deal signals. WTI sat at $85.87. Prices moved today. But price is not the real story here. The real story is who controls the market now.
Kpler analyst Michelle Brouhard said it plainly to Reuters this week: "Washington now has a new tool that it did not realize it had before the war with Iran: energy exports." US power over allied nations has grown. They depend on American oil and gas now. That is a new fact in the world.
If Hormuz reopens and prices fall, the US market position does not go away fast. These trade deals took months to build. They take years to undo.
THE GRID
US producer prices rose 6.5% over the past year. The BLS reported that on June 11. That is the biggest jump since November 2022. Gasoline at the wholesale level jumped 23.4% in one month.
When fuel costs spike this hard and fast, nuclear looks better. Natural gas is now volatile. The case for next-generation nuclear plants is strong: 24/7 power with no fuel price swings. Small modular reactors can be built faster and cheaper than the old large plants.
US power demand is set to rise 25% by 2030. Data centers alone could use 12% of all US power by end of decade. New York opened a formal bid for new nuclear work this month. The big tech firms funding these plants know what the grid looks like in 2035.
The firms building that grid are buying steel and wire today. Costs are up. So are their long-term pricing deals with power users.
THE POLICY DESK
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again on June 11.
The deal Trump called "largely done" in May is still not signed. The terms: Iran removes mines from Hormuz within 30 days. The US lifts some oil sanctions. Iran freezes its nuclear program. Still on paper only.
Instead, Trump posted on Truth Social this week threatening to seize Kharg Island. That is Iran's main oil port, handling 90% of its crude before the war. Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan were shooting down Iranian missiles and drones the same day.
OPEC is in bad shape. The cartel's share of world oil fell to an all-time low of about 22% during the war. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait ran 8.5 million barrels per day below their own output targets in May. Revenue losses across OPEC now top $80 billion.
If the deal closes and Hormuz opens, Rystad Energy projects a 5 million barrel per day surplus. Prices could drop hard. Japan said it will end its Hormuz oil link in July. Those buyers are not going back to the Gulf. FERC updated the US LNG export map on June 10. The project list is the longest in US history. The world is rewiring its energy grid. The US is where the new wires start.
There is one class of energy assets that collects a fee whether oil trades at $75 or $110. Most investors do not hold it yet. I want to show you what it is and why now is the time to look at it.
SPONSORED: OXFORD CLUB
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THE PLAY
Forget the tanker stocks. The open ocean is a war zone right now.
The real money in an energy shift is on dry land. Pipelines. LNG export terminals. Storage assets. These collect a fee whether oil moves at $60 or $110. They do not care who wins in Tehran.
Executive Order 14330 cut the red tape that had blocked new LNG export approvals for years. The result: roughly two dozen US LNG export terminals are now in the works. Europe has been buying US LNG for two years as a replacement for Russian gas. Japan is walking away from Hormuz starting July 2026. These are not short trades. They are new routes built during a crisis. They will outlast any deal.
The Iran war handed America the energy market. The assets that lock that in for a decade are not hard to spot. They are toll roads. Right now they are still cheap relative to the shift that just happened.
The Oxford Club research linked in this issue connects that executive order to specific names and prices. The window on these is short.
Stay empowered.
P.S. The Iran war handed America the energy market. But the specific firms set to collect toll-road fees for the next decade are not obvious from the news. The Kiyosaki Letter team has mapped the exact LNG and pipeline plays that win whether oil sits at $75 or $110. That work is ready now. Click here to see it before it goes wide.