Oil prices could ‘very easily’ top $100 a barrel, says former U.S. energy secretary

Published

4 years ago

July 12, 2021

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Flames burn off at an oil processing facility in Saudi Aramco’s oilfield in the Rub’ Al-Khali desert in Shaybah, Saudi Arabia, in October 2018.

Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Oil prices could “very easily” hit $100 a barrel in the aftermath of the failed OPEC+ talks, former U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told CNBC on Tuesday.

“You could very easily see oil hitting $100 a barrel — potentially even higher,” he told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble.

On the flip side, it’s “equally possible” that prices could collapse too.

“If there isn’t any agreement on production, and countries tend to go off and do their own thing, or do their own production, you could have a collapse of oil prices,” said Brouillette, who U.S. energy secretary from 2019 to 2021.

OPEC and its allies, referred to collectively as OPEC+, twice failed to reach a deal on oil output last week. On Monday, another attempt to resume talks broke down, and discussions were put off indefinitely.

The energy alliance, which includes Russia, had sought to increase supply by 400,000 barrels per day from August to December 2021 and proposed extending the duration of cuts until the end of 2022. Last year, to cope with lower demand due to the pandemic, OPEC+ agreed to curb output by almost 10 million barrels per day from May 2020 to the end of April 2022.

I think countries recognize that $100 barrel oil would not be in (their) interest.

Dan Yergin

vice chairman, IHS Markit

The United Arab Emirates had indicated that, while it was supportive of the proposal to increase supply, it objected to the terms of the extension.

Prices soared to three-year highs following the collapse of those talks on Monday. On Tuesday during Asia trading, they surged even higher. U.S. crude pushed past $76 per barrel and international benchmark Brent was higher than $77 per barrel.

Oil prices topping $100 would destroy demand, warned oil expert Dan Yergin, who said that it would not be in the interest of countries.

“I think countries recognize that $100 barrel oil would not be in (their) interest,” Yergin, the vice chairman of IHS Markit, told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia on Tuesday. “You would see governments pour more incentives into electric cars, and see the impact on demand.”

‘Striking’ that UAE and Saudi are on divergent paths

OPEC+ is led by Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the UAE. But the breakdown of those talks, and UAE’s objection to the terms, reflect a rare public disagreement between the allies.

The discord between Saudi Arabia and the UAE has been “striking,” Brouillette and Yergin both said.

“I find it striking that the UAE has stepped away from Saudi Arabia, a longtime ally within OPEC and OPEC+,” Brouillette said.

Yergin, too, said the contention between both countries was striking, given that both countries until recently had “pretty much marched in lockstep.”

“I think that one side or the other is gonna have to give in … there’s going to have to be … a lot of, as they say, horse trading, to get to a deal and keep it together,” he told CNBC on Tuesday.

While they are on divergent paths in this matter, both actually have similar goals and require revenue from oil production for new investments, Brouillette pointed out.

Environment

Tesla Robotaxi had 3 more crashes, now 7 total

Published

3 hours ago

November 17, 2025

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Tesla Robotaxi had 3 more crashes, now 7 total

Tesla reported three more crashes involving its Robotaxis in Austin, Texas – now bringing the total to 7 incidents despite low mileage and in-car supervisors preventing more accidents.

Since the launch of the ‘Robotaxi’ service in Austin, Texas, where Tesla moved the supervisor from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat, it now has to report crashes to NHTSA.

In the first month of operation in July, Tesla reported three crashes with its Robotaxi service.

The automaker reported one more Robotaxi crash last month, and this one was interesting because it coincided with Tesla announcing that the Robotaxi fleet had traveled 250,000 miles from its launch in late June to early November.

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It revealed Tesla’s current Robotaxi crash rate, which is about 2x higher than Waymo’s, despite in-car supervisors that prevent an unknown number of crashes.

Now, Tesla has reported to NHTSA three more incidents that happened with the Robotaxi fleet in Austin in September:

Report ID	Incident Date	Incident Time (24:00)	City State	Crash With	Highest Injury	Severity	Alleged SV	Pre-Crash Movement	CP Pre-Crash Movement	Narrative
13781-1178	7 SEP-2025	13:08	Austin TX	Animal		No Injured	Reported	Stopped	NM Crossing Roadway	[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1178	6 SEP-2025	03:43	Austin TX	Non-Motorist: Cyclist	Property Damage.	No Injured	Reported	Stopped	Moving Alongside Roadway	[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1178	4 SEP-2025	20:42	Austin TX	Passenger Car	Property Damage.	No Injured	Reported	Proceeding Straight	Backing	[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1168	7 SEP-2025	01:25	Austin TX	Other Fixed Object	Property Damage.	No Injured	Reported	Making Left Turn	NaN	[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1150	7 JUL-2025	03:45	Austin TX	SUV	Property Damage.	No Injured	Reported	Stopped	Proceeding Straight	[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1145	9 JUL-2025	12:20	Austin TX	Other Fixed Object	Minor	W/O Hospit	alization	Other, see Narrative	NaN	[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1137	5 JUL-2025	15:15	Austin TX	SUV	Property Damage.	No Injured	Reported	Making Right Turn	Making Right Turn	[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]

Unlike other companies reporting to NHTSA, Tesla abuses the right to redact data reported through the system. The automaker redacts the “narrative” for each reported crash, preventing the public from knowing how the crashes happened and who is responsible.

Based on the limited information in Tesla’s reports, we know that one of the new crashes involved a Robotaxi driving into a car backing up, another involved a cyclist, and the last one involved an unknown animal.

Electrek’s Take

My favorite thing about reporting on those is the messages from Tesla fans who say: You don’t know how many of those Robotaxi are responsible for?

It’s funny because I agree, but whose fault is that? Tesla could do like every other company and report the narratives.

Waymo does, and it’s clear that it isn’t responsible for many of the crashes they are involved in. I am sure that’s the case with some of those Tesla Robotaxi crashes.

However, Waymo has hundreds of millions of rider-only autonomous miles, and Tesla has a few hundred thousand, all with a supervisor on board, a finger on a killswitch, ready to prevent further crashes. Who knows how many more crashes Tesla would have had without them?

I expect a few because humans generally have a crash, whether they are at fault or not, every 700,000 miles. Tesla has 7 in probably ~300,000 miles, which should be worrying to anyone, whether the Robotaxis were responsible or not.

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Hyundai is cooking up a new off-road SUV, and it sure looks electric

Published

4 hours ago

November 17, 2025

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Hyundai is cooking up a new off-road SUV, and it sure looks electric

Hyundai is bringing “something big” to the LA Auto Show this week, and the teaser points to a slick new off-road electric SUV. Here’s our first look.

What is this off-road Hyundai SUV?

The LA Auto Show is just days away, and Hyundai is gearing up to steal the spotlight once again. Last year, it was the IONIQ 9, Hyundai’s first three-row electric SUV. What will it be this year?

Hyundai gave us a sneak peek of a new “extreme off-road show vehicle,” the Crater Concept, ahead of its upcoming debut.

Although details are still pretty slim at this point, the sketch shows a high-riding, rugged SUV, clearly designed for off-roading with massive tires and aggressive wheel arches.

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Hyundai didn’t say what powertrain the off-road SUV will use, but given the closed-off grille and no visible tailpipes, all signs point to it being electric in some way. It could be a battery-electric (EV) or even a fuel-cell-electric vehicle (FCEV).

The Crater Concept looks a bit like the new Nexo, Hyundai’s dedicated hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The updated Nexo introduces Hyundai’s new “Art of Steel” design language, which was first shown on the Concept THREE electric hot hatch in September.

Hyundai said the design theme “combines resilience with artistic form,” which exudes strength and sophistication.

The dour dot lamps on the Crater Concept look about the same as Hyundai’s new “HTWO” lamps, exclusive to its FCEVs.

Hyundai said the Crater Concept has been “crafted to amplify the same spirit and robustness found in Hyundai’s XRT production vehicles,” like the IONIQ 5 XRT, Santa Cruz XRT, and new Pallisade XRT Pro.

The design team at Hyundai Design North America also introduced its new design and ideation studio on Monday, codenamed “The Sandbox” internally.

Hyundai’s new creative hub is exclusively dedicated to creating new outdoor adventure vehicles and rugged Xtreme Rugged Terrain (XRT) gear.

Will the Nexo be next? It sure looks like it. Hyundai will reveal the Crater Concept during a livestream press conference at the LA Auto Show on November 20 at 9:45 am PT. Check back for updates.

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Electric big rigs get a new fast-charge pit stop in California

Published

4 hours ago

November 17, 2025

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Electric big rigs get a new fast-charge pit stop in California

Electric charge California — Image: Terawatt

Terawatt Infrastructure has switched on its newest commercial EV charging hub in Rialto, California, giving electric truck fleets a new high-speed charging stop along one of the US’s busiest freight routes.

The hub is situated on the eastbound side of I-10 and is designed for heavy-duty fleet use, particularly for trucks traveling from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach through Southern California’s industrial centers.

Neha Palmer, Terawatt CEO and cofounder, said, “Our network enables companies to reduce emissions and run a variety of routes across a number of vehicle classes with the confidence of a dependable charging solution. EV fleets can now travel further, more cleanly, without slowing down their operations.”

The Rialto site is built with high‑speed charging, security, and amenities that support daily freight operations. Here’s what it offers:

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18 pull‑through 350 kW DC fast‑charging stalls
55 bobtail parking stalls for overnight or shift‑based parking
A driver lounge with wifi, climate control, and restrooms
License plate recognition for quick entry
Solar canopies and 100% renewable‑powered charging
24/7 security with cameras and gated access

Terawatt’s first medium- and heavy-duty electric truck charging stop in California, Rancho Dominguez, opened in April.

In September 2024, Terawatt joined some of the world’s largest shippers and carriers to launch the I-10 Consortium heavy-duty EV operations pilot, described as the first-ever US over-the-road electrified corridor. As part of that effort, Terawatt is providing charging infrastructure, including software, operations, and maintenance support, at six of its owned charging hubs along the I-10 corridor.

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