Dear Member, Each week, we like to kick things off with the latest energy stories from around the web. Although much of this content will relate to the public markets, our purpose is to stay informed of industry trends and events and uncover potential investment opportunities further down the road. Please note that official recommendations will remain exclusive to your monthly issues and trade alerts. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the latest news in energy: OPEC Is Swimming in Cash… Here’s Why Young Saudi oil princes are resting peacefully at night once again after learning that OPEC members are going to haul in a mind-numbing $842 billion in export revenues this year. Of course, these projections aren’t much of a shock given that we’ve spent much of 2022 in triple-digit price territory. Although export revenues represent a sharp 50% year-over-year increase, they’re still well below the $1.2 trillion the oil cartel was generating back in 2012. Here’s the kicker… Oil prices may remain elevated heading into winter. Right now, we have several catalysts that could trigger another surge in crude prices. One of those could very well be an output cut by OPEC. You see, Saudi Arabia and friends have gotten a taste of cold, hard cash, and they don’t want to see that well dry up anytime soon. As we head out of the summer driving season in the U.S., demand will typically head lower into the colder months of the year, and OPEC will want to ensure the market is balanced in their favor. The European Energy Crisis Won’t Be Short-Lived No EU country will be spared from the energy crisis that is building momentum. In fact, Shell’s CEO recently warned Europe to ration its energy supplies for more than one winter. We’ve been following this developing energy crisis for months, ever since the first Russian tanks started rolling into Ukraine and the first curtailments of natural gas via the Nord Stream pipeline led to the exorbitant price European countries now pay for electricity. When winter finally comes, some EU members, like Germany, may not have the natural gas supplies to last through winter. However, the real issue is that other EU members won’t be able to make up for that energy loss. Some of the biggest European exporters of power are facing their own obstacles as electricity prices throughout the EU soar to record heights. We Know the Next Global Crisis: Water Our friends from the West Coast of the U.S. already know this for a fact. Regardless of your stance on climate change, it's undeniable that the world is heating up — at least, in the short term. China is sweltering under the worst heat wave in recorded human history. Floridian homeowners are at serious risk of becoming uninsurable. And a huge portion of the world’s power generation, which relies heavily on rapidly shrinking rivers to cool turbines, could be in serious trouble. Utility companies have been issuing warnings, but it could be too late. Widespread drought could cripple the entire planet’s electrical grid. Of course, none of that will matter if the drought gets really bad. U.N. Investigating Ukraine Power Plant Fiasco The situation in Ukraine has officially gone nuclear. No warheads have been launched yet, but the country is still at serious risk of nuclear disaster. The situation has suddenly become impossible for the rest of the world to ignore. U.N. officials have finally been granted access to the now Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia power plant. Inspectors will be allowed to ensure the plant’s safety, but Putin has made it clear he isn’t backing down. Attacking the plant would be a suicide mission for either side, but there are still hundred of things to go wrong here. Any mechanical failure or operator oversight could risk contaminating thousands of square miles with nuclear debris. Good investing, Keith Kohl Energy Investor | 
