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“First Chair” was the first song that I ever wrote. It was written from the perspective that a global energy crisis has led to widespread “energy lockdowns” very similar in nature to the Covid lockdowns during 2020.

I vividly remember the ski resorts all shutting down operations and closing for the season on March 15th of that year. It was a globally coordinated undertaking. That’s the day that the name Forlorn Skier originated from.

If you’re a skier, I tried to capture how you and I will feel if an energy crisis results in the closure of ski resorts during the time of year when they should be open.

First Chair was released on Spotify today. Have a listen.

Venezuela is not involved in the kinetic war going on between Iran and the U.S. Yet, for some unknown reason the country’s second largest oil refinery has just exploded.

Coincidence? Or not?

BREAKING: Venezuela's Cardon Oil refinery, the country's second largest at 310,000 barrels per day, has just unexpectedly exploded and caught fire, forcing a full shutdown.

The fire started at a gas line connecting the refinery's diesel hydrotreater and halted the whole plant,… pic.twitter.com/oTRaLG654V

— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) October 6, 2026

It’s one thing when an old guy (who loves to ski!) from the sticks of Maine crazily warns over, and over, and over again – and even writes a 13 song album about – a coming energy crisis.

Quite easy to simply ignore the ole lunatic.

It is quite another thing altogether when the United States Secretary of Energy does an interview for television and plainly states that “We’re in a crisis right now with a shortage of diesel“.

WHAT???

What happened to the “glut” of oil that was being boldly proclaimed just a couple of months ago? Now they’re saying we’re already in a crisis?

Maybe, just maybe the old guy from the sticks in Maine isn’t completely off his rocker.

.@SecretaryWright: "The order was signed yesterday… We're in a crisis right now with a shortage of diesel because of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, China deciding not to export diesel anymore, and we still have reduced flows of refined products out of the Middle East,… https://t.co/vnHsDNoJ1b pic.twitter.com/nU9AnGxg6E

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 6, 2026

While the mainstream media continues to ignore the grave seriousness of the developing energy crisis, the attacks continue.

Every day.

BREAKING: Yemen's Houthis appear to have struck the Saudi Aramco oil refinery at Rabigh on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, with new satellite imagery today showing a black smoke plume roughly 80 km trailing away from the site and the fire centred on the oil storage tanks and… pic.twitter.com/YnJ6NPYH7T

— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) October 5, 2026

Ski season approaches! It’s currently lightly snowing on Mt. Washington and the summit has picked up 0.1 inch of snow in the past hour.

Ski season can’t arrive soon enough.

Not a day goes by without another attack on the global energy infrastructure.

It’s almost as if there is a deliberate intent to create an energy crisis.

Houthis have managed to Strike the Main Saudi Aramco Refinery in Riyadh!!
Nasa Frim shows it's likely on Fire after the hit. https://t.co/Sx0gLmwYRY pic.twitter.com/fgiXtH1R5k

— Ali (@MerruX) October 3, 2026

Yes, as on right now – as things look today – energy experts are forecasting that it will take one year for energy production to get back to levels that were normal before the war with Iran started.

However, that assumes that all attacks on the global energy infrastructure stop today.

The problem is that those attacks are continuing day after day without abatement.

BREAKING: Oil executives warn US diesel prices will not return to normal for more than a year, with almost half of 100 oil and gas companies surveyed by the Dallas Fed now saying it will take more than four quarters to get back to 2025 levels, per the FT.

"Diesel is the mother's…

— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) September 30, 2026

Louisiana was the first state to declare an official state emergency due to lack of fuel. This will spread to other states and eventually to the Federal level.

https://gov.louisiana.gov/news/5178

https://thewinepress.substack.com/p/louisiana-becomes-first-to-declare

You don’t suspend exports when there is a glut, only when there is a shortage.

Chinese refiners have suspended exports of oil products to regions beyond Hong Kong and Macau until further notice from Beijing following the Golden Week holiday that runs until October 7, four people briefed on the matter said on Thursday.

As China looks to safeguard domestic…

— Giovanni Staunovo🛢 (@staunovo) October 1, 2026

To those who are paying attention, the overall attack on the global energy infrastructure continues day after day after day. Every single day.

BREAKING: A massive explosion on the gas pipeline feeding Syria's Tishreen thermal plant near Damascus Airport has taken three power stations offline, Tishreen, Deir Ali and Al-Nasiriya, per Syria's SANA and Reuters.

Tishreen is southern Syria's largest thermal station and all… pic.twitter.com/MR2ngi4sYo

— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) September 30, 2026