Energy & oil editorial cartoons

Editorial cartoons about energy, oil and the routes that supply them. Explore the news behind each cartoon, with publication dates, transcripts and sources.

A hand-drawn editorial cartoon shows a giant oil barrel redesigned as a checkout terminal, marked “BRENT ~$104.” A conveyor carries a fuel can, grocery basket, and factory toward it while an extremely long receipt winds around them. A smirking checkout clerk holds the receipt and gestures toward the purchases. The scene uses warm ivory paper, dark crosshatched outlines, and muted blue, rust, ochre, and olive accents.

8 October 2026

Uncertainty, Delivered

Brent crude climbed to about $104 a barrel on Thursday as fears over Middle East oil supplies intensified. Shares fell across Europe and Asia, underscoring the international economic fallout of the conflict.

A hand-drawn petrol station scene shows a customer beside an orange car while an attendant holds a fuel hose and gestures toward a second pump dispensing an absurdly long paper receipt. A television above the pumps shows an oil facility burning, without attribution. The warm ivory, blue, rust and ochre artwork uses dark ink outlines and crosshatching.

4 October 2026

The risk surcharge

A fire broke out at an Aramco oil facility south of Riyadh on October 3 amid escalating Middle East hostilities. Independent reports confirmed the blaze, but its cause and any effect on oil supplies remained unclear.

3 October 2026

Emergency Cover

G7 leaders agreed Friday to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel reserves over four months to ease soaring fuel prices. They also pledged to avoid energy export restrictions between members.

An open doorway marked “TALKS” leads to a meeting table. Outside, a wooden barrier holds back a sign marked “THREAT.” Fictional dialogue reads: “Talks can stay open—but threats stay outside.”

24 September 2026

The Door to Talks

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN that Tehran was willing to negotiate with the United States, but not under threats. His remarks kept diplomacy in view amid a war disrupting a major energy-shipping route.

Editorial cartoon in a UN setting overlooking New York: two fictional negotiators sit at opposite ends of a table while a mediator passes a paper marked “TALK” between them. A large map labeled “STRAIT OF HORMUZ,” with ships, lies on the table. The mediator says, “Good news: the message made it across the table. Now for the strait.”

23 September 2026

Talks Across the Room, Differences Still on the Table

The US and Iran held mediated talks at the UN in New York on September 22 about ending their war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said its conditions remained in place, leaving a deal uncertain.

Editorial cartoon on cream paper: Donald Trump points proudly to a glass case containing a document labeled “ENERGY STRIKE AGREEMENT,” while a suited aide gestures toward a smoking oil refinery. The aide says, “Excellent. The agreement is the only thing that hasn’t caught fire.” A Russian flag is visible on a refinery tank. Credit appears along the bottom.

20 September 2026

The Agreement Is Fireproof

Russian officials reported damage to Moscow’s oil refinery in a Ukrainian drone attack on September 20. Reuters later reported three deaths in the region, despite Trump’s earlier claim of an agreement to stop energy strikes.

A worried anthropomorphic oil barrel stands in a control room between three routes. HORMUZ is barricaded, the EAST-WEST PIPELINE door is damaged and smoking, and a window marked BAB EL-MANDEB shows a tanker passing a HOUTHI checkpoint. The barrel asks, “PLAN C?”

12 September 2026

Plan C?

Saudi oil's alternative routes keep becoming the story: Hormuz is heavily disrupted, the East-West pipeline has been shut after drone attacks, and Houthis have advanced to Mayun in Bab el-Mandeb.

A worried personified globe fills a small car at a petrol pump. The hose narrows into a funnel labelled STRAIT OF HORMUZ containing tiny oil tankers, while the pump display reads BRENT $100+ / BARREL.

9 September 2026

The narrowest part of the budget

Brent crude rose above $100 a barrel on September 9 as the US–Iran war escalated. AP reported renewed tanker attacks and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for world oil supplies.

A worried globe rides an upward escalator with oil barrels and small ships while two fictional officials stand at its controls beneath a DE-ESCALATION sign.

5 September 2026

The de-escalation escalator

The US military said on September 5 that it struck three Iranian oil tankers after missile attacks on Navy warships. AP reported the exchange as a further escalation in the US–Iran conflict.