### Robert Bott

Writer and consultant specializing in energy, forestry, and industrial history; based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

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#### Posts

1. **May 15**  
   Fantastic analysis. Kudos to Andrew Sullivan for linking to your work.
   
   Most of the political class and commentariat are incredibly ignorant or ill-informed about the complexities of the oil market. I wrote a short piece recently about one key aspect, the middle distillates (diesel, jet fuel, marine fuels) that attempted to show their critical...
   
   [Read more...](https://substack.com/@robertbott486534/note/c-259682808)  
   
2. **May 1**  
   Diesel was US average retail $3.66 per gallon in January 2025, currently $5.35 -- a 46 percent increase that will affect the cost of everything from farming to the transportation and delivery of almost every good and service.
   
   [eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/L...](https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EMD_EPD2D_PTE_NUS_DPG&f=W)
   
   I recently dug a little deeper into the cost of diesel, jet fuel, and marine transportation fuel...
   
   [Read more...](https://substack.com/@robertbott486534/note/c-252092570)
   
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**Who Are You Gonna Believe, Trump or Your Lying Eyes?**

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#### Paywalled Stories

**Apr 20**  
Paywalled story in the Globe & Mail today about Rio Tinto aluminum smelters running flat out and activated idled units despite Trump’s tariffs now totaling 50 percent. [theglobeandmail.com/bus…](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-rio-tinto-trying-to-meet-us-aluminum-demand-as-middle-east-war-roils/)

Meanwhile, the Iran War is blocking exports from the UAE. Canada and UAE each account for about 4 percent of global primary aluminum production.

As I pointed out in a substack post last year, the US tariff on aluminum is essentially a tax on electricity. For the US to increase primary aluminum production ...