Rumors of an Iran nuclear deal dominated energy headlines this week. That’s hardly surprising. Nor is the selling it spurred of oil and energy stocks. But as we’ve pointed out, even if that country’s oil does return to world markets, it would have little real impact on the global supply and demand balance–especially at a time when US shale producers are staying conservative and post-pandemic demand is surging.

That’s why the more important news by far for US energy investors was a ruling by a federal judge in Louisiana, which blocked the Biden Administration’s “pause” on issuing new oil and gas drilling leases on federal lands.

Last year, energy investors faced a perfect storm. Demand for refined products collapsed in the face of measures to contain an historic pandemic, at the same time producers abruptly began to prioritize free cash flow over output.

The result was a business meltdown for all but a handful of best in class companies. And even they were forced to dramatically shift strategy, as plunging share prices and pressured credit ratings all but cut them off from capital markets on reasonable terms.

This year is shaping up as a far different animal. Even sector leaders like Portfolio members Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD), Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD) and Schlumberger Ltd (NYSE: SLB) still haven’t made it back to pre-pandemic levels. But we have seen some very impressive gains across the board off the late October 2020 lows. And that price momentum has accelerated so far in 2021.