Weekly Review

Headlines from the past seven days.

Headlines from the past seven days.

Headlines from the past seven days.

Headlines from the past seven days.

Headlines from the past seven days.

Headlines for the week of May 9 – 13 

Headlines for the week of May 2 – 8 

Headlines for the week of April 25 – May 2 

Headlines for the week of April 18-24 

Headlines for the week of April 11-17 

Headlines for the week of April 4-10 

Headlines for the week of March 28-April 3

Headlines for the week of March 21-27

The Energy Bulletin Weekly will be on hiatus for a couple months while our erstwhile editor, Tom Whipple, scales back his work while recuperating from a medical procedure. We ask that you respect his privacy and not contact him during this time. (The Energy Bulletin Daily will continue to be published.)

Prices climbed to a seven-week high as supply constraints from OPEC+ to North America offset concerns about the impact of a Covid-19 outbreak in China. Futures in New York rose 2.1% to the highest closing price since Nov. 16th and traded above $80 a barrel during Friday’s session. A deep freeze in Canada and the northern U.S. is disrupting oil flows, boosting prices just as American stockpiles decline. Output from OPEC+ member Kazakhstan’s giant Tengiz oil field has been temporarily adjusted amid unrest in the Central Asian country. A growing premium for prompt barrels suggests that supply troubles across the OPEC+ coalition — which was able to provide only part of last month’s planned production increase — are delaying the onset of an anticipated oversupply in global markets.

Prices jumped more than 1% on the first trading day of the new year ahead of an OPEC+ meeting on Tuesday to discuss production policy. Futures in New York topped $76 a barrel after toggling between gains and losses earlier. Libyan output is expected to decline to the lowest level in more than a year as workers try and fix a damaged pipeline less than two weeks after militia shut down its biggest field.

The New York futures exchange was closed on Friday, while London futures slipped towards $76 a barrel in very light holiday trading. “If the news is confirmed that omicron is not as dangerous as earlier variants, that could end up being quite bullish for oil next year,” said the head of commodities research at Bank of America. “There’s a risk oil spikes next year.” Crude is heading for a yearly gain, but the rally has faltered, in part due to concerns about omicron. Nevertheless, there are some signs of tightening emerging, with supply disruptions in Libya and Nigeria.