Crude Oil

On Monday, oil prices rose 7% and reached their highest level in months as Iran and Israel intensified attacks?in the Middle East. They damaged tankers?and disrupted shipments?from the key producing area. Brent crude futures soared to $82.37 in the first trading session after U.S., Israel and other countries launched attacks on Iran, killing its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on Saturday. Brent futures at 0054 GMT were $78.24 per barrel, an increase of $5.37 or 7.37%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude rose by $4.66 or 6.95% to $71.68 per barrel, after reaching $75.33 earlier. This was the highest since June 2025....

OPEC+'s decision to increase crude oil production by 206,000 barrels a day (bpd), starting in April, is likely?the most unimportant decision that the group has taken during its nearly decade-long existence. Addition of 0.2% to global oil demand in a month is nothing more than a symbol in light of the escalating conflict in the Middle East that is already causing serious disruptions in supply. There was not much the 'eight members' of OPEC+ who are voluntarily cutting production could have done if they had met on Sunday in order to reassure the market that the supply would be secure....

As the Middle East conflict looked to be extending into the next few weeks, investors rushed to bonds and gold to protect themselves. This was just after the markets were spooked by AI and banking concerns. Brent crude oil jumped by 9%, to $79.42 per barrel. U.S. crude rose 8.6% to $72.61 a barrel. Gold increased 1.4% to $5,350 per ounce. The United States and Israel's military strikes on Iran have not ceased, but the Arab nations responded with missile attacks across the region. They risked involving their neighbours in the conflict. Donald Trump told the Daily Mail that the...

Barclays stated that Brent crude oil could reach around $80 per barrel in the event a material supply disruption occurs, given that tensions between Iran and the U.S. remain high. The bank stated that "while it is possible that an 'escalation' does not result in a disruption in supply and the risk premium of $3-5/b in oil prices quickly fades, a 1mb/d outage in supply would question the widely anticipated supply glut, and push Brent to $80/b in our opinion." Prices of oil rose by?about 2 percent on Friday as traders prepared for supply disruptions due to the ongoing nuclear...

The Energy Information Administration reported on Friday that U.S. crude oil production dropped for the second consecutive month in December, to its lowest level since June of last year. Meanwhile, demand was at a multi-month high. The EIA reported that crude?oil?production averaged 13,66 million barrels a day in December. This was down by about 133,000 barrels a day from November. This was the biggest month-over-month drop in U.S. crude oil production since January 2025 when bad weather forced major?production centers to shut down. Analysts have predicted that oil production will slow due to the recent decline in oil prices. U.S....

Chris Wright, the U.S. Energy secretary, said that proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan oil will no longer be routed through an account in Qatar. Instead they are being sent directly to US Treasury Department accounts. The U.S. has taken control of Venezuela's oil exports after Washington and Caracas signed a landmark deal in January. The U.S. has taken control of Venezuela's oil exports as part of a historic deal signed between Washington and Caracas. To protect the money from seizure, it was initially deposited into a Qatari account. Wright, who spoke to reporters in Texas about the?reroute, said that...

Four sources with knowledge of the talks say that the United States has slowed down the sale of the international assets owned by the Russian oil giant Lukoil to use as a bargaining tool in the Ukraine peace talks. A document reviewed by OFAC showed that the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will extend to Thursday the deadline for transactions to be completed from February 28 to April 1. In recent weeks, U.S. and Russian government officials failed to make a breakthrough during talks in Geneva and Abu Dhabi, or in Miami, in order to negotiate a deal...

The yen is on a shaky footing as the possibility of further rate increases in Japan has been raised. The lingering concerns about the escalation of geopolitical tensions in the U.S. Oil prices remained high ahead of the third round of talks scheduled between Iran and the United States on Thursday. Nvidia forecasted first-quarter revenues above market expectations on Wednesday, betting that Big Tech would continue to spend on AI processors. After hours, the stock price of the company remained flat. Investors were likely disappointed with the lackluster results, especially since the company had consistently exceeded revenue expectations in the...

By Mike Dolan February 25th - What's important in the U.S. and Global Markets Today By Mike Dolan Editor-at-Large of Finance and Markets Tuesday, software stocks staged a rally that was strangely driven by what has been dragging them down over the last month: the release of new plug-ins developed by AI lab Anthropic. The market was more focused on the partnership between these companies and Anthropic this time, than the existential threat AI could pose. Below, I will discuss this and more. Check out my latest article on why AI isn’t the?only? thing driving global economic growth. Listen to...

Investors are still worried about the possibility of a military conflict between Iran and the U.S., which could disrupt the supply. Talks between the two parties will take place on Thursday. Brent futures traded at $71.22 a barrel at 0140 GMT, an increase of 45 cents or 0.64%. WTI futures rose by 0.64% or 42 cents to $65. Brent prices hit their highest level since July 31st on Friday while WTI reached its highest level since August 4th on Monday. Both contracts are holding near that mark as the U.S. positions military forces in the Middle East, to force?Iran into...

Anthropic, a San Francisco-based startup, announced 10 new ways that business customers can use its AI 'plugins'. This rekindled enthusiasm about AI being able to boost profits for businesses, including those in investment banking, engineering, and human resources. Investors were worried about the tariff policies of President Donald Trump and their fears that heavy investment in AI might not result in profits any time soon. Anthropic released a new version of its software just weeks after a number of other releases caused a drop in stocks across the software and service sectors. Customs and Border Protection in the United States...

The global shares gained on Tuesday, after losing ground in the previous session. This was due to renewed attention on the economic impact artificial intelligence has on business and the markets' ongoing struggle with the repercussions of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. Anthropic, a San Francisco-based startup, has announced 10 new ways for business customers to utilize its AI plugins. These include investment banking, engineering and human resources. This comes just weeks after previous releases caused a selloff of software and service stocks. The markets remained uncertain about Trump's tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that his emergency tariffs...

As military conflict in the Middle East appeared to be extending into the next few weeks, investors flocked to relative safety offered by the dollar and gold. Brent rose?4.5% to $76.07 per barrel. It had briefly reached $82.00 at one point. U.S. crude increased 3.9% to $69.59 a barrel. Gold grew 1.0% to $5 327 per ounce. The United States and Israel's military strikes on Iran have not ceased, but Iran has responded with missile attacks across the region. This could drag its neighbours into a conflict. Donald Trump told the Daily Mail that the conflict could continue for another...

On Friday, Asian shares slid while the yen and U.S. Treasuries climbed as fears about geopolitical tensions and technology company valuations affected sentiment. Stocks in Japan and South Korea were volatile, while Chinese equities fell after the artificial intelligence sector's leading company Nvidia failed to impress investors. This dragged Wall Street down. Gold and crude oil prices rose. The Omani mediator in the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks was optimistic about the latest round, but there were no signs that a breakthrough would be achieved to prevent a possible U.S. strike. Pakistan's Defence Minister also spoke of an "open war" with Afghanistan...

According to trade sources and LSEG, the prices of liquefied petrol gas and?naphtha jumped on Thursday in Asia after Saudi Aramco halted its exports from a major terminal, disrupting'supplies' to the region. Saudi Aramco announced on Wednesday that it had halted LPG deliveries this week at its eastern terminal in Juaymah. It is one of the largest exporters of butane and propane. A part of its delivery system was damaged by structural damage to an area of its delivery network on February 23. Fuel from the terminal near Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery and the Jafurah Gas Field is used to...

China's role in setting the floor and ceiling prices for crude oil is one of the less discussed dynamics of the global market. The world's biggest crude?importer is known to buy excess oil and build up inventories when the refiners or government consider prices to be low. They also pull back imports when they feel that prices are rising too quickly. Analysts and journalists covering the crude oil market are not aware of the changes in imports because they occur with a delay of several months. There are early signs, however, that China will shift its imports in favor of...

Investors piled into what they deemed the safest bets on artificial intelligence, while the yen was still in the spotlight. In his State of the Union address, Donald Trump boasted of the stock market's?gains and claimed that "almost" all countries and corporations wanted to adhere to the tariff and investment agreements they had previously made with Washington. The financial markets did not react much to the speech. Futures markets showed a mildly optimistic start in the U.S. with S&P E-minis rising 0.07% and Nasdaq E-minis increasing 0.11%. The EURO STOXX futures rose 0.2%. The broadest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks...

Is this the Art of the Deal, Gregor Stuart Hunter? U.S. president Donald Trump warned that trade partners should not "play games" and back out of recently agreed trade agreements after the Supreme Court ruled against his 'emergency tariffs. Some foreign governments want to check if they still have the same terms that were originally negotiated. Trump will "come out smokin'" in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, after the tariff setback. He may even take aim at the Supreme Court Justices who are seated there. However, governments in Asia still have concerns. Japan wants to know if...

Oil prices were below a seven-month high as traders weighed the uncertainty surrounding U.S. Trade Policy and the prospects for U.S. Iran nuclear talks in light of heightened Middle East tensions. Brent crude futures fell 9 cents or 0.1 percent to $71.40 per barrel at?0120 GMT. This follows a volatile session on Monday, when it reached its highest level since the 31st of July, $72.50, while alternating between gains and losses exceeding 1%. U.S. crude oil futures fell 11 cents or 0.2% to $66.20 per barrel. This is after the previous session saw a rise to $67.28 - the highest...

Wall Street futures in Asia and the dollar fell on Monday, as confusion about U.S. trade tariffs prompted the "sell America's" trade. Meanwhile, the tech-diva Nvidia is set to release its results this week. This will test the confidence of the AI sector. Gold prices dropped and gold grew ahead of the next round of talks between the United States and Iran, which will take place in Geneva on Friday. The risk of U.S. strikes remains if there is no agreement. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump's emergency duties, uncertainty grew. He announced a new rate...

Tom Westbrook gives us a look at what the European and global markets will be like today. The weekend was a huddled-down one for traders, with threats flying between Iran and the U.S., and nerves raging through the markets due to listed private equity funds. PMI surveys, ?U.S. PCE and GDP data, corporate earnings and a few other items headlined the calendar. However, politics and war risk seemed to dominate investors' minds. The dollar was heading for its biggest weekly increase in four months. U.S. president Donald?Trump set Iran a 10- to 15-day deadline to reach a nuclear deal or...

European stocks fell from a record-high on Thursday, and U.S. Futures?flatlined? as fears of AI disruption abated. However, tensions between Iran and the United States kept markets 'on edge' and supported oil and gold prices. The U.S. dollar found its footing overnight after the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting revealed that policymakers are not in a hurry to reduce rates. The STOXX 600 Index in Europe fell 0.24% after Airbus and Rio Tinto reported their earnings. The index reached a new record on the previous day, as investors were able to shake off concerns about AI disrupting businesses with...

Rocky Swift gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. Investors are still focusing on geopolitical tensions, as well as signs of cooling in the hot tech sector. This is affecting price movements on commodities, currencies and stocks. Asian shares climbed a little higher, after a slight gain on Wall Street, amid concerns about artificial intelligence's impact on the economy and?valuations?linked to it. Many markets in Asia remained closed due to Lunar New Year. The Nikkei jumped more than 1% in Japan on the expectation that the country's tech companies will benefit from the...

The Asian financial markets treaded carefully in Tuesday's holiday-thinned trade, but oil prices rose as U.S.?and Iran nuclear negotiations in Geneva were due to start later that day. The markets in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Taiwan were closed Tuesday to celebrate Lunar New Year. Monday,?U.S. markets were closed for Presidents' Day. The Nikkei fell 0.5% and the Topix, which is a broader index, dropped 0.2%. The S&P/ASX200 index in Australia was almost 0.5% higher. The 10-year Treasury yields fell 1 basis point on Tuesday to 4,044%, the lowest since December. Japan's 5-year yield dropped...