U.S. energy firms left the overall rig count unchanged in the latest week, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday. The total oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, held at 588 in the week to August 7 from the previous week. Baker Hughes said the total count was still up 49 rigs, or 9% from this time last year. Baker Hughes said oil rigs rose by three to 454 this week, their highest level since May 2025, while gas rigs fell by [Read more]

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said on Friday it was being significantly impacted by what it described as unprovoked attacks on its people and assets, as it sought to continue meeting customer requirements in an "exceptionally challenging environment." ADNOC said in a statement that 15 of its vessels had been attacked by missiles and drones while transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the conflict, including three this week, leaving one crew member dead and 20 injured. The [Read more]

U.S. oil producer Occidental Petroleum said on Thursday it expects flat production and capital spending in 2027, adding that it would continue to prioritize debt-reduction efforts. Speaking on a post-earnings conference call, Chief Financial Officer Sunil Mathew said the company expects the starting point for capital spending to be $5.9 billion in 2027, including investments in mid-cycle projects. "At that level of investment, you can assume relatively flat production in line with 2026," [Read more]

The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed on Thursday. WCS for September delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $14.70 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared to $14.80 on Wednesday. * The discount remains significantly wider than it was in June, after traffic through the Strait of Hormuz picked up in July and also due to the ongoing weakness in China's import appetite, [Read more]

U.S. imports of Middle Eastern crude are set to hit about 600,000 barrels per day in August, the highest since the Iran war began, as a brief opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the rerouting of Saudi oil through the Suez Canal pushed barrels toward American ports, ship-tracking data showed. Nearly a dozen ships loaded with Middle Eastern crude were headed to U.S. ports as American refiners and traders moved swiftly to snap up barrels that exited the strait when a memorandum of understanding [Read more]

Iran has made a concerted diplomatic push with Gulf states, warning them explicitly that Tehran will hit their oil, power and water plants unless they convince Donald Trump to end U.S. strikes on Iran and instead seek a negotiated end to the war. The warning envisaged attacks on the energy facilities, oil fields, refineries, electricity grids, water infrastructure, transport networks and other strategic assets of Washington's closest Arab allies, according to a senior Iranian official. The [Read more]

A proposed deal between Iran and Oman that would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz is not easily workable due to U.S. sanctions and restrictive insurance clauses on any payments, four industry sources said. Until U.S.-Israeli airstrikes at the end of February unleashed war in Iran, the narrow waterway between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean was the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods. It was freely open to all ships [Read more]