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Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee on Thursday said it's "unfortunate timing" that the economy is undergoing an oil shock that is pushing up price before the inflation from last year's tariff shocks has subsided, and that has him concerned. "When the price of gasoline goes up a lot in a short period of time, people's expectations, consumers expectations of where inflation is going to be over the next 12 months start going up pretty significantly, and that will potentially put us [Read more]

The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures widened on Thursday. WCS for May delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $14.60 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $13 on Wednesday. * The war in Iran has disrupted global supply of medium and heavy sour barrels, contributing to tighter spreads for heavy crude last month as well as higher outright pricing. * But global crude markets [Read more]

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz was open for Russia. "It is open for us," said Ushakov, speaking on Russian state TV channel, the Interfax news agency reported. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Alex Richardson) [Read more]

U.S. energy firms this week added to the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for the first time in three weeks, energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Thursday. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose by five to 548 in the week to April 2. Despite this week's rig increase, Baker Hughes said the total count was still down 42 rigs, or 7.1% below this time last year. Baker Hughes said oil rigs rose by two to 411 this week, while gas rigs rose by [Read more]

Front-month U.S. crude oil futures were trading at their largest-ever premium over the second-month contract on Thursday as traders scrambled for barrels after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to continue attacking Iran. Widening backwardation, the market term for immediate deliveries trading at a premium over barrels scheduled for delivery in a later month, suggests investors perceive supplies will be short in the near-term. WTI crude futures for May delivery were trading around $15.70 [Read more]

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday he hopes for a council vote on Friday on a resolution Bahrain has drafted to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran at the end of February, kicking off a conflict that has now exceeded a month and effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic. Bahrain has presented Security Council members [Read more]

U.S. President Donald Trump's address to the nation on Wednesday, in which he vowed more aggressive strikes on Iran, has put consumers on course for record fuel prices at the pumps just ahead of the country's peak summer travel season, market experts said. Americans expected Trump's speech to outline a plan to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran's blockade of the global oil conduit has sent oil and fuel prices skyrocketing, pinching consumers' wallets. But instead, Trump [Read more]

Detentions of Panama-flagged vessels by China that followed a Panamanian court ruling raise serious concerns about efforts to undermine rule of law in the Latin American country, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday. The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission said last week that it was closely monitoring a surge in detentions of Panama-flagged vessels in China that appears tied to a Panama court ruling against Hong Kong-based port operator CK Hutchison. "China's recent actions [Read more]

BP named Carol Howle as deputy chief executive on Thursday and said she would oversee the company's ongoing portfolio review and strategy development. Howle, who served as interim chief executive before Meg O'Neill started the top job on Wednesday, will also return to her former role as head of supply, trading and shipping. BP is undergoing a major strategy shift after pivoting back to a focus on oil and gas a year ago following an ill-fated foray into renewables. It has cut billions of [Read more]