Headlines

Crude prices may be back near levels seen before the Iran war, but the surge in oil exports from the Middle East following the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is creating a chaotic market that could take months to settle. The steep slide in Brent crude back to pre-war levels of around $73 a barrel following the U.S.-Iran interim deal might, at first glance, suggest business as usual has returned to the world’s most important oil and gas hub. The narrow waterway, which once carried about a [Read more]

A power outage on Sunday forced the shutdown of Venezuela's largest refinery, the 645,000-barrel-per-day Amuay, workers from that facility said, the second refinery without electricity following two deadly earthquakes in the country. The South American nation has been struggling to provide power to industrial plants, refineries, businesses and citizens following the quakes, which have left at least 1,450 people dead. Amuay, key for fuel output for domestic distribution, was processing some [Read more]

Oil prices rose on Monday following days of tit-for-tat strikes by the United States and Iran in the Middle East that underscored the fragility of their interim peace deal and again slowed energy shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures climbed 52 cents, or 0.672%, to $72.51 a barrel by 2313 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $69.94 a barrel, up 71 cents, or 1.03%. Brent crude fell 10.6% last week, its third weekly decline, after crude shipments through the [Read more]

U.S. pipeline operator Williams is in advanced talks to acquire rival natural gas pipeline operator Momentum Midstream for about $5.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company is putting the finishing touches on an agreement to buy Momentum from private equity firm EnCap Flatrock Midstream, the report said, adding that a deal could be announced in about a week. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. [Read more]

TORONTO - Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week: Holiday trading It's an abbreviated trading week for stock markets this week. The Toronto Stock Exchange will be closed for trading on Wednesday for the Canada Day holiday, while stock markets in the U.S. will be closed on Friday in observance of the July Fourth holiday which lands on a Saturday this year. Alberta pipeline The Alberta government is aiming to deliver a submission for a new West Coast [Read more]

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said early on Sunday that its navy and aerospace forces had launched a joint missile and drone operations targeting U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain in response to recent U.S. strikes against Iran. "Violating the ceasefire is contrary to Clause 1 of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and will result in the complete halt of all diplomatic processes", the Guards said in a statement, according to Press TV. (Reporting by Yomna Ehab and Ahmed [Read more]