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U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for a second week in a row, in a record 23-month streak of increases, as high crude prices and prodding by the government prompted drillers to return to the wellpad. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose 13 to 753 in the week to June 24, its highest since March 2020, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday. Baker Hughes said that puts the total rig count up [Read more]

There are no plans at the moment to hold an extraordinary summit of European Union leaders in July to discuss ways to deal with rising gas prices, an EU official said on Friday. "There are no plans," the official said when asked about reports on a possible extra summit next month. The official said Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi had suggested a July summit on Thursday, in internal meetings with EU leaders, to discuss a proposal to cap prices on Russian gas. Another EU official, [Read more]

Oil prices rose slightly in early Asian trade on Friday as nations seek to address global crude oil and fuel supply tightness. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.72, or 1.66%, to $105.66 a barrel.  Brent crude futures rose $1.69, or 1.54%, to $111.28 a barrel. OPEC and allied producing countries including Russia will likely stick to a plan for accelerated output increases in August in hopes of easing crude prices and inflation as U.S. President Joe Biden plans to [Read more]

OPEC and allied producing countries including Russia will likely stick to a plan for accelerated oil output increases in August, sources said, hoping to ease surging oil prices and inflation pressure as U.S. President Joe Biden plans to visit Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. At its last meeting on June 2, the group known as OPEC+ agreed to boost output by 648,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July - or 0.7% of global demand - and by the same amount in August, up from the initial plan to add [Read more]

Oil and gas companies are expanding activity at a "robust" pace despite supply disruptions and rising costs, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas survey of energy executives. An index of oil activity in the U.S. Southwest was at the highest in six years, according to the quarterly report, which surveyed oil executives in Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana earlier this month. Still, firms said that supply-chain issues are hurting their operations, and most expect they will take more [Read more]

Oil prices rebounded in early trade on Thursday, after experiencing losses from the previous day, as investors worried that aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes could trigger a recession and dent fuel demand. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $2.26, or 2.17%, to $106.57 a barrel.  Brent crude futures climbed $2.29, or 2.08%, to $112.28 a barrel. Both benchmarks tumbled around 3% on Wednesday to hit their lowest levels since mid-May. Investors are continuing to assess [Read more]