Drilling rig count climbs at fastest rate since the pandemic began

Optimism has also been buoyed by expectations that global crude supplies won’t grow fast enough to satisfy demand as Covid-19 vaccinations proliferate and economies that shut down for the better part of a year begin reopening. More »

OPEC agrees to slowly increase oil production on Covid recovery bet

Defying market expectations for the second time in less than a month, the group agreed to add more than 2 million barrels a day to global oil supplies from May to July. That will return about a quarter of the crude they are still withholding after making deep cuts a year ago in response to the pandemic. More »

OPEC with either keep cuts or ramp oil production slowly, says delegate

Even if OPEC+ decided to resume phased increases, it would review each step every month, allowing it to hit pause if oil demand growth were to disappoint, according to a delegate. More »

U.S. phones Saudis ahead of OPEC talks to discuss need for “affordable energy”

Many OPEC-watchers had been expecting the group to roll over its production quotas for at least one month, so any deviation from that could be bearish. It remains to be seen whether the call from U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to her Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman could tip the balance in the another direction. More »

Exxon faces $800MM earnings hit from Texas freeze

Exxon was forced to shut or reduce runs at its large refining and petrochemical plants along the Gulf Coast, but its quarterly filing showed that its oil and gas production facilities also suffered substantial reductions in earnings. More »