Coronavirus

On the cusp of the winter season’s first widespread cold snap, natural gas prices for January baseload were a mixed bag during the bidweek trading period from Dec. 27-29. Propelled by hefty premiums on the West and East coasts, which countered $1.00-plus losses elsewhere across the country, NGI’s January Bidweek National Avg. climbed 18.5 cents…

Despite a November lull imposed by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, crude prices in the United States and globally were positioned Thursday to finish 2021 up more than 50% on the year, led upward by mounting demand for travel fuels and heating oil that outshined modestly increased production levels. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil…

Americans pulled back on distillate fuel, gasoline and jet fuel consumption last week as spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus accelerated, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed. EIA said Wednesday that total petroleum demand for the week ended Dec. 17 dropped 12% week/week to 20.5 million b/d. Demand for gasoline…

Russia, Saudi Arabia and other top oil producing countries plan to keep pumping more crude into early 2022, despite worries about the coronavirus Omicron variant and the potential for easing demand. The Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its Russia-led allies, collectively known as OPEC-plus, said Thursday they would boost production by…

The environment for North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) final investment decisions is looking brighter in 2022, with buyer interest in long-term contracts on the rise amid record-high spot prices. While the Covid-19 pandemic caused global demand to soften and resulted in project delays in 2020 and 2021, a handful of North American projects are…

Global oil demand in 2022 is gathering pace to exceed pre-pandemic levels, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Monday. In its Monthly Oil Market Report, the cartel said the Covid-19 Delta variant put a crimp in forecasts for the second half of 2021. However, economic growth worldwide in 2021 and 2022 remains…

Citgo Petroleum Corp. shut down a key component of its Corpus Christi, TX, refinery following an oxygen supply disruption from a vendor because of increased demand from the medical industry. In a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) last Thursday (Sept. 2), Citgo said it shut down the Sulfur Recovery Unit B-Train…

The Texas oil and natural gas industry through July had seen a continued uptick in job growth, particularly in the Houston area, but the deadly Delta variant of Covid-19 poses near-term threats. An employment analysis of the upstream sector by the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) showed a net increase of 1,500…

The economic impact of the Covid-19 Delta variant already threatens demand for oil and could dampen consumption of U.S. natural gas, particularly exports to Asia, if new restrictions imposed to slow the virus’ spread in China drag deep into 2021. In the United States, overall case totals and hospitalizations remain lower than the highs reached…