Iran

Following an Iranian attack on U.S. forces stationed in Iraq late Tuesday further ratcheted up tensions, natural gas and oil pipeline operators across the United States are on guard against potential threats, including from cybersecurity efforts.

Fears of escalation in the Middle East following a U.S. attack in Iraq early Friday, which killed a high ranking Iranian military leader, could support a sustained move higher for crude oil prices, which jumped 4% on Friday.

Some oil-linked liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices were poised to increase after a U.S. airstrike in Iraq killed a top Iranian general and sent crude prices higher on Friday.

After a sharp retreat down to the $40/bbl range in 2018, Brent crude oil prices are back above $60, and two key dates this spring could provide the momentum to drive prices even higher than currently forecast.

The failure to reach an agreement to freeze global oil production by the Middle Eastern-led oil cartel may play to the market fundamentals, but it also could lead to more U.S. bankruptcies as oil prices continue to decline, industry experts said Monday.

The failure to reach an agreement to freeze global oil production by the Middle Eastern-led oil cartel may play to the market fundamentals, but it also could lead to more U.S. bankruptcies as oil prices continue to decline, industry experts said Monday.

Global oil demand flipped from a five-year high in the third quarter at 2.1 million b/d to a one-year low in the fourth quarter of 1.0 million b/d, which does not bode well as new Iranian output overcomes declines in U.S. production, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Tuesday.

The United States could produce 5 million b/d from shale oil deposits by 2017 and may become the world’s largest oil producer — reaching up to 16 million b/d in just a few years by combining shale with conventional oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and biofuels, according to a researcher at Harvard Kennedy School.

The boom in shale gas and the increased use of natural gas will solve some, but not all, of the world’s problems with energy use, according to an essay, one of two articles on the world impact of shale gas in a recent issue of the British weekly news magazine, The Economist.