U.S. oil futures jump more than 7% to the highest level in more than 10 years
Oil futures climbed on Friday, with U.S. prices ending at their highest in more than 13 years, as Russia's...
Oil futures climbed on Friday, with U.S. prices ending at their highest in more than 13 years, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Western nations' sanctions on Moscow in retaliation, threaten to disrupt global crude supplies. Oil prices have been "a one-way market, but the potential return of Iranian crude supplies could provide much relief to this very tight market," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. News reports said Iran and world powers were close to an agreement to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, which is expected to lead the U.S. to lift sanctions on Tehran, allowing more oil to flow into the global market.
West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery CLJ22, +6.81% rose $8.01, or 7.4%, to settle at $115.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the highest front-month finish since September 2008, according to Dow Jones Market Data. For the week, prices rose 26.3%, the largest percentage climb since the week ending April 3, 2020.
Oil rig count suffers first weekly decline since January
U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil rigs even as Russia's invasion of Ukraine drove crude prices to their highest since 2008.
U.S. oil rigs fell three to 519 in the week to March 4, their first weekly decline since January, while gas rigs rose three to 130, their highest since December 2019, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday.
Most of the decline in oil rigs was in the Woodford shale in Oklahoma, which offset an increase in the largest U.S. oilfield in the Permian Basin, the data showed. The Ardmore Woodford fell to no activity with the loss of its only rig while the Arkoma Woodford declined by one, leaving two active rigs. The Cana Woodford was unchanged at 28 rigs.
U.S. natgas rises to 1-month high on soaring global energy prices
Reuters - U.S. natural gas futures gained about 6% to a one-month high on Friday as...
Reuters - U.S. natural gas futures gained about 6% to a one-month high on Friday as the U.S. market continued to follow massive price swings in global gas and oil trading with the Russia-Ukraine conflict stoking energy supply concerns.
Front-month gas futures rose 29.4 cents, or 6.2%, to settle at $5.016 per million British thermal units (mmBtu),their highest close since Feb. 2.
That put the contract up about 12% this week, the first time it rose for three weeks in a row since October 2021.
U.S. stocks end sharply lower as Russia expands its war in Ukraine
The Dow finished nearly 200 points lower Friday, capping another rough week on Wall Street as...
The Dow finished nearly 200 points lower Friday, capping another rough week on Wall Street as Russia expanded its war in Ukraine to the nation's south and ignited a fire Friday at Europe's largest nuclear power plant. The blaze now has been extinguished, but not before it sparked fears that an intensifying conflict in Eastern Europe could reach beyond Ukraine's borders. The Dow Jones Industrial AverageDJIA shed 0.5% on Friday, but lost 1.3% for the week, ending near 33,610, while booking four straight weeks of declines, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 indexSPX, -0.79% shed 0.8% Friday and 1.3% for the week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -1.66% tumbled 1.7% Friday and lost 2.8% for the week, its worst weekly percentage decline in about six weeks.
