Friday, 9 October 2026

Two supply shocks hit crude at once on Thursday, Oct. 8: renewed attacks on commercial vessels in the Middle East and hurricane-driven production halts in the US Gulf of Mexico pushed oil prices up about 5%, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had been recovering before the latest vessel attacks reversed that trend, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

In the US Gulf of Mexico, operators had shut in an estimated 511,619 barrels per day as of Oct. 7, or 25.1% of regional output, according to the US Marine Minerals Administration.

Oil marketers in Nigeria have not made significant changes to petrol prices even as global crude oil prices have fallen, according to Galaxy TV.

Motorists and commuters are pressing for deeper reductions at the pump. Abdulateef Abdullahi urged marketers to cut petrol prices further to ease the hardship facing Nigerians, according to Galaxy TV.

Some movement has reached forecourts. A.A. Rano lowered its pump price in Abuja to NGN 1,420 per litre from NGN 1,450 per litre, according to Newsverge and Galaxy TV.

Marketers point to the timing of their purchases as a constraint. Some members of IPMAN had bought products only a few weeks earlier and would need to manage the resulting losses while staying in business, according to Newsverge and Galaxy TV.

ExxonMobil will begin maintenance on a near-shore section of an offshore pipeline near Crane on Guyana's West Coast Demerara on October 14, according to Investing.com.

The work is scheduled to continue until approximately December 1, Investing.com reported.

ExxonMobil plans to complete the repairs before the startup of Guyana's Gas-to-Energy project to prevent future operational disruptions, according to Investing.com.

Hiring a very large crude carrier to move U.S. oil to Asia cost USD 77 million on Oct. 7, according to data from the Baltic Exchange in London. That compares with an average of USD 9.2 million in 2025.

The price of chartering supertankers has surged to a fresh high, adding costs across the petroleum supply chain.

For a 2 million-barrel cargo, the freight price implies about USD 38.50 a barrel in additional delivery costs.

The Iran war has disrupted the tanker market, changing how oil leaves the Middle East and lengthening transit times.

U.S. commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 3.2 million barrels to 424.1 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 2, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency said inventories ran about 1% above the five-year average for the time of year.

The drop ran counter to market expectations. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected crude stocks to rise by 1.7 million barrels.

The EIA reported that crude inventories fell unexpectedly in the week, with product stocks mixed as refineries increased their capacity use.

Households that heat mainly with oil will see spending rise 21% this winter, the largest increase among heating fuels, according to the EIA's Winter Fuels Outlook released Tuesday.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) attributed the jump to low stocks of diesel and heating oil, which are keeping prices high.

Mark Wolfe, executive director of NEADA, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the average household using heating oil could spend about USD 2,625 this winter. That figure represents an increase of roughly USD 875 over last winter, according to Wolfe.

Hurricane Isaias forced the shut-in of 25.08% of Gulf of Mexico crude oil production and 16.37% of natural gas output, according to mexicobusiness.news.

The Marine Minerals Administration reported that Gulf of Mexico producers had shut in 62.89% of current oil production and 57.35% of current natural gas production.

Crude oil tanker shipping costs rose 40% in a single week, according to Argus Media. The surge pushed rates to just over 43 times their January level, a 4,233% increase, according to Energy Central.

Poten estimated that the elevated rates added USD 33 per barrel in shipping costs, equal to 27% of the delivered cost of the crude being shipped.

The Brent crude oil spot price averaged $114 per barrel in September, according to the EIA. The benchmark reached a high of $131 per barrel on September 15, which the EIA attributed to buyers scrambling to secure near-term supplies after the loss of Saudi exports.

Americans drove almost 2.7% more miles in August 2026 than in the same month in 2019, according to Federal Highway Administration data.

A committee appointed by the Meghalaya High Court has called for a detailed inquiry and accountability over a shortage of 13.02 lakh tonnes of inventoried coal, according to Northeast Today and The Economic Times.

The committee calculated the shortfall at 1,302,456.184 tonnes, the difference between 3,256,715 tonnes originally inventoried and 1,954,258.816 tonnes verified during physical checks by Deputy Commissioners. The panel said there is no dispute over the figure.

The committee, headed by Justice (Retd) BP Katakey, said the Meghalaya state government has not completed legal action on the disappearance of a substantial quantity of seized illegally mined coal from depots.

Bangladesh drilled 32 wells in seven months since the BNP-led government took office, adding nearly 148 million cubic feet per day of gas to the national grid, according to Bangladesh Post.

The country will hold its first overseas roadshow in Singapore to promote an offshore licensing round offering 26 sea blocks to international oil companies, according to The Financial Express.

South African motorists could face a petrol price increase of as much as ZAR4.60 per litre in November, according to preliminary data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) reported by Tuko, a figure that would surpass any single monthly increase recorded this year.

The projection follows a ZAR3.33-per-litre increase for 95 petrol that took effect on 7 October, lifting the September Gauteng price, according to Stocks24.

Tuko reported that global oil prices above USD 100 per barrel and a weakening rand are driving the projected surge.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) warned that the risk of secondary inflation effects is growing as elevated oil prices persist and El Niño adds uncertainty to the outlook.

Valeura Energy has begun offshore work to install a central processing platform at its Wassana oil field redevelopment in the Gulf of Thailand, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

Crews have loaded the platform and its supporting jacket onto vessels bound for the Wassana field, which sits within Block G10/48. Valeura runs the block as operator and holds a 100% interest in it.

First oil from the platform is targeted for around the start of Q2 2027, roughly two months ahead of the original schedule, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Once running, the platform is expected to hit a production plateau near 7,500 barrels of oil per day, per the same report.

A surge in electricity and gas prices has pushed the New Zealand government to treat hydrocarbon exploration as an increasingly important part of its energy response, according to themarketonline.com.au.

One measure is a NZD 200 million Gas Security Fund, which the government has turned to as part of its answer to the country's energy challenges, according to themarketonline.com.au.

The government is also providing NZD 14.5 million for Schlumberger to build the first basin-scale offshore pseudo 3D dataset using seismic technology, with free access for industry for two years to encourage exploration, according to themarketonline.com.au.

A proposed LNG import facility, estimated to cost around NZD 1 billion, would be located in the Taranaki region if it proceeds, according to themarketonline.com.au.