Oil Prices Are Once Again on the Brink of $100

Oil prices surge toward $100 as Houthi attacks, U.S. strikes on Iranian tankers and renewed Middle East tensions rattle markets.

Europe's Gas Prices Surge as Storage Fears Return

European natural gas prices have jumped to €75 per MWh ($25.5 per MMBtu), the highest since 2022 and more than double their level a year ago, as the continent's low inventories spark fears of winter supply shocks.

Since the Al Nuaman LNG carrier delivered its cargo to Rovigo, Italy, in early April, the EU has not imported any Qatari LNG, equivalent to 8% of its 2025 imports.

European gas inventories are currently 66% full, with market watchers seeing Germany and the Netherlands as particularly vulnerable ahead of the winter season, with stocks at 54% and 48%, respectively.

Worsening Europe's gas import bill, LNG prices delivered into NWE continue to rise along with Asia's JKM, reaching $24.5 per MMBtu this week, with barely any backwardation between October and December.

Six-month-high prices sap the Old Continent's LNG buying, with September LNG imports expected to remain at August readings (7.5 million tonnes), down 13% year-over-year.

French oil major TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) announced that its planned 6 mtpa Papua LNG project is making 'decisive steps' towards an FID whilst it transferred operatorship to US major ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM).

London-based energy giant Shell (LON:SHEL) is reportedly considering divesting all or part of its 72% stake in the Bintulu gas-to-liquids plant, potentially garnering as much as $1 billion.

Canadian oil producer Tamarack Valley Energy (TSO:TVE) agreed to merge with Headwater Exploration (TSO:HWX) in an all-stock deal worth $7.2 billion, creating the first-ever pure-play Clearwater producer with net output of 80,000 boe/day.

UK oil major BP (NYSE:BP) has appointed lan Tyler as permanent chair, having been appointed interim chair in May 2026 after his predecessor Albert Manifold was abruptly dismissed.

Italian oil major ENI (BIT:ENI) has signed a contract for the development of the giant Junin-5 heavy oil field in Venezuela, taking operatorship for the next 25 years.

Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure (and their threats of potential military incursions) as well as US strikes on Iranian oil tankers have lifted oil prices above $99 per barrel, the highest in three months. With Israeli-Lebanese tensions flaring up again, it would only take one bellicose Trump message to push oil back into triple-digit territory.