Oil price news

European gas prices fell to near seven-week lows on the afternoon of Friday 17th April 2026, on news the Strait of Hormuz would be fully open to commercial shipping, but traders and analysts remained cautious, according to Montel.

Wood Mackenzie report that prolonged disruption to Middle East energy supplies could accelerate a structural shift in global energy systems, halving oil and gas import dependence by 2050 and reducing oil demand by 20% and gas demand by 10% relative to the base case.

The European bellwether front-month gas contract on the Dutch TTF hub initially dropped to EUR 42.50/MWh on Ice Endex this morning, its lowest since 2 March, before recovering slightly to EUR 43.46/MWh, at the time of writing.

War in the Middle East has triggered severe global supply disruptions in oil and gas, with reported damage and shutdowns affecting liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains, refineries, fuel terminals and critical gas-to-liquids facilities across the region.

Rystad Energy analysis shows that in a worst-case scenario, Middle East crude output could fall to approximately 6 million bpd, a region-wide reduction of 70% from the pre-conflict baseline.

Rystad Energy’s oil market update from Janiv Shah, Vice President, Oil Markets.

Oil price surge above US$115 signals escalation from logistics shock to supply disruption in energy markets, says GlobalData.

Nearly all 2030 targets now unattainable despite historic coal phaseout; offshore wind deployment trails by 20% as government races to address grid bottlenecks and spiralling costs.

Petrobras announces that, in 2025, its oil production reached 2.40 million bpd, exceeding the upper limit of the target (+4%) set in its 2025 - 2029 Business Plan by 0.5 percentage points.

Michael Weidenfeller, Product Strategy Manager for Drilling and Mobile Power Applications, Caterpillar Oil & Gas, highlights how fuel-flexible dual-fuel engine technology is an important and reliable solution to reduce diesel consumption on oil and gas rigs.