The WTI prompt-month contract rose $0.66 to $59.85/Bbl on Friday morning (7:45 AM CT)
Crude futures are higher as traders weigh renewed tensions in the Middle East
The New York Times reported that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Trump to delay plans for a potential strike on Iran
This reduces the near-term likelihood of a US response to violent protests in Iran, which could have threatened production or shipping flows
However, the US is increasing its military presence in the region, according to Fox News
Despite recent volatility, crude is on track to end the week with a small gain after last week’s rally on fears of a US-Iran confrontation
Harold Hamm to pause Bakken drilling (Bloomberg)
Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm is preparing to suspend drilling activity in North Dakota’s Bakken, marking a rare pullback after decades of continuous development
According to BloombergNEF data, most Bakken wells require roughly $58/Bbl to break even and produce a small return, leaving current prices too low to justify new drilling
Natural gas heads for another weekly loss
The February contract is currently down about 8c this week, although briefly traded as high as $3.50/MMbtu
Weather forecasts cooled again overnight, with Lower-48 population-weighted average temperatures forecast to remain below the ten-year average for the next two weeks
Dry gas production has fallen to new year-to-date low of 108 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P
LNG feedgas demand has recovered to more than 20 Bcf/d, after falling to 17.44 Bcf/d earlier this week
LNG continues to displace Russian gas in Europe (NGI)
Europe’s pipeline imports of Russian gas continued to fall last year, as volumes of US LNG increased
Data from Kpler showed LNG imports into Europe hit a new record in 2025, with 57% of cargoes coming from the US
The EU has made moves to permanently ban the import of Russian gas by 2027, which should support continued exports from the US to Europe
While Europe will seemingly remain reliant on LNG, most global demand growth is concentrated in Asia
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