Mid-Week Review – July 14, 2021

Oil prices drop after Saudi-UAE reach output compromise

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday after Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had reached a compromise over a global supply deal that will allow the UAE to boost its output. The deal between the two Gulf producers means that members of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia, and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, will be able to extend a deal to curb output until the end of 2022, the sources said.

Gas prices hit a record $3.15 a gallon amid oil price surge

Americans are paying an average of $3.15 per gallon for gas — the most in seven years — as the economy reopens and people hit the road in droves. At $3.147 a gallon, the average national price of regular unleaded gasoline is now nearly $1 higher than where it was this time last year, according to data from the American Automobile Association.

Oil Prices Loom Over Biden Bid to Pare Drilling Rights Sales

The Biden administration is preparing to release a blueprint for limiting sales of U.S. drilling rights that fall short of the outright ban sought by some environmentalists, as rising oil and gasoline prices highlight the risks of curtailing domestic crude production. A draft of the leasing report has already been shared with the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy and is set to be released within weeks by the Interior Department, according to three people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named before the formal announcement.

The first hurricane of 2021 came early. It could be a sign of what’s to come

When Elsa reached sustained winds of 85 mph last week, it became the strongest July storm in the Caribbean Sea since Hurricane Emily in 2005. Four days later, it would brush past the Tampa Bay coastline, dumping plenty of rain, but leaving the region mostly unscathed. It was a hurricane that formed far earlier than forecasters anticipated, even during what is expected to be an above average Atlantic hurricane season. After last year’s record-breaking season with 30 named storms, are earlier storms the new normal?