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Oil Holds Gains Amid Geopolitical Tensions; Gas Dips as Output Remains Weak

September 24, 2025 | Narciso Cano

Oil holds weekly gain as Russian tensions escalate
- The WTI prompt-month contract rose $0.99 to $64.40/Bbl Wednesday morning (7:45 AM CT)
- At the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump urged NATO nations to shoot down Russian aircraft violating their airspace and expressed greater optimism about Ukraine’s prospects in the war
  - Trump escalated his criticism of Moscow, stating “China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil”
  - He added, “inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products”
- Bloomberg reported that Russia is considering restrictions on diesel exports following Ukrainian drone strikes on its oil refineries
  - The proposed curbs would mainly affect companies that purchase diesel domestically and then ship it abroad
  - Any disruption to diesel exports could heighten uncertainty for global buyers already contending with volatile prices and tighter supplies
- The API estimated US crude inventories fell 3.8 MMBbls last week, with official government data due later on Wednesday

Regional Market Insights

Updated regularly with the most important market moves and outlooks.

Haynesville Appalachian Permian Rockies

Natural gas is trading lower, reversing gains from yesterday
- Lower-48 average temperatures are forecast to decline over the next two weeks, while remaining near the ten-year average, keeping gas demand limited
- Production is still down amid pipeline maintenance, with output at 105.7 Bcf/d
FERC approves 400 MMcf/d Rover Pipeline expansion (S&P)
- Federal regulators have approved Rover Pipelines application to expand capacity in Pennsylvania by 400 MMcf/d
- Developers said, “The proposed project will provide Rover’s existing customers with an additional outlet for existing or future gas supplies and utilize unsubscribed Rover capacity,”
- Construction is expected to finish in the second quarter of 2026

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