OPEC+ is expected to stay with a planned output pause as the group meets this weekend
Saudi Arabia and its allies have been rapidly reviving production for most of 2025
The cartel will hold a monthly video conference on January 4 to review its decision – first made in November – to halt further supply hikes during 1Q 2026 (Bloomberg)
AEGIS notes that OPEC+ will meet amid an oil market that is well oversupplied
A US blockade on Venezuela is forcing the South American country to start shutting wells (BBG)
Petroleos de Venezuela SA began shuttering wells on December 28 as the company’s storage fills up
PDVSA aims to reduce Orinoco Belt production by at least 25% to 500 MBbl/d – a 15% cut of Venezuela’s total output of 1.1 MMBbl/d
AEGIS notes that oil prices have been lifted from geopolitics involving Venezuela and Russia-Ukraine
Trump’s actions in Venezuela have been heating up as the administration targets the drug trade
CNN reported Monday night that earlier this month the CIA carried out a drone attack on a dock along the Venezuelan coast that US authorities pegged as tied to the gang Tren de Aragua
February natural gas trades higher as prices rebound
Yesterday, the January contract settled at a three-week high of $4.69/MMbtu, with February the new active contract, trading at $4.14/MMbtu this morning (8:10 AM)
The chart above shows the change in the rolling prompt month
Lower-48 population weighted temperatures are forecast to be near the ten-year average for the next two weeks.
Dry gas production fell below 109 Bcf/d for the first time in about two weeks, with output at 108.16 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P
US gas inventories fall below the five-year average
The EIA reported a withdrawal of -166 Bcf yesterday, which dropped inventories below the five-year average for the first time since last spring
Regionally, the Midwest and East regions are now at a seasonal five-year low, while storage levels in the South Central remain relatively elevated
Another inventory report will be released on Wednesday, for the period ending December 26, although it should be much smaller than yesterday’s report due to warmer temperatures last week
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