Beijing’s moves bought it sway in Venezuela—all of it now subject to the Trump administration’s preferences in the wake of Maduro’s ouster.

Trump’s fixation on hiking oil volumes from OPEC and Venezuela to lower prices at the pump is leaving U.S. oil producers annoyed with weak domestic pricing and drilling activity.

The International Energy Agency has raised its 2026 global oil demand growth forecast to 930,000 barrels per day, citing lower prices, an economic normalization after 2025 tariff chaos, and a recovery in petrochemicals.

An improved economic outlook and lower crude prices drove the decision, but the agency warned that supply is still expected to outpace consumption.

By Robert Harvey LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The global oil market will be in deep surplus in the first quarter of 2026, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday, as so far excess supplies have offset the geopolitical risk of disruption.

The oil-rich country is starting to emerge from years of economic devastation. It sits atop of one of the world’s largest petroleum reserves. And Big Oil is ready to take on the investment risk. Sound familiar?

Oil futures settled higher in choppy rangebound trade, helped by rising winter fuel demand and easing tensions between the U.S. and Europe over Greenland.

Consumers could continue to see lower gas prices if oil prices decrease in the new year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is projecting lower oil prices in the first quarter of 2026, though some industry experts are anticipating prices to rise ...

Created 50 years ago in the wake of the 1972 OPEC oil embargo, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve exists today in a very different world. Some analysts are asking how it can be utilized more strategically in this energy landscape.