Laila Kearney

Oil prices fell on Thursday after an unexpected rise in U.S. crude oil inventories and as rising COVID-19 infections threaten demand, but prices held on to most of their gains from the previous session on expectations that supplies will remain tight through year-end.

Northern California regulators on Wednesday directed two of the state’s largest oil refineries to slash their fine particulate air pollution, which will require costly modifications at the plants.

Oil slumped $5 a barrel on Monday, closing out its worst day since March, after an OPEC+ agreement to boost output stoked fears of a surplus just as rising COVID-19 infections once again threaten demand.

Oil prices fell more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday in another seesaw trading session, as investors feared what this week’s collapse in OPEC+ talks meant for worldwide production.

Governments around the world have been slow to take uncomfortable decisions to persuade consumers to cut energy consumption to help achieve climate targets, often because consumers are not ready to pay up or compromise their lifestyles.

The biggest U.S. oil and gas trade association on Thursday released new industry guidelines for energy companies to report greenhouse gas emissions, in a bid to address the sector’s carbon footprint.

Investment to spur the vital role the world’s cities can play in cutting emissions and waste as part of broader climate goals is falling short and still lags subsidies to fossil fuel, energy and environmental experts said at a conference on Wednesday.

A U.S. district court closed a long-running case against the Dakota Access oil pipeline on Tuesday, but allowed for Native American tribes and other opponents of the line to file additional actions against it, court documents showed.

Oil prices steadied on Thursday following two straight days of gains that took oil futures to highs not seen in a year, after weekly U.S. crude stocks fell sharply while fuel inventories rose more than expected.

On U.S. oil patches stretching along the Rockies and Great Plains, trailers hitched to trucks back up toward well pads to capture natural gas and convert it on the spot into electricity.

In Tampa, Florida, a third of the city’s gas stations were out of fuel on Thursday. In Miami, outages stood at nearly 40% and growing as residents rapidly filled up their tanks in response to a temporary shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline.

A Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and Phillips 66 (PSX.N) petrochemical joint venture imported significant quantities of the toxic chemical benzene into the United States for several years without reporting it to regulators as required by law, according to a company document seen by Reuters.

Energy Transfer LP (ET.N) expects to gain roughly $2.4 billion from Winter Storm Uri, which knocked out power and halted the distribution of natural gas in Texas to homes and businesses, company executives on Thursday said.

Oil ended little changed on Wednesday after two days of gains despite a sharp drawdown in U.S. crude stocks, as the market weighs the outlook for demand with coronavirus infections still surging worldwide.

The amount of oil and gas shipped on Phillips 66 Partners LP (PSXP.N) pipelines fell about 6% in the first quarter as winter storms disrupted service and the COVID-19 health crisis continued to hamper fuel demand, company officials said on Friday.

Shell Midstream Partners (SHLX.N) offshore oil pipeline volumes rose by 11% in the three months ended March 31 compared to the previous quarter, but onshore flows continued to struggle from lower demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, company executives said on Friday.

A U.S. appeals court on Friday denied Dakota Access LLC’s petition for a rehearing of a court decision that canceled a key permit for its oil pipeline and ordered an environmental review, court documents show. The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia means the…

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday said it will allow Energy Transfer LP’s (ET.N) Dakota Access oil pipeline to keep running without a federal permit, frustrating activists who wanted the line shut after a key environmental permit was scrapped last year.

Oil futures inched higher on Wednesday on an improving global economic outlook, but gains were capped by rising gasoline inventories and fears that new coronavirus outbreaks will weaken a global recovery in fuel demand.

Oil prices fell about 2% on Wednesday as fresh lockdowns in Europe stoked fuel consumption fears and a pessimistic demand outlook from OPEC and its allies ahead of their meeting to decide on production curbs.