Oil prices surge on Monday

Oil prices extended gains on Monday after rising more than 2 per cent in the previous session, supported by weather-related production disruptions in key US crude-producing regions and lingering geopolitical risks.

Brent crude futures climbed 42 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $66.30 a barrel by 0721 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by the same margin to $61.49 a barrel. Both benchmarks posted weekly gains of 2.7 per cent on Friday, reaching their highest levels since mid-January.

Market sentiment improved as winter storm Fern forced shut-ins across major oil and gas-producing areas, tightening physical supply flows and straining the power grid.

Analysts estimate that around 250,000 barrels per day of US crude output has been disrupted, including declines in parts of Texas and the Bakken region. At the same time, investors remain cautious amid heightened geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran, which have added a risk premium to prices despite expectations of ample global supply in 2026.

Separately, Kazakhstan’s Caspian Pipeline Consortium said it had restored full loading capacity at its Black Sea terminal after completing maintenance work.

Attribution: Reuters