Natural gas prices also had an impact on November's power prices. At the Houston Ship Channel, spot gas this November has averaged $4.788/MMBtu, down from October's $5.29/MMBtu but up from November 2020's $2.597/MMBtu.

Texas’s freewheeling electricity sector has flaws that were exposed during the deep freeze.

The unusually cold temperatures caused life-threatening blackouts that left millions of Texans without power for days. And although residents of that state suffered the brunt of the energy crisis, the repercussions spread across the country.

That brings the total shortfall to nearly $2.5 billion, according to a market notice.

The conflagration erupted late last month, the largest wildfire in Lone Star State history. The fire was largely contained as of yesterday afternoon.

TX politicians are not the only ones promoting crypto-currency mining. Many tech companies are excited by TX’s energy capabilities.

Brent crude futures were at $71.00 a barrel, up 38 cents, or 0.5%, from their last close by 0624 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $61.73 per barrel, up 7 cents, or 0.1%, from their previous settlement.

Brent crude oil futures were at $69.94 per barrel, 6 cents, or 0.1 percent, above their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $61.56 per barrel at 0057 GMT on Wednesday, 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, above their last settlement.

Brent crude oil futures trading at $69.34 per barrel, down $1.51, or 2.1 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $60.57 per barrel at 0646 GMT on Monday, down $1.37 per barrel, or 2.2 percent, from their last settlement.

Brent crude oil futures were at $71.47 per barrel, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 76 cents at $62.84 per barrel.

REUTERS - International Brent crude futures were at $66.41 per barrel, down 4 cents from their last close, though still not far off their 2019 high of $66.83 per barrel, hit on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures hit 2019 highs of $56.39 per barrel on Wednesday but had slipped back to $56.16 per barrel by 0746 GMT, which was slightly above their last settlement.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $52.09 per barrel at 0347 GMT, down 63 cents, or 1.2 percent, from their last settlement. International Brent crude oil futures were down 49 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $61.61 a barrel.

Brent crude oil futures rose to a high for the month of $47.67 a barrel on Monday before dipping back to $47.10 per barrel at 0943 GMT, up 13 cents from their last settlement, and 11.3 percent above the last close in July. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose to a high of $45.15 a barrel before dipping to $44.63 a barrel, still up 14 cents from their last close. WTI has gained more than 7 percent in August.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $62.10 a barrel at 0407 GMT, up 6 cents, or 0.1 percent. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $65.58 per barrel, up 9 cents, or 0.1 percent, from their previous close.

REUTERS - Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $72.07 per barrel at 0659 GMT, up 49 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 49 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $67.01 a barrel.

EIA forecasts Brent crude oil prices to average $55/b in 2017 and $57/b in 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are forecast to average about $1/b less than Brent prices in 2017. The NYMEX contract values for April 2017 delivery traded during the five-day period ending February 2 suggest that a range from $45/b to $65/b encompasses the market expectation of WTI prices in April 2017 at the 95% confidence level.

Industrial production declined 0.9 percent in August following six consecutive monthly gains. Hurricane Harvey, which hit the Gulf Coast of Texas in late August, is estimated to have reduced the rate of change in total output by roughly 3/4 percentage point. The index for manufacturing decreased 0.3 percent; storm-related effects appear to have reduced the rate of change in factory output in August about 3/4 percentage point. The manufacturing industries with the largest estimated storm-related effects were petroleum refining, organic chemicals, and plastics materials and resins.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $49.39 per barrel at 1028 GMT, down $1.49 from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude Clc1 was down $1.27 at $47.25 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were trading at $48.35 per barrel at 0737 GMT (3:37 a.m. ET), flat from their last close, but over 15 percent higher than the $41.51 low for the month on Aug. 2. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at $45.76 a barrel, up 2 cents from its previous close, and still over 16 percent above its $39.19 monthly low from Aug. 3.

The global benchmark, Brent, gained 1.15% to reach $50.21 a barrel. Its U.S. counterpart, West Texas Intermediate, was trading up 1.13% at $49.17 a barrel.