West Texas Intermediate extended its slump into a bear market amid speculation that rising global oil supplies will be more than enough to meet slowing demand. London’s Brent traded at the lowest price since December 2010.

Texas Shale Boom Could Be Nation’s Biggest Ever

EIA - Brent crude oil prices averaged $54/b in 2017 and are forecast to average $60/b in 2018 and $61/b in 2019. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil spot prices are forecast to average $4/b less than Brent prices in both 2018 and 2019. EIA’s forecast for the average WTI price for December 2018 of $58/b should be considered in the context of NYMEX contract values for December 2018 delivery. NYMEX contract values traded during the five-day period ending January 4 suggest that a range of $40/b to $85/b encompasses the market expectation for WTI prices in December 2018 at the 95% confidence level.

REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $60.50 a barrel at 1017 GMT, up 13 cents from their last close, though still not far off the $60.74 reached on the previous day that was the highest since June 2015. Brent crude futures LCOc1 - the international benchmark for oil prices - were at $66.74 a barrel, up 17 cents but still trailing Tuesday’s high of $67.29 that was the most since May 2015.

Front-month Brent crude futures were at $60.96 at 0844 GMT, down $1.03 or 1.7% below Friday’s close. Prices had dropped by more than 3% on Friday, with May recording the biggest monthly loss in six months. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $52.98 per barrel, down 52 cents, or 1%.

The US drilling rig count plunged 90 units—a majority of which were in Texas—to settle at 1,543 rigs working during the week ended Jan. 30, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

REUTERS - Brent futures LCOc1 hit a two-month low early in the day’s session, but the benchmark settled at $62.72 a barrel, up 13 cents or 0.2 percent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 closed 10 cents, or 0.2 percent, lower at $59.19 a barrel.

REUTERS - Brent was down 68 cents, or 1 percent, at $67.91 a barrel at 0344 GMT, after falling 1.5 percent on Friday. Brent’s weekly drop was 2.75 percent last week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declined 72 cents to $64.73 a barrel, after dropping 0.5 percent in the previous session. WTI fell by 1 percent during the last week.

Enter the Distribution Fault Anticipation, or DFA for short. Developed by a team of researchers at Texas A&M, the DFA is a suite of technology designed to monitor grid systems and identify potential problems before they happen. More specifically, it’s a distributed computing system that works autonomously to give operators a non-stop picture of the condition of each circuit.

Front-month Brent crude futures were at $62.56 at 0707 GMT, up 27 cents, or 0.4%, from Monday’s close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $53.75 per barrel, 49 cents, or 0.9%, above their last settlement.

Front-month Brent crude futures were at $62.56 at 0707 GMT, up 27 cents, or 0.4%, from Monday’s close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $53.75 per barrel, 49 cents, or 0.9%, above their last settlement.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 7.7% since last Friday’s close, the biggest weekly rise since January. The front-month November contract was at $64.88 a barrel, up 48 cents, by 1113 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 rose 59 cents to $58.72 a barrel, set to post a gain of over 7% for the week.

Front-month Brent crude futures were at $69.53 a barrel at 0641 GMT, down 58 cents, or 0.8%, from last session’s close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $58.46 per barrel, down 70 cents, or 1.2%, from their last settlement.

BLOOMBERG - Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a Texas judge that Exxon Mobil Corp. doesn’t have a right to see privileged documents related to a $2 million fine assessed against the energy company for violating sanctions related to Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine.

REUTERS - West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil futures for April delivery fell 3 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $61.16 a barrel at 0354 GMT, after settling up 23 cents on Thursday. WTI is set to fall 1.4 percent this week, reversing the previous week’s 1.3 percent gain. Brent crude futures trading in London fell 7 cents to $65.05 a barrel after settling up 23 cents. Brent is down 0.7 percent for the week.

Front-month Brent crude futures were at $60.96 at 0844 GMT, down $1.03 or 1.7% below Friday’s close. Prices had dropped by more than 3% on Friday, with May recording the biggest monthly loss in six months. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $52.98 per barrel, down 52 cents, or 1%.

The power supply collapse in Texas was caused by extreme and aberrant cold weather, freezing the electric generators. The system wasn’t designed to withstand what occurred -- and what may occur elsewhere in a time of new and terrifying instability in the world’s weather systems.