Way back in March, a veritable eternity ago if you measure by the daily news cycle, Oilprice reported that high oil prices were coming down the pike, and while oil execs celebrated their long, painful comeback, consumers would be the ones to pay the price at the pumps. And now, at long last, that prophecy is coming to pass in full force.

Oil prices fell for a third day in a row early on Thursday as uncertainty coming from the OPEC+ deadlock and fears of COVID variants spreading fast weighed on the market.

U.S. shale oil producers have suffered billions in losses from hedging their output at lower than current prices, the Financial Times reported today, citing data from IHS Markit.

After seven consecutive weeks of gains, oil prices have gone into reverse gear once again, thanks mainly to the latest OPEC+ spat that left everyone wondering what to expect next. Major cracks appeared in the ministerial meeting with the United Arab Emirates continuing to block an agreement because it wants to increase its oil production b​efore demand falls as per WSJ. The market fears that the UAE might "want out of OPEC so it can pump 4M bbl/day and make hay while the sun shines," Phil Flynn, market analyst at Price Futures Group, has told MarketWatch.

Crude oil prices rose higher today after the Energy Information Administration reported an inventory draw of 6.9 million barrels for the week to July 2.

Oil prices continued falling early on Wednesday, following the sharp losses incurred the previous day after the market started to assess what the OPEC+ deadlock would mean for immediate oil supply, supply-demand balances, and the future of the alliance.

As oil prices have rallied more than 40 percent this year, analysts and institutional investors have grown increasingly bullish on oil stocks, which, many believe, are still undervalued and primed for further upside.

Saudi Aramco has raised the August official selling prices of crude to Asia, as the oil market tightens, sparking fears of another oil price war and prompting the Biden administration to call on OPEC to settle its internal differences and start bringing more oil to markets, Bloomberg has reported, citing administration insiders.

The U.S. benchmark oil price WTI Crude hit its highest level since November 2014 early on Tuesday, after OPEC+ on Monday called off its third attempt to reach an agreement over oil policy management for the coming months.

Nearly a week of formal and side talks and behind-the-scenes negotiations failed to resolve a dispute over baseline production levels at OPEC+. The discord threw the group in its most serious crisis since March 2020, when the alliance’s leaders Saudi Arabia and Russia disagreed on oil supply management with global demand crumbling in the pandemic.
Now the dispute is between two Arab Gulf allies in OPEC—the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia—in what analysts see as the UAE looking to step out of the Saudi shadow in global political affairs.

Argentina is working to boost its oil production as well as investing in shale as the Latin American oil and gas giant continues to focus on traditional energy.

OPEC+ is set to resume talks today following a day of digging in by the UAE, which opposes as “unfair” the latest production control proposal to extend the cuts until the end of 2022 without baseline adjustments, and a Saudi challenge on Monday morning.