Oil

Oil prices were in steady in volatile trading on Friday after hitting 2016 peaks, but were on track to multi-week gains on expectations of a production freeze by major exporters and stronger U.S. fuel demand.

U.S. crude hit 2016 highs on Thursday as oil markets rallied for a second straight day on optimism major producers will strike an output freeze deal in Qatar next month amid soaring gasoline demand in the United States.

Natural gas is on pace to overtake coal as the most popular fuel for electricity generation, another sign of coal’s struggles.

Oil prices rose about 4 percent on Wednesday, resuming their rally from a two-day slide, after major oil producers firmed up plans to meet in Qatar to discuss an output freeze and as U.S. crude stockpiles grew less than expected and gasoline demand soared.

The Obama administration said Tuesday it will not open up drilling on the southeastern Atlantic coast due to current oil market dynamics and strong local opposition.

Oil prices fell for a second day on Tuesday, as concerns emerged that a six-week rally may have fizzled after OPEC doused hopes for a speedy erosion of a global overhang of unwanted crude.

OPEC on Monday predicted global demand for its crude oil will be less than previously thought in 2016 as supply from rivals proves more resilient to low prices, increasing the excess supply on the market this year.

Global oil prices fell as much as 4 percent on Monday on concerns a six-week market recovery has gone beyond fundamentals, as U.S. crude stockpiles continue to mount and Iran maintains little interest in a global production freeze.

Oil rose up to 2 percent on Friday, with U.S. crude gaining for a fourth straight week, after the world's energy watchdog said the market may have hit bottom, although Goldman Sachs said the 50 percent rally in under two months was "premature."

Oil prices might have bottomed as output in the United States and other non-OPEC producers is beginning to fall quickly and an increase in supply from Iran has been less than dramatic, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.

U.S. crude slipped more than 1% on Thursday, after hitting three-month highs this week, with analysts warning that larger gains would be unwarranted as refineries enter seasonal maintenance and a global glut weighs.

The Fed-induced energy bubble is bursting, a bubble that helped mask weaknesses in the economic recovery.

Despite there being a bigger surplus in 2012 to 2013, the price of oil back then did not plunge as much or as fast as it has since the summer. What gives?

Deflation may be public enemy #1 for the Federal Reserve.       

Betting the Federal Reserve’s stimulus slingshot will come back to hit us all in the head with hyperinflation anytime soon will make you broke.

After seven years in limbo, TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline was axed by the Obama administration, a move that quickly drew the ire of the GOP’s presidential candidates.

The Obama administration on Friday unveiled its first major standards for oil companies that frack on federal lands, including beefed-up safety measures to protect groundwater, prompting industry complaints they will be a barrier to growth.

The ripple effects from the crisis in Ukraine should serve as yet another motivation for Washington to move quickly to make the U.S. energy independent.

TEST

U.S. President Barack Obama will propose a new $10 a barrel fee on oil in his budget plan next week, as the White House seeks to boost the nation's investments in clean transportation projects, the White House said on Thursday.