Brent oil blew past US$65 ($86.37) a barrel as a cold blast that’s taken out almost 40% of US crude production morphed into a global supply shock.
Futures in London jumped as much as 1.8% at the open after closing at the highest in almost 13 months. The global crude benchmark last traded above US$65 on Jan 21, 2020, before Covid-19 wreaked havoc on energy markets.
More than 4 million barrels a day of US oil output is now offline, according to traders and executives, amid an unprecedented cold snap that’s frozen well operations and led to widespread power cuts. A spate of refinery outages has curbed demand for crude in the country, however, while gasoline consumption is also down as the icy conditions keep many Americans off the roads.
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