Israeli Surprise Strike on Qatar Sends Oil Prices Higher

OPEC+ pulled off a deft bit of expectations management—letting chatter build around a large output hike, then delivering far less. Even with an extra ~137,000 b/d coming from the group, Brent has rebounded to around $66.50/bbl, and it briefly jumped above $67 after reports of a surprise Israeli strike on Hamas targets in Qatar. Near-term upside risk also lingers if President Trump follows through on renewed talk of Russia sanctions.

Despite initial speculation that eight OPEC+ members could bring as much as 550,000 b/d of production back in October, the oil group agreed to raise collective output by ‘only’ 137,000 b/d to regain market share, OilPrice.com reports.

Saudi national oil company Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) has reacted to the OPEC+ decision by cutting the official selling price for October-loading cargoes headed to Asia by $1 per barrel, dropping it to a $2.20 per barrel premium vs Oman/Dubai.

Underwhelming US labor data from last week’s nonfarm payroll data helped push gold prices above $3,600 per ounce for the first time in history, with traders now seeing an almost 90% probability of a quarter-point Fed rate cut in September.

Nigeria’s main oil and gas union Nupeng, has called for a nationwide strike starting September 8 over the 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery’s policy of banning its workers from unionizing, jeopardizing West African fuel supply.

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) hired energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie to assess the $44 billion Alaska LNG project promoted by US President Trump, adding to worries about its profitability.

US oil major ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) has publicly criticized Europe’s ‘high-regulation, high-cost’ emission policies, saying the ongoing industrialization is hurting EU economies as the oil major seeks to sell its chemicals business on the Old Continent.

The Beijing-Moscow energy axis has been booming since last week’s SCO summit in China, with Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom, Rosneft and Rosatom all moving ahead with sales of yuan-denominated ‘panda’ bonds.

Canadian pipeline operator Trans Mountain expects by early 2027 ships taking crude at TMX’s Westridge terminal would be finally able to load 100% of an Aframax tanker once ongoing dredging works finish, with capacity currently capped at 550,000 barrels.

US copper giant Freeport-McMoran (NYSE:FCX) halted mining operations at Indonesia’s Grasberg mine, the second-largest copper mine in the world, after mudslides blocked access to parts of the underground infrastructure.

India’s power grid authority has revoked grid access for almost 17 GW of renewable energy projects in order to prioritize smooth connectivity of other generation capacity that’s operational or nearing completion soon.

Russia’s gas giant Gazprom claimed to have clinched a deal to increase gas flows to Kazakhstan in 2025-2026, seeking to offset list volumes to Europe; however, the Kazakh side played it down by saying there were only discussions on potential cooperation.

London-headquartered mining giant Anglo American (LON:AAL) announced that it has agreed to merge with Canada’s copper miner Teck Resources (TSO:TECK), creating a new entity Anglo Teck with the former owning 62.4%.

Malaysia’s largest LNG export facility, the 29.3 mtpa Bintulu terminal located in the state of Sarawak, was placed under heightened security measures after it received threats to ‘burn it down’.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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