Drilling rigs in the Permian
Sustained low oil prices could kill production for years
Modest downward revisions to 2025 supply belie the longer-term damage to E&P from a weaker oil market
For some time now, $70–80/bl oil has been considered the oil market sweet spot—a price high enough for companies to continue pumping and thriving while being low enough not to damage consumers. The current trade war has prompted the North Sea benchmark Brent to fall to the low $60/bl region and the US marker WTI to around $60/bl, which is leading to a worrying reveal: that the so-called ‘goldilocks’ price was in actual fact more a minimum viable product. It has been OPEC’s mantra for years: oil price stability is needed to encourage continued investment in E&P and maintain a healthy industry. But with the group having lost patience, and Trump’s approach to trade creating fresh volatility
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17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
