Shipowner costs intensify: oil prices rise to seven-year high!

Currently, the price of natural gas in Europe, equivalent to $200 per barrel of crude oil, is pushing more power producers to switch to oil
.
The conversion of natural gas to oil helped crude prices rise by about 4%
last week.
Brent crude closed at $82.
39 a barrel on Friday after hitting a three-year high of $83.
47 earlier this week, while U.
S.
benchmark WTI closed the week at $79.
35, near its highest level
since October 2014.

As the economy recovers from the pandemic, a rebound in demand, ongoing supply issues in the Gulf of Mexico and OPEC+'s decision this week to continue modestly increasing production all help ensure that markets remain tight
in the coming weeks.
In addition, soaring natural gas prices are increasing demand for crude oil, prompting investment banks (ANZ) to raise their oil demand forecast for the fourth quarter of 2021 by 450,000 b/d
.
Over the past few weeks, concerns that Europe does not have enough natural gas for the winter heating season and high demand for the fuel in Asia have pushed global prices to record highs
.
U.
S.
prices followed suit, reaching their highest level since 2008 this week on expectations that competition between Europe and Asia will maintain strong demand
for U.
S.
liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
But global prices fell
later this week after Russia said it would supply more gas to Europe.

The price hike had little impact on U.
S.
drilling companies, which added rigs for the fifth week in a row, but remained well below their peak
.
Energy services company Baker Hughes said Friday in its closely watched report that the total number of oil and gas rigs increased by five to 533, the highest level
since April 2020, energy services company Baker Hughes said in a closely watched report.
According to Baker Hughes 1988 data, although the total number of rigs increased by 264, or 98%, from the same period last year, the average annual rig count peaked at 1,919 in 2012 and reached an all-time low
of 433 in 2020.
American investment bank Piper ? Sandler predicted this week that the number of rigs will increase from 436 in 2020 to an average of 472 in 2021 and 599 in 2022
.