Crude oil prices strengthened further this week after OPEC+ signaled its growing optimism about the balance between demand and supply, and confirmed that it planned to continue increasing production.

Oil demand is recovering faster than previously expected, and unless OPEC+ puts additional barrels on the market on top of the plans to restore 2 million barrels per day (bpd) by July, oil prices will be heading higher as the gap will widen, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, told Bloomberg Television in an interview on Tuesday.

It’s a tough time being in the oil and gas business. Big Oil has lately come under a plethora of attacks from all directions, ranging from uncooperative financiers and investors amidst a global shift to renewable energy to hostile governments and hardline climate activists.

Iran can boost its crude oil production to as much as 6.5 million barrels per day (bpd) when the U.S. sanctions on its oil industry are lifted, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying on Monday.

Back in April, we discussed the possibility of president Biden's administration reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and consequently lifting the country's oil sanctions. We surmised that whereas Iran rejoining the ranks of major oil exporters as early as 2021 after a three-year layoff was likely to cause quite a bit of trepidation in the jittery markets, such a move would not necessarily upset the delicate supply balance that OPEC+ has been trying to achieve.

Environmentalists and shareholders concerned about the risks of investing in oil in the energy transition were not the only winners of last week’s historic rebukeof Big Oil by investors and society.

BlackRock does not approve of the requirements of the BP board of directors and hopes that the company can adopt shareholder resolutions on environmental protection in a deeper and faster manner.

The IEA’s shocking call for no new oil and gas exploration on the path to net-zero emissions doesn’t necessarily follow that demand through to its logical end game. A line-up of countries would descend into chaos, creating global instability that would itself threaten the climate by hindering a natural energy transition.

Iran’s Goreh-Jask oil pipeline is due to ship its first crude oil in June, with all construction having finished last week. This pipeline will enable Iran to transport huge quantities of oil from its major oil fields via Goreh in the Shoaybiyeh-ye Gharbi Rural District of Khuzestan Province 1100 kilometres to the port of Jask in Hormozgan province on the Gulf of Oman.

Oil prices have generally been trending higher over the past few months as the demand outlook for the commodity improved amid mass vaccination efforts. This week, however, benchmarks have experienced a rare moment of stability.

Goldman Sachs still expects crude oil to rise to $80 per barrel by the end of the year despite reports about progress on U.S.- Iranian talks about the lifting of sanctions.

Global oil demand is recovering with major economies reopening amid a cautious supply approach from OPEC+ and restraint in U.S. shale, Barclays said on Friday.