Oil prices climbed this week as unrest in the Middle East escalated.

Veteran climate negotiation observers say the oil industry is starting to sweat as United Nations climate talks heat up and threaten to plug fossil fuel-belching wells for good.

The Saudi Arabia led OPEC announced plans to cut oil production. It’s the third time the group has done so. In April, it cut 1.6 million barrels per day, which came after cutting two million barrels in October 2022.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco is reporting a $42.4 billion profit in the third quarter of this year, buoyed by higher global energy prices that have filled the kingdom’s coffers but helped fuel inflation worldwide.

The Biden administration plans to release 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve to counter recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations.

Houston Newsmakers: Expert explains how the world controls US Gas, oil prices

The leaders of OPEC and its oil-producing allies are sticking with their plan to gradually increase oil production while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rattles markets, reshapes alliances, kills civilians and sends the price of crude skyrocketing.

Major oil-producing countries are adding just a bit more oil to the global economy.

Americans’ overall income has accelerated since the pandemic, but so has inflation — and a new poll finds that far more people are noticing the higher prices than the pay gains.

OPEC and allied oil-producing countries have decided to stick to their plans to boost the amount of oil they pump to the world.

President Joe Biden has ordered the release of 50 million barrels of oil from America’s strategic reserve.

OPEC and allied oil-producing countries have decided to stick with their plan for cautious monthly increases in oil production even as prices surge and the global economy is thirsty for fuel.

Oil prices have jumped after OPEC and allied oil producing countries stayed with their gradual approach to restoring output slashed during the pandemic, agreeing to add only 400,000 barrels per day in November.

While acknowledging the inevitable advance of alternative energy sources and technology, OPEC said that oil will be dominate energy source for decades to come with crude prices reaching three-year highs.

Their goal is to eventually increase production by 2 million barrels a day. That would partially withdraw the 7.7 million barrels a day in production cuts agreed last year. OPEC faces conflicting pressures after last year's plunge in oil prices as the pandemic held back energy use and travel. But pumping too much too soon could undermine the modest rebound in energy prices. The decision Tuesday saw energy prices jump.

VIENNA – OPEC and allied countries including Russia agreed Thursday to increase oil production by 500,000 barrels a day from January and said they would meet monthly to decide further output levels, gingerly adding more crude to a global economy still suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision followed days of wrangling over whether to increase output early next year at all after the pandemic sapped demand for energy and clouded the outlook for the industry. The OPEC members and a group of allies had made deep cuts in production last year to support prices as the pandemic sharply reduced demand for fuel. Oil producing countries face a dilemma: producing more increases their revenues but could send prices lower, especially given still-weak demand and uncertain prospects for the speed and timing of a post-pandemic economic recovery. Energy forecasters around the world, including those employed by OPEC, have been lowering their forecasts about how much oil will be needed.

LONDON – Developing countries' difficulty in containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic will keep a lid on global oil demand, particularly in India, the OPEC cartel said Monday as it cut its forecasts. OPEC cut its estimates for world demand by 400,000 barrels a day for both this year and next. It now sees a drop in demand of 9.5 million barrels a day in 2020 and a rise of 6.6 million barrels in 2021. The price of oil plunged during the initial phase of the pandemic as businesses and transportation ground to a halt around the world. BP says it expects demand for crude oil to peak in the early 2020s.