This section is The content in this section is supplied by GlobeNewswire for the purposes of distributing press releases on behalf of its clients. Postmedia has not reviewed the content. by GlobeNewswire Article content
What the supermajors did with the first triple-digit crude in over a year
Sign In or Create an Account
or View more offersArticle content
NEW YORK, Sept. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Oil Market Daily News Commentary – The intuitive response to crude above $100 is to drill. That is not what the largest oil companies in the world did over the past three weeks. With Brent closing at $101.21 on September 9, its highest since May 22, and West Texas Intermediate settling at $96.05, the supermajors spent the run-up trading assets rather than adding rigs: handing off operatorship of a multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas project, swapping acreage, and, in three separate cases, buying deeper into a country most of them spent the last decade writing down. Companies mentioned in today’s commentary include: Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), TotalEnergies SE (NYSE: TTE), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), Eni S.p.A. (NYSE: E), and BP p.l.c. (NYSE: BP).
Article contentWe apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.Article content
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Key Takeaways
Article contentArticle content
- The price move is geopolitical, not geological. Brent gained 3.4% on September 9 to $101.21 and WTI 3.3% to $96.05 as fighting between the United States and Iran escalated in the Persian Gulf. Roughly a fifth of the world’s crude normally transits the Strait of Hormuz.
- Consumers are already paying for it. U.S. gasoline hit a Labor Day record of $4.15 a gallon, and GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis said diesel was expected to reach $6 a gallon for the first time on record within days.
- The banks moved their numbers, but not as far as the tape. Goldman Sachs raised its Brent and WTI forecasts by $5 to $85 and $80 for December 2026, and warned Brent could exceed $120 in 2027 if Gulf output stays four million barrels a day below prewar levels, a scenario it does not treat as its base case.
- Venezuela is the common thread. Three of the five companies below announced Venezuelan expansions inside two weeks, following the U.S. Treasury’s issuance of Venezuela General License 50C on August 27.
- Portfolio surgery beat capital expenditure. The single largest project decision of the period was an operatorship transfer rather than a new build, moving a long-delayed LNG development closer to a final investment decision without either party committing new drilling capital.
Article content
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Why the Majors Are Not Drilling Their Way Out of This
A supply shock caused by a shipping chokepoint cannot be solved by a drill bit, at least not on any timeline that matters to the current price. The barrels at risk are already in production; what is at risk is their ability to reach a buyer. Adding rigs in West Texas does nothing about a tanker that cannot leave the Gulf, and the lag between a spud and first oil is measured in months against a conflict that has repriced the curve in days.
Article content
That leaves the majors with a different question. If the risk premium is durable, where should the portfolio be sitting when it unwinds, and where should it be sitting if it does not? The U.S. Energy Information Administration does not expect Middle East production to return to near pre-conflict levels until early 2027, and has Brent averaging $87 across 2026. A forecast of that shape rewards barrels outside the Gulf, long-dated gas, and any resource that can be acquired rather than found.
Article content
Venezuela fits all three descriptions, which is why the last fortnight looked the way it did.
Article content
Five Companies, Three Weeks
The companies below are referenced solely as market and sector context and as examples of disclosed corporate activity during the period. None is presented as a recommendation, and none is a comparable of any other.