Oil markets have been on edge this week, with geopolitical risk and market tightness being counterbalanced by continued economic concerns. While prices are on course for a weekly loss, they spiked sharply early on Friday morning following U.S. airstrikes on Syrian territory, OilPrice said.

Oil prices have been relatively rangebound this week, with ICE Brent trending between $88 and $90 per barrel, but the constant ebb and flow of geopolitical fears has created a seesaw pattern in day-to-day trading. US military airstrikes on Syrian territory lifted Brent above $90 per barrel again on Friday market before falling back slightly. Market watchers are now anticipating an Iranian retaliation and a potential escalation into the wider region as Israel begins raids into northern Gaza. Yet even with this, oil prices are set for the first week-on-week decline since early October. 

ConocoPhillips eyes third M&A megadeal of the year.According to media reports, US oil major ConocoPhillipsis considering an offer for privately-owned shale producer CrownRock LP, a Permian Basin specialist, in a deal that is valued between $10 billion and $15 billion.

India’s ONGC mulls Venezuela return. India’s state-owned oil firm ONGC aims to recover some 500 million in dividends pending since 2014 for its stake in two Venezuelan projects it co-operates with PDVSA, the San Cristobal field and the Carabobo production area. 

EU to set methane limits on gas imports.The European Union proposed imposing methane emission limits on EU gas imports starting from 2030, potentially impacting suppliers with frequent methane leaks such as Algeria or even the United States. 

Shell scales back low-carbon shift ambition.UK-based energy major Shellis considering cutting 15% of its workforce at the low-carbon solutions division and phasing down its hydrogen plans as CEO Wael Sawan seeks to focus on much more profitable oil and gas projects.

/OilPrice/