OPEC+ oil production declined sharply last month amid losses in Kazakhstan, Venezuela and Iran, the group said.  The 22 nations of the alliance produced an average of 42.448 million barrels a day in January, or 439,000 a day less than the previous month, according to a copy of the group’s monthly report obtained by Bloomberg. Kazakhstan accounted for more than half of the drop. While the report didn’t give a reason for the overall decline, Kazakhstan’s production fell as it suspended operations at the Tengiz oil field, the country’s largest. The Chevron-led venture started to restore output there at the end of last month.  Separately, Venezuelan oil exports were disrupted by a US blockade during the ousting of former President Nicolas Maduro, while Iran continues to face American sanctions. Saudi Arabia and several other key nations held steady in January as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies began a three-month freeze to offset a seasonal lull in consumption. They’ll meet online on March 1 to review production levels for April and beyond. OPEC kept forecasts for global oil supply and demand unchanged for this year and next, according to the report. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

Ukraine attacked an oil refinery in Russia’s Volgograd region in the first major strike on Russia’s oil-processing industry this year. An overnight drone strike sparked a fire at the facility, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Telegram Wednesday. “The scope of the damage is being clarified,” it said, adding that the refinery helps supply the Russian army. Ukraine carried out multiple high-precision strikes on Russia’s energy assets last year, leading to refinery shutdowns, disruptions at oil terminals and the rerouting of some tankers. The attacks were designed to curb the Kremlin’s energy revenues and restrict fuel supplies to Russian front lines in the war, now nearing its fifth year. The Volgograd refinery, which was attacked several times last year, has a design capacity of about 300,000 barrels of crude a day. It mainly supplies oil products to southern Russia, with some volumes exported. The administration of the Volgograd region said in a Telegram statement that an an industrial plant caught fire after a drone attack but did not name the facility. Lukoil, Russia’s largest private oil producer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Satellite images from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System show multiple fires at the refinery that began during the night of Feb. 10-11. The fires were not visible the previous day, according to the data. In January, Ukraine targeted three small independent Russian refineries, which together account for about 7% of Russia’s typical monthly crude throughput. The lull in drone strikes had offered temporary relief for Russia’s downstream sector, allowing refinery runs to gradually increase. Encouraged by the recovery, the government lifted its ban on most gasoline exports, permitting producers to resume shipments in February — a month earlier than planned. While Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s oil industry slowed in January, Moscow continued intense assaults on energy infrastructure

(Update) February 11, 2026, 5:10 PM GMT: Article updated with comments on dividend growth, potential investment decisions and acquisitions from 14th paragraph. TotalEnergies SE trimmed its share buybacks to the lower end of its guidance range, aiming to keep debt in check as it adjusts to lower oil prices. The company plans to repurchase $750 million of stock in the first quarter, compared with $1.5 billion in the final three months of 2025, it said in an earnings statement Wednesday. For the year, its buyback target was kept at a range of $3 billion to $6 billion. TotalEnergies is the third and last of Europe’s top oil and gas producers to release earnings after Shell Plc and BP Plc published disappointing quarterly reports. The company has a lower ratio of debt to equity than its European peers and kept quarterly dividend unchanged. “This year we want to balance cash generation with cash expenditure,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said during a press conference in Paris to discuss earnings. “We don’t know what will happen this year. We want to keep a healthy balance sheet.” Shares of Total closed 2.7% up, at their highest since July 2024. The company has a “solid balance sheet despite uncertain environment,“ Jefferies analysts led by Mark Wilson said in a note after the earnings release. While Big Oil is still churning out hefty profits, cash flows — particularly in Europe — have been undermined by last year’s 18% dive in crude prices. There are also widespread forecasts that the market will remain oversupplied this year as production swells both inside and outside the OPEC+ alliance. “Oil supply remains abundant, so the market is rather trending down,” Pouyanne said, adding that sanctions on Russia are causing a buildup of the nation’s crude at sea. Total’s adjusted

In its latest short term energy outlook (STEO), which was released on February 10, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that the average Brent spot price will drop in 2026 and 2027. According to this STEO, the EIA sees the Brent spot price coming in at $57.69 per barrel in 2026 and $53.00 per barrel in 2027. The Brent spot price averaged $69.04 per barrel in 2025, the STEO showed. A quarterly breakdown included in the EIA’s latest STEO showed that the organization expects the Brent spot price to come in at $64.44 per barrel in the first quarter of this year, $57.32 per barrel in the second quarter, $55.35 per barrel in the third quarter, $54.00 per barrel in the fourth quarter, and $53.00 per barrel across the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of next year. In the STEO, the EIA highlighted that the Brent crude oil spot price averaged $67 per barrel in January, which it pointed out was $4 per barrel higher than the average in December. The EIA noted that daily Brent crude oil prices increased from an average of $62 per barrel on January 2 to $72 per barrel on January 30. “Crude oil prices rose in response to disruptions to crude oil production in the United States and Kazakhstan,” the EIA highlighted in the STEO. “Despite the near-term increase in prices and short-term disruptions to oil supply, we forecast that strong growth in global oil production will result in high global oil inventory builds over the forecast, causing crude oil prices to fall,” it added. “We forecast that Brent spot prices will average $58 per barrel in 2026 and $53 per barrel in 2027, down from an average of $69 per barrel in 2025,” it continued. In its STEO, the EIA said

The US government issued a general license to allow oilfield-service companies to work in Venezuela as the Trump administration eases sanctions and pushes to rebuild the nation’s crude infrastructure. The license issued by the Treasury Department allows US firms to explore, develop and produce oil and natural gas in Venezuela under certain limited conditions, according to a statement Tuesday. The move is the latest in a series of steps Washington has taken to entice US companies to revive output from Venezuela’s vast crude reserves after last month’s capture of strongman Nicolás Maduro. In January, the US issued a general license that allowed for a wide range of crude operations, including exporting, transporting, refining and buying and selling crude. The general license announced Tuesday involves tasks such as geological mapping, reservoir analysis and related tasks that augment the commencement of oil production.  However, the license does not allow new joint ventures in Venezuela. US people and firms will need to provide detailed plans to the State Department and Department of Energy for any work in the country, according to the statement. The Treasury Department is also preparing to issue a general license allowing companies to pump oil in Venezuela, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.  Oilfield service companies are hired by producers to asses discoveries, drill wells, and enhance output from older assets. SLB Ltd., Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Co. dominate the sector. SLB has been working in Venezuela for Chevron Corp., operating under a US license held by the supermajor. The other large contractors scaled back or shut down their primary operations in the country as the previous regime tightened control over the energy industry.  WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest gasoline fuel update, which was released on February 10, showed an increasing trend for the U.S. regular gasoline price. According to the update, the U.S. regular gasoline price averaged $2.853 per gallon on January 26, $2.867 per gallon on February 2, and $2.902 per gallon on February 9. Although the February 9 price was up $0.035 from the week ago price, it was down $0.226 from the year ago price, the update outlined. Of the five Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) regions highlighted in the EIA’s latest fuel update, the West Coast was shown to have the highest U.S. regular gasoline price as of February 9, at $3.938 per gallon. The Gulf Coast was shown in the update to have the lowest U.S. regular gasoline price as of February 9, at $2.476 per gallon. A glossary section of the EIA site notes that the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia are divided into five districts, with PADD 1 further split into three subdistricts. PADDs 6 and 7 encompass U.S. territories, the site adds. In a blog posted on its website on February 9, GasBuddy noted that, according to its data, the U.S. average price of gasoline “has risen 1.2 cents over the last week and stands at $2.84 per gallon”. “The national average is up 5.4 cents from a month ago and is 24.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago,” it added. In that blog, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said, “the national average price of gasoline only edged slightly higher last week, but nine of the ten largest weekly price movements were increases, led by West Coast states as California begins the transition to summer gasoline”. “Most states saw relatively minor fluctuations, but we’re