Saudi Arabia has called an emergency virtual meeting of OPEC and its partner Russia for Monday, fueling hopes that the two leading members of the coalition known as OPEC+ will agree to slash oil production in response to swooning global demand.
The kingdom’s announcement came less than 24 hours after President Trump said that Saudi Arabia and Russia — the world’s No. 2 and No. 3 oil producers behind the U.S. — had agreed to cut production by 10 million to 15 million barrels per day.
Trump offered little evidence to back up the claim — and it quickly sparked furious speculation about whether Saudi Arabia and Russia, whose rivalry triggered the initial crash in oil prices last month, were truly returning to the bargaining table.
The meeting, first reported by Bloomberg, is set to occur just a few days after leading U.S. oil executives on Friday were scheduled to gather at the White House to discuss potential responses to the sharp downturn in oil prices.
Both meetings — and the prospects, however slim, of a coordinated response to the oil downturn — has spurred a sharp rise in crude prices. Brent, the benchmark for global markets and for U.S. gasoline, as of Friday morning had soared by roughly 40% from Wednesday to about $34 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the bellwether for U.S. shale oil producers, had leaped by more than a third to about $27 a barrel.
Prices of Brent and WTI are still about 33% and 40%, respectively, lower than at the start of March, when Saudi Arabia abruptly slashed prices and ramped up production after Russia refused to renew production cuts.
U.S. oil producers are debating several responses to potentially buttress prices. In addition to a glut of global supply, the worldwide response to the coronavirus, or COVID-19 — including travel restrictions, work-from-home requirements, and limits on shipping and tourism — has caused a steep dropoff in demand of as much as 35 million barrels daily.
Some companies are calling for shared production cuts, which has drawn furious opposition from others. The Trump administration has meanwhile floated the potential of imposing a tariff on oil imports and limiting oil exports, which has stoked pushback from two of the sector’s leading trade groups.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
