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“Everyone’s been looking at it,” Adam Webb, chief investment officer of trading firm Blue Creek Capital Management LLC, said of $100 call options for oil delivered in December 2022. “It’s a no-brainer.”

Russian oil giant Rosneft PJSC warned of an impending shortfall in supply as global producers increasingly channel funds into a “hasty” energy transition.

“The world risks a severe deficit of oil and gas,” Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin said Saturday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “The world consumes oil, but isn’t ready to invest in it.”

His comments echo those of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who this week rejected calls for a rapid shift away from oil and gas, saying starving the industry of investment would harm the global economy. But fossil-fuel producers are facing mounting pressure to switch to cleaner forms of energy as governments step up efforts to prevent damaging climate change.

“It shouldn’t be about rejecting oil, but about rejecting crude from environmentally unfriendly projects,” Sechin said on an energy panel that also included BP Plc CEO Bernard Looney and Glencore Plc boss Ivan Glasenberg. “Oil consumption will continue to grow despite a relative drop in its share in the global energy mix.”

A recovery in the price of oil to more than two-year highs is offering a long-awaited opening to companies and private equity firms to shed unloved assets in the U.S. oil patch.

Fifteen Republican State Treasurers sent a warning that they will pull assets from financial institutions if they give in to Federal pressure to de-carbonize and “refuse to lend to or invest in” the fossil fuel and coal industry.

The letter, led by West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore, is directed at Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. It expresses concerns over reports that Kerry and other members of the Biden administration have been “privately pressuring” U.S. banks to stifle the fossil fuel industry.

“We are writing today to express our deep concern with recent reports that you, and other members of the Biden Administration, are privately pressuring U.S. banks and financial institutions to refuse to lend to or invest in coal, oil, and natural gas companies, as part of a misguided strategy to eliminate the fossil fuel industry in our country,” the letter reads.

The State Treasurers sent a plain message to financial institutions, telling them not to submit to the present administration’s coercion to deny investment and lending for the natural resources.

With growing evidence of the demand rebound, and imminent clarification on the likelihood of an Iranian return, we now see a clearer path for the next leg higher in oil prices, with the sell-off offering opportunities to position for the rally to $80/bbl.

Japan and Australia have disputed the findings of the International Energy Agency’s report on reaching net zero emissions by 2050, indicating they will continue fossil fuel investment despite the watchdog’s advice.

The push back from member countries — traditionally big fossil fuel consumers — and global energy producers, highlights the controversy surrounding the IEA’s recommendations which include halting fossil fuel exploration and spending on new projects.

While the IEA has said there is a need to continue investing in already discovered deposits and existing projects, critics say the body does not adequately acknowledge the risks to future energy security, and fails to provide a backstop should the world not manage to create adequate low-carbon alternatives to replace fossil fuels.

India’s capital New Delhi will start relaxing its strict coronavirus lockdown next week if its new cases continue to drop.

The South Asian country on Sunday reported 240,842 new infections nationwide over 24 hours – the lowest daily number in more than a month – and 3,741 deaths.