All last week, crude prices trended higher after bouncing off the $100/bbl handle. Despite the extended holiday, there has been some interesting news that could drive the market. One of the bits that got little coverage, but could be a sign of where oil prices could be going, was on Sunday evening. The US Department of the Interior, which is responsible for drilling permits on federal lands, finally released notices of lease sales for on-shore oil and gas exploration. The agency touted it as “significantly reformed”. In fact, this included new Biden Administration criteria on “stakeholders” and increased royalties ... (full story)