Coquest

Your Daily Energy Report for March 19, 2026

Posted on 2026-03-19

Crude Oil

Crude Oil futures for April settled down -$.18 or -.187% at $96.14. Oil prices slipped this Thursday as market participants processed recent commentary from President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The administration clarified that deploying ground troops to the Middle Eastern theater is currently off the table, while Bessent posited that the regime in Tehran faces a potential internal breakdown. Simultaneously, intelligence lead Tulsi Gabbard highlighted the diverging strategic goals between Washington and Jerusalem regarding the ongoing campaign involving Iran. Though values have climbed nearly 50% since hostilities erupted, largely due to the functional closure of the Strait of Hormuz, these political signals provided a temporary cooling effect. This shift comes as the global energy landscape continues to grapple with the reality of major Middle Eastern producers maintaining significant output curbs amidst the chaos.

​​​​​Natural Gas

Natural Gas futures for April settled up $.101 or 3.295% at $3.166. Natural gas prices climbed today as Tehran launched strikes against critical Middle Eastern energy nodes, sparking deep availability fears. These missile barrages targeted Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the planet's premier LNG export plant, fulfilling a promise to retaliate after an Israeli operation hit the South Pars gas field. Operations at the Habshan gas facilities in Abu Dhabi were also halted due to falling debris from intercepted projectiles, while LNG assets in Bahrain reportedly suffered heavy damage from sustained bombardment. Despite this regional chaos, the latest EIA inventory audit showed a 35 billion cubic feet storage increase, indicating that domestic heating requirements are naturally cooling as winter exits.
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