U.S. refineries are planning to make overhauls twice as many as usual in the spring. The pandemic and record high refining margins in 2022 were the reasons for delaying repairs.

According to Nick Dell'Osso, chief executive officer of Chesapeake Energy Corp., the "very clear signal" from low prices in the U.S. gas sector makes it obvious that production needs to be cut.

On Wednesday, U.S. natural gas futures fell by about 8%, reaching the lowest level in the past 1.5 years. This decline was caused by forecasts of heating demand reduction by the end of the month.

The market's expectations of a decline in crude stocks were refuted. On Wednesday, trade group API reported last week's increase in U.S. crude inventories. The gain amounted to several million barrels.

On Thursday, the price of WTI oil fell below $79 per barrel. It happened after a nearly 1% decrease on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker made a statement confirming his readiness for the U.S. central bank’s shifting to a slower pace of monetary tightening.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its monthly report on Wednesday.

Aleksey Kalachev, an analyst at Finam Financial Group, said that demand for platinum and palladium will majorly depend on the growth dynamics of auto production this year.

On Thursday, the price of gold started stabilizing after a certain decrease amid rising uncertainty regarding possible recession and further course of the U.S. monetary policy.

As it was stated by oil analyst at PVM Oil Associates Stephen Brennock, a shale boom in the United States came to its end. Brennock told the Rigzone resource about some factors behind this event.