Goldman Sachs said in a note that a wave of freezing weather in Texas caused blackouts and disruptions to refineries and pipelines that would have a limited and only temporary impact on the global oil market.
Oil prices fell by up to 2% on Friday, due to fears that the refineries will take time to resume operations after a wave of cold weather in the American south, causing a gap in demand, while OPEC+ supplies are expected to rise.
Texas power outages continued for a sixth day on Thursday, while the impact of reduced supplies extended from the largest energy-producing state in the United States to neighbouring Mexico.
The bank estimates an average drop of 700,000 barrels per day in February’s onshore crude production in 48 US states, while production is expected to recover quickly thanks to expectations of higher temperatures at the end of the week.