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Brent crude has now surged to $90 per barrel for the first time since April 2024, a gain of over 5% today.<\/strong><\/p>\n This latest rally comes as the Wall Street Journal reports that Kuwait has begun cutting production at some oil fields after running out of room to store its bottled-up crude.<\/p>\n That would suggest the region is entering a broader storage crisis, in which a lack of storage leads to shutdowns, because tankers are reluctant to risk travelling through the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n The WSJ says:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe country, a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is discussing limiting its production and refining capacity further, to just what it needs to cover domestic consumption, the people said. A decision on those broader cutbacks is expected within days, they said.<\/p>\n Breaking: WSJ reporting that Kuwait have started cutting oil production in some fields <\/p>\n If so: Kuwait would be 2nd OPEC+ producer to cut production due to storage tanks filling up Brent touches $90 pic.twitter.com\/Qw5o7AkS8o<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Joumanna Nasr Bercetche (@JoumannaTV) March 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Oil is now firmly on track for its biggest weekly gain since spring 2020.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.15 EST<\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n <\/span>Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s Lindsay James,<\/strong> investment strategist at Quilter<\/strong>, on the impact that higher oil ang gas prices could have on the UK economy, after Qatar\u2019s energy minister predicted the Iran war will force Gulf countries to stop energy exports \u2018within days\u2019:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cThe warning from Qatar\u2019s energy minister reflects very real concerns about the risk of prolonged disruption to energy supplies from the Gulf, although a lengthy halt to all Gulf oil and gas production remains an extreme scenario. Nonetheless, the concerns he raises are understandable. With production in Qatar already halted following recent attacks on key facilities, there is clear market anxiety about further damage to infrastructure in the region and the ability of exporters to quickly resume output.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the near term, gas markets are likely to feel the strain more acutely than oil. Oil prices have moved higher, but it could be a temporary interruption rather than the kind of long term supply removal that was seen following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. The real uncertainty is how long the disruption lasts, and whether it\u2019s a matter of days, weeks or potentially longer.<\/p>\n \u201cA major pressure point is the Strait of Hormuz. If the route remains constrained, even partially, it limits the flow of both oil and gas and keeps upward pressure on prices. Market moves generally imply investors expect this to be resolved quite quickly, drawing on recent precedents where disruption was short lived. However, with each passing day, the risk grows that this conflict proves more drawn out than initially expected.<\/p>\n \u201cFor households, the pressure will be felt primarily in energy prices rather than a broad inflation shock. UK food inflation, for example, is unlikely to be significantly affected because much of the food imported into the UK does not rely on Gulf shipping routes. The bigger economic risk comes from persistently higher energy costs, which can weigh heavily on growth. At the same time, that lower growth may feed into softer economic activity and a cooling labour market, which could help limit how far energy driven inflation feeds into the wider economy.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Neil Wilson<\/strong> of Saxo<\/strong> Markets<\/strong> reports that a \u201cbroad de-risking\u201d event is underway in the markets, as investors try to protect themselves from Iran developments over the weekend.<\/p>\n He adds:<\/p>\n FTSE 100 wiping out the whole of its February rally to trade around 10,250, about where it finished at the end of Jan<\/p>\n<\/li>\n European indices significantly hit trading \u20131.6% for the day and \u20136-8% for the week<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Selling picked up the pace as President Trump called for unconditional surrender, while a weak US jobs report didn\u2019t help bolster risk appetite.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Share<\/p>\n Today\u2019s jobs report shows that average pay continued to rise, even as firms cut jobs.<\/strong><\/p>\n Hourly earnings rose by 0.4% month-on-month, and 3.8% year-on-year. Analysts at Unicredit say this suggsts \u201cthere is not much slack, if any, in the labour market\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council of the United States, has claimed that today\u2019s weak jobs data is an \u201coutlier\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n He told Bloomberg TV:<\/p>\n double quotation markEvery other indicator is consistent with very strong GDP growth right now.<\/p>\n NEC Director Kevin Hassett responds to jobs drop: <\/p>\n \u201cEvery other indicator is consistent with very strong GDP growth right now, and so this really is an outlier number.\u201dpic.twitter.com\/3lTmJxsyez<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Red Line News (@RedLineNewsUSA) March 6, 2026<\/a>Share<\/p>\n Yikes. Almost every major industry group shed jobs in February.<\/p>\n Private sector overall: -86,000
(After Iraq earlier this week) <\/p>\n\n
Hospitality -27,000
Healthcare -28,000
Manufacturing -12,000
Tranport\/warehouse -11,000
Construction -11,000
Information -11,000
Federal gov’t -10,000
Professional\/biz -5,000
Mining\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/4mA5LJf00P<\/a><\/p>\n