Impact: Oil prices surged 4% Friday after an Iranian general was killed by U.S. forces in Iraq. Brent crude, used to price international oils, was $2.48 higher at $68.73 per barrel in London after being up nearly $3 at one point. Benchmark U.S. crude climbed $2.19 to $63.37 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Read the full story.
Landmark: ExxonMobil won’t have to pay a fine for continuing to do business with a Russian state-run oil company amid increasing U.S. sanctions on the country, a federal judge ruled, according to The Wall Street Journal. The ruling voids a $2 million fine the U.S. Treasury Department imposed on the oil giant in July 2018, and the lawsuit was seen by some sanctions lawyers as an opportunity to clarify ambiguity about how sanctions against blacklisted individuals with ties to non-blacklisted companies will be enforced. Read the full story.
Warning: Flood watches and warnings covered much of the South on this morning as torrential rains were flooding roads and highways and filling rivers and streams close to their banks. The National Weather Service said early this morning that most of the flooding advisories covered parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. Read the full story.
