New York, Feb 15, 2026, 12:37 EST — The session wrapped up with the market closed.
- Energy stocks in the U.S. are closing out the week with a wave of supply news piling in—think Venezuela licenses, plus the latest OPEC+ production plans.
- Brent closed out Friday at $67.75 a barrel, while U.S. WTI finished at $62.89—both benchmarks logging weekly declines.
- The release of U.S. weekly petroleum inventory figures has been pushed to Thursday due to the federal holiday.
Oil traders in the U.S. face Tuesday’s open with a pair of new supply angles in play—an expanded round of Venezuela authorizations from Washington, plus hints from OPEC+ about a possible boost to production starting April.
Timing’s at play here. Wall Street won’t be open Monday—Presidents Day—so traders lose a day to adjust positions ahead of a quieter week that nonetheless features U.S. inventory numbers and fresh signals from oil states.
The inventory schedule gets bumped as well. Instead of its regular slot, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report is set for Thursday, Feb. 19, with the federal holiday on Monday pushing things back.
U.S. oil majors didn’t move in sync last session. Exxon Mobil slipped roughly 1% to $148.45. Chevron ticked up 0.7% at $183.74. Shares of ConocoPhillips picked up 0.6%, closing at $111.43, while Occidental advanced 1.2% to $46.07. Oilfield services lagged: SLB shed 0.5%, ending at $50.39. The Vanguard Energy ETF booked a 0.9% gain.
Crude barely budged, but the underlying factors shifted. Brent and WTI edged up on Friday—softer U.S. inflation numbers gave some support, though traders were still weighing chatter about a potential OPEC+ output boost. “Looks like inflation is stabilizing,” said Dennis Kissler, senior VP of trading at BOK Financial, but he flagged the OPEC+ supply angle as the “negative.” U.S. oil rigs dropped by three to 409, Baker Hughes said. Reuters
The U.S. Treasury’s sanctions office handed out two general licenses for Venezuela, clearing Chevron, BP, Shell, Eni, and Repsol to keep up oil and gas operations in the country. Another license greenlights negotiations for fresh investment deals with PDVSA, though companies still need separate permits for that. Chevron called these moves “important steps” for both development and “advancing regional energy security.” Reuters
Refiners are eyeing Venezuela, too. Valero plans to take delivery of as much as 6.5 million barrels of Venezuelan crude in March for its Gulf Coast network, according to Reuters. Executive Randy Hawkins told the outlet that Venezuelan supply could represent a “pretty large part” of Valero’s heavy crude slate in February and March. Shares of Valero last changed hands at $200.17, up about 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum climbed roughly 2.6%, with Phillips 66 not far behind, up about 2.3%. Reuters
OPEC+ remains the main question mark. According to sources speaking to Reuters, the group is considering bringing back production quota hikes starting in April, with eight member producers scheduled to discuss the plan on March 1. Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak pointed out that demand usually picks up in March and April, which would help “ensure the balance.” Reuters
Oil stocks face a clear headwind here—extra supply tends to pull prices down. Should Venezuelan shipments increase quickly and OPEC+ sticks to its plan for greater output, crude may shed the geopolitical premium that’s been keeping prices buoyant lately.
Once markets are back on Tuesday, the focus turns fast to Thursday’s postponed U.S. inventory data and any headlines ahead of the March 1 OPEC+ gathering. How crude reacts could steer the direction for energy stocks.
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