The price of natural gas in Europe has quadrupled so far this year, and the international price of oil is following in its wake. Brent crude yesterday traded above $80 a barrel and ended the day at $79.09 – near its three-year high. Financial media are ascribing this to “a broader rally in energy markets, with depleted natural gas inventories and resurgent economic activity sparking fierce competition in Europe and Asia for natural gas to feed their power markets.” Norbert Rücker, head of economics at Swiss private bank Julius Baer, said: “Oil’s move is really to do with the global energy crunch coming out of the gas power market. This is now spilling over into the oil market because of the expectation that this energy scarcity means we’re going to use oil for spillover demand.” Goldman Sachs increased its Brent price forecast for the end of 2021 by $10 to $90 a barrel on Monday, Sept. 27.