The daily business briefing: May 16, 2016

Oil prices jump as Goldman says glut has vanished, Google could face a record antitrust fine in Europe, and more

Mark Zuckerberg speaks to a crowd
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1. Oil prices jump after Goldman says glut is over

Oil prices surged by more than 2 percent on Monday after Goldman Sachs analysts said supply disruptions and steady demand had unexpectedly caused a "sudden halt" to the global oil glut. Crude futures hit their highest level since October 2015, above $47 a barrel. The latest output disruptions are occurring in Nigeria, on the heels of Canadian oil-sands production cuts caused by a massive wildfire. Goldman once warned the glut could drag prices to $20 a barrel, but now forecasts $50 a barrel in the second half of 2016.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.