Business this week

It was another roller-coaster week for energy prices. After OPEC and its allies resisted calls to increase output, the price of Brent crude surpassed $80 per barrel and reached its highest level in three years. The cartel said it would stick to the gradual increases in output it agreed to over the summer. The energy shortage rattled other financial markets too, as investors worried about the fallout. In America and Europe government bond yields climbed. In Britain the yield on ten-year gilts jumped to its highest since May 2019.