Supply and demand fundamentals drive oil prices. Things like OPEC+ production plans and US driving patterns matter the most — until they don’t. That’s when the wizardry of Wall Street takes over, giving prices a push up or down beyond what the physical fundamentals warrant.
While energy sector attention is focused on the low-carbon narrative, the short-term outlook for upstream activity is positive as we head into 2022. Consensus amongst industry analysts point to significant percentage increases in activity for next year, with further increases in 2023 and beyond.
Oil, as the world's most heavily-traded natural resource and the bedrock foundation of some of the planet's largest economies, has always had a strong impact on virtually every area of economics and finance. The global oil trade is estimated to be worth something in the region of around $4 trillion a year in revenues, or about 3.8% of global GDP.
Even before the deadly virus struck, another menace confronted the global energy industry: the warmest winter anyone can remember.
The Energy Transition and Extinction Rebellion may have led the energy news agenda and stimulated reflection in many E&P boardrooms in 2019, but the impact on exploration drilling is not yet apparent.
Deepwater and tight oil are two of the upstream sector’s great growth themes, but are often considered to be at opposite ends of the development spectrum.
The ambiguity surrounding Brexit is an issue that is affecting many businesses in a variety of ways, and the international tax implications of Brexit should also be considered.
Many businesses have been preparing for months for Brexit, but in hope and expectation there would be a withdrawal agreement under which we would have 20 months of transition to implement plans for our ultimate exit.
Peter Courtney, international tax specialist at Johnston Carmichael, looks ahead to the possible tax changes that will affect Scottish businesses operating internationally in a post-Brexit landscape.
The number of drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) in the U.S. shale patch has skyrocketed by roughly 60 percent over the past two years. That leaves a rather large backlog that could add a wave of new supply, even if the pace of drilling begins to slow.
On 10 January 2019, HMRC launched a new Profit Diversion Compliance Facility (PDCF) aimed at multinational enterprises who have used cross-border arrangements that HMRC considers may result in an artificial reduction in UK profits, including arrangements targeted by the Diverted Profits Tax (DPT) legislation.
In 2019 energy and utility companies face the challenges of an industry rapidly diversifying, decentralising and digitising.
BP is gearing up to leave European competitors in the dust, at least when it comes to spending the industry’s enormous cash pile.
The energy sector is set for a “golden age of gas” over the next three to four decades, an industry expert has said.
For oil investors, this is both the best of times and the worst of times, depending on which crude benchmark you trade.
The current compliance landscape is one of rapidly changing regulatory requirements, continuous advances in technologies, and declining consumer trust. Energy companies’ compliance functions are being asked to deliver more in a constrained cost environment, facing increasing regulation and responding to the demands of multiple regulators. Luckily technology changes in the form of Automated Compliance are now able to really help.
With oil prices seemingly stable over $70 per barrel, is anyone in the UKCS planning to increase spending? – by Jonathan Clarke, Calash Ltd.
BP’s £8 billion acquisition of US shale assets from BHP Billiton will help the oil major close the gap to its peers, an analyst has said.
The recent rise in commodity prices has generated an increasing focus on drilling rig availability around the world and the reactivation of stacked rigs.
When reports emerged that India and China are in talks about forming an oil buyers' club, OPEC was probably too busy with its upcoming June 22 meeting to concern itself with that dangerous alliance. Now, it may be time for it to start worrying.
History is littered with examples of brands that have dominated their respective markets but, through a combination of lack of innovation, inefficient execution and focusing internally instead of on customers, have gone on to suffer a massive fall in market share against rivals.
Saudi Arabia is starting to panic, and is growing concerned that the growing number of supply disruptions around the world could cause oil prices to spike. Saudi Arabia is moving quickly to head off a supply crunch, aiming to dramatically ramp up production to a record high 11 million barrels per day in July, according to Reuters.
Rising oil prices have been a boon for the FTSE 100. The market was at its lowest ebb since 2016 at the end of March, but then rose to record levels on May 22 – some talked of an increase to 8,000.
It appears I spoke too soon in my October 2017 blog on the announcement by the Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy that the Scottish Government’s moratorium on unconventional oil and gas development (“UOGD”) (usually referred to as ‘fracking’) which was imposed in 2015 would be extended into a permanent ban.
The U.S. dollar has jumped to its strongest level in nearly a year, raising questions about how a strong greenback could act as a drag on debt and oil demand in much of the world.