A global oil supply glut will persist through 2016 as demand growth slows from a five-year high and key OPEC producers maintain near-record output, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday, even as low prices curb supply outside OPEC.
Oil halted its decline after falling the most in six weeks as signs of rising demand in China countered an increase in OPEC production.
Supertankers hauling crude to China are contending with increased waiting times to unload as some on-land storage depots reach capacity amid an oil-buying binge by the world’s most populous nation.
Oil extended gains near $50 a barrel amid speculation an increase in demand will ease a global glut.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc is “puling out all the stops to safeguard” its dividend in a world where oil prices remain “lower for longer,” chief executive officer Ben Van Beurden said.
Engine maker Rolls-Royce said it will cut an extra 400 jobs from its marine division due to the continued slump in the price of oil.
$45 oil has been good to the Serica Energy chairman.
Oil rebounded to trade near $45 a barrel as investors weighed shrinking US stockpiles against signs of lower demand for crude as refineries shut for maintenance.
Aberdeen hotels have been hit by an 18% decrease in prices since the collapse in oil prices started biting at the start of the year, new figures have shown. The Hotel Price Index on room prices across the UK found that the Granite City was the hardest hit in the six months to June compared to the same period last year. Aberdeen room rates fell to an average paid per night of £97 from £118. Dundee followed with a rates decrease of 8% to £83 from £90 per night last year.
Oil edged further above $46 a barrel on Tuesday, supported by the prospect of lower US inventories and production although concern about weaker Asian demand kept prices in check.
Offshore Europe provided “good bang for the buck” this year despite reports that attendance was down from the prior event when oil was booming in 2013. Howard Johnson, co-founder and managing director of Blaze Manufacturing Solutions, admitted that business for the Laurencekirk-based firm would be down by third this year when compared to last year. The firm, which specialises in oil and gas fire safety protection systems, was exhibiting on the Scottish Pavilion which is spearheaded by Scottish Enterprise.
Oil declined for a second day as Venezuela proposed an OPEC summit to stabilize prices amid a global glut. Futures slid as much as 2 percent in New York. Producers from outside of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries including Russia will be invited to the meeting, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told state-owned broadcaster Telesur. Cutting output for a short-term price gain isn’t the cure for the “sickness” affecting global markets, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday. Oil has fluctuated the past three weeks as concerns overs slowing demand in China fueled volatility in global markets. Prices are down more than 25 percent from this year’s closing peak in June on signs the surplus will persist. OPEC members are sustaining output and U.S. crude stockpiles remain almost 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average.
China may launch a global crude oil futures contract as early as October to compete with the existing London Brent and the US WTI benchmarks as it pushes ahead with reforms to open up its oil markets.
Europe's small and medium-sized oil companies have forward-sold more crude than in previous years, ramping up their defences against a scenario in which prices stay weak for longer than expected. Hedging future oil output against market volatility is a well-rehearsed practice among smaller producers but as prices remain historically low, they have shielded themselves more heavily than usual from a further downturn. Second-quarter results figures showed that oil companies, including North Sea operators Ithaca and Premier Oil, have increased their hedging positions compared with the previous year.
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh blamed the latest drop in oil prices on some members of OPEC and questioned whether any OPEC emergency meeting would reach an agreement, the oil ministry's news agency Shana reported. "To balance the oil price... OPEC members should balance their production. An emergency meeting has been requested and we don't have a problem with that," Shana cited Zanganeh as saying.
Professor Paul de Leeuw, director of Robert Gordon University’s Oil and Gas Institute said the North Sea industry will endure a period of short term pain before it could emerge leaner, fitter and better able to compete as the oil price recovers in years to come.
The big oil producing countries keep on pumping, even though prices are at a six-year low.
The price of fuel in the UK could drop to £1 per litre amid falling oil prices, as supermarkets head towards a potential petrol price war.
Kuwait has set the official selling price (OSP) for crude oil sales to Asian buyers for September at $1.35 a barrel below the average Oman/Dubai quotes, up $0.45 from the previous month, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
As a bellwether for the state of the Aberdeen economy, one street came to symbolise the boom and bust of the oil industry in the 1980s.
Oil slid to six-month lows on Monday, hit by fresh evidence of growing oversupply, investor bearishness and slowing demand in China, leaving crude prices on course for their weakest third-quarter performance since the financial crisis in 2008. A Reuters survey last week showed oil output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reached the highest monthly level in recent history in July. Saudi Arabia and other key members are showing no sign of wavering in their focus on defending market share instead of prices, which have fallen 9 percent this year.
Chevron became the latest super major to report a massive fall in earnings in 2015, posting its lowest profit in more than a decade.
OPEC expects increasing oil demand to prevent a further fall in prices and sees a more balanced market in 2016, its secretary-general said on Thursday, the latest sign the group is sticking to its policy of defending market share. Oil has dropped about 15 percent this month and halved in value in the past year but neither OPEC nor Russia, the world's top producer, have cut output to support prices, hoping cheaper oil will hit U.S. shale and other rival sources. "I would not expect they (prices) are going to fall because demand is growing," OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri told reporters in Moscow. OPEC pumps around 40 percent of global oil production.
Oil’s rebound from a six-year low has faltered on signs the global surplus will be prolonged as Iran bids to restore output after its nuclear accord.
A drop in oil prices this month is likely to be short-term and will not deflect OPEC from its policy of keeping output high to defend market share, delegates from Gulf OPEC members and other nations said. Falling Chinese stock markets and the Greek debt crisis have raised concern about demand, while the Iranian nuclear deal could lead to higher oil exports from the Islamic Republic. Benchmark Brent crude, trading below $57 a barrel on Wednesday, has fallen more than 10 percent in July. OPEC, in a major policy shift, decided in November against cutting its production target of 30 million barrels per day (bpd) to prop up prices, seeking instead to defend market share against U.S. shale oil and other competing sources. The group reconfirmed the strategy at a meeting in June.