Oil slides below $45 as US shale confounds Opec
Oil slid below $45 a barrel for the first time since OPEC agreed to cut output in November as U.S. shale confounds the producer group’s attempts to prop up prices.
oil prices
Oil nears one-month low on rising US fuel supplies
Oil traded near its lowest close in a month as investors weighed the outlook for shrinking U.S. crude stockpiles against forecasts for increasing fuel supplies.
Oil heads for biggest weekly loss since early March on US supply
Oil headed for its biggest weekly loss since early March as signs that OPEC will continue with output reductions was offset by growing U.S. production.
Goldman says ‘no evidence’ to justify oil market sell-off
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says there’s no fundamental evidence in the oil market to justify this week’s selloff in prices.
Brent rallies as Saudi signals potential for extending output cuts
Brent crude rebounded after the biggest slump in six weeks as Saudi Arabia said OPEC-led supply cuts may need to be extended past June to drain bloated global crude inventories.
Oil producers closer to re-balancing market, Opec chief says
Oil-producing nations are moving closer toward ending a global glut and re-balancing the crude market, and OPEC will decide next month whether to extend its cuts in output beyond June, the group’s Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said.
Oil to re-balance at $60-$70 per barrel, MEI says
The oil price will rise before re-balancing at between $60 and $70 per barrel over the next three years, a data and analytics firm has predicted.
Extending output cuts would ‘encourage’ US shale, IEA says
An extension to international production cuts would encourage the rival US shale sector, as it could fill the shortfall, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today.
Oil price fades as US output offsets stockpile decline
Crude retreated after a government report showed U.S. stockpiles dropped from a record while production increased.
Opinion: Redefining sanity for oil traders in today’s market
If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, then sanity must be the reasonable expectation that repeat actions have repeat effects. What happens then, when long observed causal relationships break down? When an impressively broad OPEC and non-OPEC production cut doesn’t send prices soaring?
Libya field stoppage tees up oil for longest gain in 2017
Crude headed for its longest run of gains this year as Libya’s biggest oil field suffered another outage while Russia signaled it’s weighing an extension of OPEC-led production cuts.
Opinion: When will Russia run out of oil?
On a global level, 2015 and 2016 marked the lowest level of new conventional oil discoveries since 1952. In 2016, only 3.7 billion barrels of conventional oil were discovered, roughly 45 days of global crude consumption or 0.2 percent of global proved reserves. Globally, exploratory drilling fell by almost 20 percent in 2015 and fell even further in 2016. Russia's exploration activities, which were hit not only by plummeting oil prices but also by a targeted sanctions regime, suffered a double blow during this period. In 2015, only seven new hydrocarbon discoveries were made in Russia, three of them in the Baltic Sea. In 2016, oil and gas companies in Russia discovered 40 prospective fields, however, the 3P reserves of the largest among them, Rosneft's Nertsetinskoye, amounted to 17.4 million tons. This stands in stark contrast with pre-sanction period achievements, for instance, 2014's largest find, Pobeda, is believed to contain 130 million tons of oil and 0.5TCm of gas.
Opinion: There is no such thing as peak oil demand
Notwithstanding that oil demand has increased for over 150 years, it will eventually stop increasing. If oil demand were to reach an actual peak, then the top might be easier to predict. As it stands, the forecast models of demand are likely predicting peak demand far later than it will be.
Oil set for best week of 2017 amid talk of extending output cuts
Speculation OPEC will extend its deal to curb output and ease a global glut is sending oil toward its biggest weekly increase this year.
Oil stays above $49 as US demand blunts supply gains
Signs of growing U.S. fuel demand are propping up oil above $49 a barrel, with more refinery purchases seen helping ease a glut in American stockpiles.
Oil rises on back of Libya output stoppage
Oil rose after a pipeline halt reduced output in OPEC member Libya, countering concerns that a U.S. surplus shows little sign of diminishing.
Opinion: What a Westinghouse bankruptcy could mean for US utilities
International news services now report that Japan’s Toshiba Corporation (9502.T) is preparing to make a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for its Westinghouse Electric subsidiary. For most of our readers this news evokes little surprise. This is merely another chapter of a slow moving financial and accounting train wreck involving nuclear design and construction firm Westinghouse and its troubled Japanese parent, Toshiba. But like an old, leaky garbage scow there is much to clean up in its wake.
Crude rises as Libya halts pipeline from largest field
Crude rose as Libya halted the pipeline from its biggest field, tempering concerns about the global supply glut as U.S. stockpiles expand.
US motorists hamper Opec’s efforts to lift oil prices
Rising U.S. oil production isn’t the only thing getting in the way of OPEC’s efforts to drain a global glut. American drivers aren’t helping either.
Race to bottom on costs may cause oil to choke on own supplies
Houston hosted two events this week: the nation’s largest energy conference and the town’s famous rodeo. They have more in common than you’d think.
Oil traders smiling again as price bubble pops
Oil’s plunge is bringing some excitement back into the market.
US shale 2.0 challenges Opec again
When the who’s who of the oil industry met a year ago in Houston, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister had harsh words for U.S. shale drillers struggling with the worst price crash in a generation.
Russia could accelerate production cuts, report says
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said today that the country could reduce production quicker than originally expected, Reuters reported.
Oil trades near 19-Month high as crude flows to US drop
Oil traded near the highest level since July 2015 as a drop in U.S. crude imports signaled that OPEC’s output cuts are taking effect.
Opec chief says oil industry ‘heading in right direction’
Opec’s secretary general said today that the oil industry was “heading in the right direction” after producing nations agreed to output cuts.