Oil climbs as OPEC, producers expected to meet
Oil climbed to a three-week high after Russia’s Energy Minister was reported to say that OPEC and other producers will meet next month to discuss a potential production cut.
OPEC
Iran says low oil prices will not last long
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that oil prices would not stay low for long as producers restore market balance. "The price of oil is at a low level ... I don't think it will last in the long term ... The pressure on oil-producing nations means balance will be restored in the short term," Rouhani, whose country is the third-largest producer in OPEC, said at the French Institute of International Relations.
Venezuela’s oil minister launches tour in bid to kick-start OPEC action
Venezuela’s oil minister has launched a tour around OPEC and non-OPEC countries in a bid to persuade the organisation to take action amid a 12-year low oil price.
Why a Russian-Saudi deal on cutting oil output remains elusive
With oil trading near $30 a barrel, calls for orchestrated output cuts to quell global oversupply have intensified this week. Trouble is, none of the world’s largest producers, most notably Russia and Saudi Arabia, have shown they’re ready to make a move.
Iraq sees some flexibility for OPEC, non-OPEC to tackle oil glut
Iraq, OPEC's second-largest oil producer, sees some flexibility for a deal between the exporter group and rival producers to tackle a supply glut that has pushed prices to a 12-year low, Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said on Tuesday. His comments, made in Kuwait, briefly boosted world oil prices further above $30 a barrel, although such an idea has been repeatedly mooted and dismissed for over a year.
Russia could work with OPEC on supply, Lukoil’s Fedun tells Tass
Russia could work with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on removing supply from the market if a political decision was taken to cooperate, OAO Lukoil Vice President Leonid Fedun said in an interview with state news agency Tass.
Platts Survey: OPEC’s production down
OPEC’s production in the month of December fell by 130,000 barrels per day, according to the latest Platts survey.
OPEC splits show at Davos as Nigeria debates with Saudi Arabia
Less than two months after OPEC nations sparred over oil policy in Vienna, they resumed the debate at Davos.
OPEC sees deeper decline in rivals’ supply as US shale falters
OPEC forecast a steeper decline in supplies from rival producers this year as the oil-price crash hits the U.S. and Canada.
Saudi Oil Minister says he’s optimistic crude prices to rise
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said crude prices will rise and foresees that market forces and cooperation among producing nations will lead in time to renewed stability.
Russia rules out coordinated oil output cuts
The Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said coordinated oil production cuts with OPEC to help support falling oil prices would be unlikely. The politician said he felt it was unlikely all countries within OPEC would be able to agree on how to prop up prices.
Iran’s crude oil exports could reach nine-month high
Iran's crude oil exports are said to be on target to reach a nine-month high this month.
Crude prices recovering to $50 per barrel in 2017 says EIA
The average Brent crude oil price for 2016 is likely to be $40 per barrel and unlikely to rise above $50 ber barrel in 2017, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Nigeria says OPEC may meet soon as oil even hurting Saudis
OPEC will soon make efforts to convene before the next scheduled meeting in June as the slump in oil prices is hurting producers, including the world’s biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia, said Emmanuel Kachikwu, Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum resources.
A new Saudi Arabia is suddenly in a hurry in era of cheap oil
Saudi Arabia, one of the most tradition- bound societies on the planet, where family structure and tribal patriarchy differ little from a century ago, is suddenly in a hurry. It has done more in the past week than in most years. Over eight days, it has executed dozens of militants, severed ties with Iran and announced numerous steps for a radical rollback of the state that may include privatizing oil giant Saudi Aramco, among the world’s largest companies.
Wood Mackenzie sees political risk playing greater role in oil prices
The ramping up of tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran makes it highly unlikely Saudi Arabia will cut its output to help Iran regain market share, according to Wood Mackenzie.
Iran’s need to sell oil suggests it may blink first in Saudi spat, expert says
Ongoing diplomatic tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran is unlikely to escalate into to direct confrontation, with Iran likely to be the one who blinks first as it seeks to get its oil supplies onto the world market, according a leading Middle East expert.
Opinion: Iran-Saudi spat could impact cooperation within OPEC
Developing political tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have resulted in fluctuating oil prices, with the price of Brent crude having risen to $38.50/bbl, its highest level for three weeks.
Shale hoard behind US energy renaissance set loose on globe
The worst fears of OPEC and Asian gas exporters are about to come true.
Shale’s running out of survival tricks as OPEC ramps up pressure
In 2015, the fracking outfits that dot America’s oil-rich plains threw everything they had at $50-a- barrel crude. To cope with the 50 percent price plunge, they laid off thousands of roughnecks, focused their rigs on the biggest gushers only and used cutting-edge technology to squeeze all the oil they could out of every well. Those efforts, to the surprise of many observers, largely succeeded. As of this month, U.S. oil output remained within 4 percent of a 43-year high.
Oil falls from three-week high as Iran says exports ‘priority’
Oil in New York slid from the highest in three weeks and snapped the longest run of gains since April as Iran repeated its goal of boosting exports after sanctions on the country are lifted. Futures lost as much as 1.1 percent, falling the first time in five days. Iran’s priority is to boost crude shipments to pre-sanction levels, state-backed IRNA reported, citing Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. The Persian Gulf nation plans to add 500,000 barrels a day of exports within a week after sanctions are removed, said Rokneddin Javadi, head of National Iranian Oil Co., according to Shana news agency.
OPEC sees demand for its crude oil falling for rest of decade
OPEC said demand for its crude will slide to 2020, though less steeply than previously expected, as rival supplies continue to grow. The organization will need to pump 30.7 million barrels a day by the end of the decade, OPEC said Wednesday in its annual World Oil Outlook. That’s 1.7 million barrels more than projected a year ago, and 1 million less than the group pumped in November. The forecast underlines the struggle faced by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries as it seeks to defend market share against a surge in output from rivals such as the U.S. and Russia. While OPEC is slowly taming the expansion of competitors, the collapse in oil prices means the financial costs of its strategy are immense. Brent crude futures touched an 11-year low of $36.04 a barrel on Dec. 21.
Saudi Arabia said to weigh selling state-run entities stakes
As global oil prices tumble, Saudi officials are considering plans to sell shares in state-owned entities and companies, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions, in an attempt to find alternative sources of revenue. The government may sell stakes in ports, railways, utilities and airports, the two people said. Hospitals may also be privatized, one person said. Saudi officials weren’t immediately available for comment. With oil prices down to an 11-year low, Saudi officials are accelerating efforts to reduce the economy’s reliance on revenue from crude exports. They may have missed their best chance when prices were higher, according to economists and an International Monetary Fund study that highlighted how successful attempts depended on policies put in place before the slump.
De Leeuw: The sector’s $1.3trillion question
Who would have thought in the summer of 2014 that the industry would long for the oil price to recover to $61 per barrel?
US oil exports shouldn’t bother OPEC: Iran is the problem
An end to the U.S.’s 40-year ban on oil exports is probably not what OPEC needs right now. Yet a resurgent Iran may present a greater threat as it prepares to dump a million barrels on the market next year.