Iran’s oil minister confident of output deal, predicts prices will rise
Iran's oil minister said he was confident both OPEC and non-OPEC members would commit to the output cut deal agreed in November.
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Autumn Statement 2016: Fuel duty freeze to ‘save average driver £130 a year’
Motoring campaigners have welcomed the decision to freeze fuel duty for the seventh year in a row.
Billionaire Scottish adviser says downturn will rebound in two years
Oil prices will rise again by 2018 and reinvigorate economic activity in the North Sea, according to a billionaire Scottish Government adviser. Jim McColl, who sits on the Scottish Government’s Council of Economic Advisers, told Holyrood’s Economy Committee his own Clyde Blowers’ engineering investment firm is “holding out quite well” in the economically-depressed North Sea and he predicted the downturn will reverse in the next two years. Increased oil and gas production contributed to the 0.7% rise in the UK economy announced yesterday but this has yet to feed through to the Scottish onshore economy, leaving Scotland’s GDP lagging behind at just 0.1% growth.
China crude oil imports rise to record high
China’s crude oil imports rose to record on a monthly basis driven by imports by small, private refineries amid low oil prices. Overseas purchases by China increased to 30.71 million metric tons in July, equivalent to about 7.3 million barrels a day, according to preliminary data released by the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs on Saturday. It was higher than December’s level at 30.4 million tons, a previous monthly record. The world’s second-largest oil consumer imported a record 7.4 million barrels a day in April and 7.2 million in June.
Turner & Townsend unveils 11% rise in profits despite oil price
Consultancy firm Turner & Townsend (T&T) has unveiled an 11 % rise in profits after its infrastructure and property practices helped its natural resources division to shrug off plummeting oil prices. The group, which has 4,100 staff in 90 offices throughout the world, grew its pre-tax profits to an all-time high of £36.7million in the year to 30 April on the back of a 9% rise in revenues to £380million, also a record figure. Work undertaken in the past year by T&T’s Aberdeen office included project management and cost and construction design management on phase one of the Aberdeen International Business Park (AIBP) on behalf of developer Abstract Securities.
Deepwater expenditure to rise 69% in next five years
Energy consultancy Douglas Westwood said deepwater expenditure will increase by 69% between now and 2019. The figure comes despite a number of companies suspending high-cost projects in the wake of the low oil prices. The company estimated the total cost could be as high as $210billion in its report, ‘World Deepwater Market Forecast 2015-2019’. The report author Mark Adeosun said development of deepwater reserves has become increasingly vital, particularly to the world’s oil majors.
FTSE heads lower as oil prices stabilise
London’s top-flight headed lower today as oil prices stabilised but disappointing economic data from China dragged on commodity stocks. The FTSE 100 Index had been hit by a widespread sell-off in the previous session after a military flare-up in the Middle East pushed the price of a barrel of Brent crude towards $60. The index was 22.8 points lower at 6872.5 today as the oil price edged down to around $58 but overnight figures from China showed a sharp decline in industrial profits. It meant the FTSE 100 was on course for a fourth successive day of losses as the buoyant mood which saw it top the 7,000 landmark last week - and achieve further record highs at the start of this one - ebbed away.
Fuel costs set to rise
Drivers who enjoyed a slump in petrol prices at the turn of the year are now facing a sharp rise in the cost of motoring, according to the AA. Prices at the pumps have surged by an average of 5.5p over the past six weeks, with average petrol prices now standing at 111.92p a litre. This is 3.64p a litre more than in mid-February and compares unfavourably, too, with the low of 106.39p seen on February 1.