CME Adds Two Delivery Points to WTI Houston
CME Group on Thursday said it would add two more delivery points for its WTI Houston crude futures contract, pending regulatory review, as it seeks to provide customers with additional options to hedge physical price risk.* Beginning with the March 2020 contract, customers can take delivery of U.S.
Oil Steadies After Brief Slide
Oil steadied on Tuesday, as expections of output cuts from OPEC and allied producers brought prices back up after they slid briefly following comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that a trade deal with China may be delayed.Brent crude futures rose 5 cents to $60.97 a barrel by 11:18 a.m. EST (1618 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 9 cents to $56.05 a barrel.
Vietnam Inks Crude Oil Supply Deal with SOCAR
Vietnam's state-run Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co (BSR) has inked an agreement with Azeri state energy company SOCAR to buy five million barrels of crude in 2020, BSR said late on Friday.SOCAR Trading will provide five million barrels of Azeri Light crude to BSR's Dung Quat refinery during the first half of 2020, BSR said in a statement on its web site.The company said Azeri crude would also become one of its strategic crude oil products from 2020, following Vietnam'
Asian Refiners Strive to Finish IMO Preparations
At SK Energy's largest refinery in South Korea, engineers are rushing to complete a new processing unit ahead of schedule as the firm looks to boost sales of low-emission fuels before new marine fuel standards take effect in just one month.In Japan, the country's second-biggest refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co is taking a more cautious stance, increasing capacity for low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO)…
Husky Pares Capital Spending
Canadian oil and gas producer Husky Energy Inc said on Monday it would lower its capital spending by C$500 million over the next two years when compared to its 2019 outlook in a bid to increase free cash flow.Oil producers have been under pressure from investors to cut activities and use the cash to improve shareholder returns through dividends and buybacks. The company said it expects 2020 capital expenditure to be between C$3.2 billion ($2.41 billion) and C$3.4 billion…
Masirah Contracts Wings Offshore for FSO
Masirah Oil, an exploration and production company operating Block 50 offshore Oman, has awarded a contract to Wings Offshore for a floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel, which will be used on a field located offshore Oman.Masirah said it had awarded the FSO contract to Wings Offshore for the Mt Bull Papua, which is an Aframax tanker with a storage capacity of 750,000 barrels.The…
US Nearing Energy Independence
In just a few months, the U.S. will be fully energy independent and by 2030, the country's total primary energy production will outpace primary energy demand by 30 percent.According to the Norwegian market research consultancy Rystad Energy, this milestone follows a strong period of growth in both hydrocarbon and renewable resources."We forecast that the US will have primary energy surplus – and not a deficit – by February or March 2020…
Petronas Quarterly Profit Halves
Malaysia's state energy firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd said on Tuesday its third-quarter profit nearly halved due to lower demand and impairment charges, and warned of further risks to demand.Profit for the July-September period at Petronas, as the company is better known, dropped to 7.4 billion ringgit ($1.77 billion) from 14.3 billion ringgit a year before.Net impairment charges totaled 2.6 billion ringgit…
IMO 2020, China Output Pummels Asian Refinery Margins
Profits at Asian refineries are being buffeted by a combination of factors, chief among them uncertainty over how exactly new shipping fuel standards will play out and the rise of China as a product exporter.Refinery margins in Asia have been knocked to the lowest since the financial crisis in 2008 by some measures, as the industry grapples with the disparate factors.The return from…
Oil Traders Bet on Economic Upswing in 2020
Crude oil traders are betting the market will tighten significantly next year, even as the major statistical agencies predict production will outstrip consumption and oil inventories will rise.Most of the divergence can be explained by differing assumptions about global growth in 2020.The International Energy Agency (IEA), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Organization…
EIA, IEA Grossly Overestimating US Shale: ESAI
ESAI Energy, an oil & energy data provider, believes both the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) are overly optimistic in their November projections of US crude oil production in 2020, according to the company’s latest North America Watch.ESAI Energy sees a deceleration in growth to about 650,000 b/d next year, in contrast to the EIA and IEA forecasts of 1.0 million b/d and 900…
Iran Finds New 53 Bln Barrel Oilfield
Iran has discovered a new oilfield in the southwest of the country that has the potential to boost its reserves by about a third, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday."Workers and the exploration arm of the National Iranian Oil Company ...have found an oilfield with 53 billion barrels of reserves," Rouhani said in a televised speech in the central city of Yazd.The field stretches over 2…
MOL Purchases Azerbaijan ACG, BTC Pipeline Stakes
MOL has signed an agreement with Chevron Global Ventures Ltd and Chevron BTC Pipeline, Ltd to acquire their non-operated E&P and mid-stream interests in Azerbaijan, including a 9.57% stake in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil field, and an effective 8.9% stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline that transports the crude to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, for total consideration of $1.57bn (subject to adjustments at closing).
India to Invite Foreign Investment in State-owned Oil Companies
International energy firms will be invited to participate in India's privatization of state-owned oil companies, the country's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said late on Monday.Pradhan said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met with the chief executives of energy firms in Houston, including those from Exxon Mobil Corp, BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell, Rosneft Oil Co, Saudi Aramco…
Iran Finds New Oil Field of 53bln Barrels
Iran has discovered a new oil field in the country’s south with an estimated 50 billion barrels of crude oil in the oil-rich Khuzestan province, its president Hassan Rouhani said.However, the US sanctions against Iranian oil could make it difficult for the oil to find its way to international markets.Rouhani made the announcement in a speech in the desert city of Yazd. Some 53 billion barrels would be added to Iran’s proven reserves of roughly 150 billion…
IOC Sells IMO2020-Compliant Marine Fuel in India
State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) said it has commenced delivery of Low Sulfur Furnace Oil (LSFO) for ships that is compliant with International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) mandate.The largest commercial oil company in India said in a press release that it commenced deliveries of LSFO with 0.5 per cent sulfur as marine fuel at ports in the country.The first such supply was made on…
Saudi Aramco Kick-starts IPO
Saudi Arabia's giant state oil company finally kick-started its initial public offering (IPO) on Sunday, announcing its intention to float on the domestic bourse in what could be the world's biggest listing as the kingdom seeks to diversify its economy away from oil.But in its long-awaited announcement, Aramco, the world's most profitable company, offered few specifics on the number of shares to be sold…
ADNOC to Buy Dozens of Rigs
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said its drilling subsidiary will acquire dozens of rigs to support that national oil company’s upstream growth plans.In the first phase of the wider fleet expansion program, ADNOC acquired, in November 2019, four technologically advanced and UAE-built land rigs with a total value of over AED 350 million ($100 million). Following the integration of the four rigs…
Oil Prices Gain 2%
Oil futures gained nearly 2% on Friday as comments from a top U.S. official raised optimism for a U.S.-China trade deal, but worries about increasing crude supplies capped prices.Benchmark Brent crude gained $1.13, or 1.8%, to $63.41 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 93 cents, or 1.6%, to $57.70 a barrel.Brent and WTI were both on track to post their second straight weekly gain. Brent was due to rise 1.4%, and WTI was set to gain 0.8%.U.S.
Oil surges as China Pushes Tariff Rollbacks
Oil prices rose more than 1% on Tuesday on hopes for a U.S.-China trade agreement and optimism that Washington could roll back some tariffs on Chinese imports.Brent crude futures rose 74 cents, or 1.2%, to $62.87 a barrel by 12:56 p.m. EST (1756 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 68 cents, or 1.2%, to $57.22 a barrel.China is pushing U.S. President Donald Trump to remove more tariffs imposed in September as part of a so-called Phase 1 deal…
