OPEC+ Debates Biggest Ever Oil Output Cut as Virus Destroys Demand
OPEC and allies are working on a deal for an unprecedented production cut equivalent to around 10% of global supply, an OPEC source said after U.S. President Donald Trump called on oil nations to stop the oil rout caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting of OPEC and allies such as Russia has been scheduled for Monday, April 6, Azeri's energy ministry said, but details were still thin on the exact distribution of production cuts. Oil prices have fallen to around $20 per barrel from $65 at the start of the year as more than 3 billion people went into lockdown because of the virus…
Oil Posts Biggest One-day Gain After Trump Touts Saudi-Russia Deal
Crude prices posted their biggest-one day gains on record on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he expects Russia and Saudi Arabia to announce a major oil production cut, and Saudi state media said the kingdom was calling an emergency meeting of producers to deal with the market turmoil.Trump said he had spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and expects Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut oil output by as much as 10 million to 15 million barrels, as the two countries signaled willingness to make a deal.Trump did not specify barrels per day (bpd), though the market expresses demand and supply in those terms.
COVID-19 Oil Demand Hit Renders OPEC+, Trump Actions Irrelevant
Imagine for a moment that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia had agreed at the start of this month to extend and deepen their crude oil output cuts. It wouldn't have made the blindest bit of difference.While it was only three and half weeks ago, though it feels as long as a lifetime, the collapse of the deal between OPEC and allies, including Russia, to limit output is no longer relevant in a world devastated by coronavirus.If OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, had agreed to extend the 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) and add a further 1.5 million bpd…
Oil Falls, OPEC Backs Deeper Supply Cuts
Oil fell on Thursday as the coronavirus epidemic showed no signs of slowing, with deaths mounting globally, and while major producers agreed on deeper output cuts to bolster prices, they could not immediately secure Russian support for the decision.Brent crude fell by 33 cents, or 0.6%, to $50.80 a barrel by 1338 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 20 cents, or 0.4%, at $46.58.OPEC agreed to cut oil output by an extra 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter of 2020 to support prices that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak but made its action conditional on Russia and others joining in.Russia…
Oil up 3% on Hopes of OPEC Cut
Oil prices jumped more than 3% on Monday, reversing an earlier fall to multi-year lows as hopes of a deeper cut in output by OPEC and stimulus from central banks countered worries about damage to demand from the coronavirus outbreak.Brent crude was at $51.91 a barrel, up $1.71 or 3.4%, by 0925 GMT, having earlier hit its lowest since July 2017 at $48.40.Across the Atlantic, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude hit a 14-month low of $43.32 before recovering to $46.15, up $1.39, or 3.1%.It was the first gain for both benchmarks after six sessions of losses triggered by coronavirus worries.
Brazil Breaks Oil Output Record in January
Oil companies produced 3.17 million barrels per day (bpd) on average in Brazil in January, a volume 20.4% larger than seen in the same month a year earlier and an output record for the country, oil regulator ANP said on Wednesday. Natural gas production increased 22% over January 2019 to 138.7 million cubic meters per day on average last month, also a record. The deepwater, pre-salt field known as Lula accounted for a third of all oil production in Brazil, reaching 1.05 million bpd of crude on average in January, ANP said.
Oil Falls as Coronavirus Hits Demand
Oil prices fell on Monday, dragged down by concern over demand in China after the coronavirus breakout, though the possibility of deeper crude output cuts by OPEC and its allies offered some price support.Brent crude was down $1 at $55.62 a barrel by 1434 GMT, its lowest since January last year.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 58 cents to $50.98 after hitting a session low of $50.42, also the lowest since January last year.As the coronavirus outbreak hit fuel demand in China, the world's biggest crude oil importer…
Norway PM to Name Tina Bru as New Oil Minister -DN
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg will appoint Conservative lawmaker Tina Bru as oil and energy minister, business daily Dagens Naeringsliv and public broadcaster NRK reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources. The office of the prime minister declined to comment. Bru was not available for immediate comment.If confirmed, 33-year-old Bru will oversee western Europe's largest petroleum industry, which is expected to see sharp growth in crude oil output in the next several years.The right-wing Progress Party resigned from the government on Monday over a cabinet decision to help bring a woman suspected of Islamic State affiliation back to Norway…
US Drillers Cut Oil Rigs
U.S. energy firms reduced the number of oil rigs operating for the second straight week as producers follow through on plans to slash spending on new drilling.Drillers cut 7 oil rigs in the week to Jan. 3, bringing the total count down to 670, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday.In the same week a year ago, there were 877 active rigs.Even though the number of rigs drilling new wells has fallen in 2019, U.S. oil output has continued to increase. In part this is because the productivity…
Mexico and Pemex Face Downgrade Risk
Mexico threw troubled state oil company Pemex a lifeline in 2019 to stop $80 billion in bonds held by investors worldwide being labeled junk by credit rating agencies. Now, investors worry that the state itself is a risk for Pemex.Mexico's creditworthiness came under increasing scrutiny in 2019, with two rating agencies flipping their sovereign outlook for the country to negative and one downgrading its rating.Economic growth has ground to a halt during Mexico's first year under leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, hitting income and sales tax receipts.
U.S. Drillers Add Rigs for First Month in 13
U.S. energy firms reduced the number of operating oil rigs for the first time in three weeks as producers follow through on plans to slash spending on new drilling.Drillers cut 8 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 27, bringing the total count down to 677, the lowest since the week to Nov. 15, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday. <RIG-OL-USA-BHI>In the same week a year ago, there were 885 active rigs.That put the oil rig count down 208 for the year, its first annual decline since 2016.
U.S. Drillers Add Most Rigs Since Feb 2018
U.S. energy firms added the most oil rigs this week since February 2018 - primarily in the Permian shale - even though producers have been reducing spending on new drilling for much of this year.Companies added 18 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 20, bringing the total count to 685, the most since early November, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday.In the same week a year ago, there were 883 active rigs.In the Permian in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, the nation's biggest shale oil play…
U.S. Drillers Add Rigs for first Week in Eight
U.S. energy firms added rigs for the first time in eight weeks even as producers follow through on plans to reduce spending on new drilling.Companies added 4 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 13, bringing the total count to 667, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday.In the same week a year ago, there were 873 active rigs.That keeps the oil rig count on track to fall for the first year since 2016. The decline, however, only totals 218, which is much smaller than 2015's record 963 rig decline…
Saudi Aramco Sets Record $25.6 Bln IPO
State-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco's initial public offering (IPO) will be the biggest in history, but will fall short of the towering $2 trillion valuation long sought by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Aramco priced its IPO at 32 riyals ($8.53) per share, the top of its indicative range, the company said in a statement, raising $25.6 billion and beating Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's record $25 billion listing in 2014.At that level, Aramco has a market valuation of $1.7 trillion, comfortably overtaking Apple Inc as the world's most valuable listed firm.
Russia Expecting Oil Output Bump
Russia still expects an increase in 2019 oil output to a record 556-560 million tonnes from 555.8 million tonnes produced in 2018, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told the ministry's magazine, in comments published on Thursday.That would mean production would reach between 11.17-11.25 million barrels per day, up from 11.16 million in 2018.Novak also said that Russian natural gas production is expected to edge up by 2% to 740 billion cubic meters, while coal output and exports are seen unchanged from 2018 levels, at 440 million tonnes and 210 million tonnes respectively.(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
Indonesia Mulls Production Contract Schemes
Indonesia considers allowing for production sharing oil and gas contracts optionsIndonesia is considering letting energy companies stick with the "cost recovery" system for oil and gas production sharing contracts, the energy minister said on Monday, after the government decided to adopt a new scheme in 2017.In 2017, Indonesia adopted a scheme known as "gross split" for oil and gas production deals, applicable to new contracts, so that contractors shoulder the cost of exploration and production in exchange for retaining a bigger…
OPEC, Other Stakeholders May Adjust Output Quotas
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday the forthcoming meeting of OPEC and other large oil producers may discuss adjusting oil output quotas at a next-month meeting, local news agencies reported."We don't rule out discussing various issues," Novak was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency when asked if the OPEC+ meeting would discuss lower production quotas for Russia. (Reporting by Maxim Rodionov and Vladimir Soldatkin
GoM Oil Output Set for Record Year
The U.S. Gulf of Mexico is positioned for another year of record oil production in 2020, despite massive cuts in investment.According to Rystad Energy, most of this growth coming from deep water projects.“2020 is expected to be another record year with average production above 1.9 million barrels per day,” says Joachim Milling Gregersen, an analyst on Rystad Energy’s upstream team.Oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has grown every year since 2013, with an average of 104,000 barrels per day added annually. An essential contribution has come from infill drilling in legacy producing fields such as Mars…
US Shale Sector Performs Well
U.S. shale operators are on track to grow 2019 oil production by around 16% over 2018 thanks to impressive operational execution so far this year.The third quarter earnings season revealed that shale companies increased their oil production by about two percent, all while cutting the midpoint guidance for yearly drilling and completions expenses, according to Rystad Energy.The energy research and consulting firm headquartered in Norway said that U.S. shale operators will continue expanding in the fourth quarter, growing oil…
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. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview on Fox Business…
