China Banks "Massive Volume" of Crude in May
China added to crude oil stockpiles at the fastest rate in nearly three years in May, as robust imports outweighed near-record refinery processing.A total of 1.77 million barrels per day (bpd) was added to inventories in May, the most since July 2020 and reversing the small, and rare, draw of 340,000 bpd in April.When assessing the state of China's oil market, it's common to focus on the level of imports and refinery throughput…
Saudi Aramco Q2 Profit Soars Nearly 300% to $25.5B
Saudi Arabian state oil producer Aramco reported a near four-fold rise in second-quarter net profit, beating expectations and boosted by higher oil prices and a recovery in oil demand.Aramco said its results were supported by the global easing of COVID-19 restrictions, vaccination campaigns, stimulus measures and accelerating economic activity in key markets.
Saudi Aramco, Chevron Chiefs See Global Oil Demand Recovery
Global oil demand is recovering and could return to around pre-pandemic levels next year, the chief executive of Saudi Aramco told an oil and gas conference on Tuesday.Global demand for oil is likely to recover from the second half of the year and could reach 99 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2022, Amin Nasser said at IHS Markit's online CERAWeek conference.Diesel demand has recovered globally due to door-to-door deliveries, though jet fuel lags as people avoid long flights, said Chevron CEO Michael Wirth, who spoke on a p
Saudi Aramco's Profit Plunges, Sees Signs of Recovery
State oil giant Saudi Aramco's profit plunged 73% in the second quarter of the year, as a slump in energy demand and prices due to the coronavirus crisis hit sales at the world's biggest oil exporter.But the company stuck with plans to pay $75 billion in dividends this year and CEO Amin Nasser said global oil demand was recovering.All major oil companies have taken a hit in the second quarter as lockdowns to contain the coronavirus limited travel…
Saudi Oil Price Hike Throws Asian Lifeline to U.S. Shale
Saudi Arabia's decision to jack up the price of its July exports to Asia may have opened the door for U.S. crude oil producers to boost sales to the region that consumes more oil than anywhere else in the world.State-controlled producer Saudi Aramco hoisted its official selling prices (OSPs) to all regions for July-loading cargoes, but the biggest hikes were for the key Asian region, which takes the bulk of the kingdom's exports.Benchmark Arab Light crude was boosted to a premium of 20 U.S.
Pertamina to Develop Cilacap Refinery without Saudi Aramco
Indonesia's PT Pertamina will develop its Cilacap refinery in Central Java "independently", the state energy company said on Friday, dropping a plan to boost capacity through a joint venture with Saudi Aramco.The two companies have been in talks to upgrade the Cilacap refinery since 2016 and last year said that they would finalize a joint venture plan in the first quarter of 2020."Pertamina will continue to independently develop the Cilacap Refinery Development Master Plan…
Shell Cuts Dividend for First Time Since World War Two
Royal Dutch Shell cut its dividend for the first time since World War Two on Thursday as the energy company retrenched in the face of an unprecedented drop in oil demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.Shell also suspended the next tranche of its share buyback program and said it was reducing oil and gas output by nearly a quarter after its net profit almost halved in the first three months of 2020.Shell's shares in London dropped 6.7% in early trading on Thursday…
Saudi Arabia's Tanker Power Play Could Backfire
Top exporter Saudi Arabia has chartered an armada of ships to flood the market with additional oil, but in the process has driven freight costs so high refiners are reluctant to take the shipments.That could leave the kingdom stuck with tens of millions of barrels in expensive ships at anchor when the coronavirus outbreak has destroyed oil demand and international prices have lost more than half their value compared with…
Saudi Aramco Launches Largest Shale Gas Development Outside US
Saudi Aramco is launching the biggest shale gas development outside of the United States to boost domestic gas supply and end the burning of oil at its power generation plants, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser told Reuters on Monday.The world's top crude oil exporter has for years battled for market share with rapidly expanding shale oil producers in the United States, which in just a decade have developed capacity to…
Upstream Sector Leads O&A M&A in 2019
A latest research revealed that the upstream sector accounted for the bulk of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the global oil and gas industry in 2019, generating some high-value transactions during the process.According to GlobalData's theme report, ‘M&A in Oil and Gas – 2020’, the acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum by Occidental Petroleum in April 2019 for a purchase consideration of US$57bn was the highlight of oil and gas M&A activity last year…
Saudi Aramco joins oil blockchain platform Vakt
Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures has bought into blockchain-based trading platform Vakt with $5 million in new shares, Vakt said on Tuesday.Aramco Trading Co, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, will use the platform.The VAKT platform specializes in post-trade processing.
Aramco Sells LNG Cargo to S-Oil
Aramco Trading Co, the trading arm of oil giant Saudi Aramco, has sold a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to South Korea's S-Oil Corp, as the company looks to ramp up its LNG business, four industry sources said on Wednesday.The cargo is for delivery in early March and was traded on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis, the sources said.The cargo was sold at around $4.40 to $4.60 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), two of the sources said, though this could not immediately be confirmed.Companies typically do not comment o
Aramco Mulls Offshore Oil Expansions
Saudi Aramco is continuing to focus significant efforts on crude oil expansion. The major expansions at Saudi Aramco’s offshore oil fields of Marjan, Zuluf, Safaniyah and Berri are expected to comprise the majority of the company’s upstream investment over the next three years.According to GlobalData, five major expansion projects – four crude and one natural gas – are being planned to boost output in Saudi Arabia."Although these developments will also add gas and NGL capacity…
Sempra LNG, Aramco Sign Deal
North American energy infrastructure company Sempra Energy and Saudi Aramco's Aramco Services Company, signed an Interim Project Participation Agreement for the Port Arthur LNG export project under development in Jefferson County, Texas.According to a press release, the IPPA represents another milestone for both companies after having signed a heads of agreement in May last year for the purchase of 5 million tonnes per annum…
Oil Jumps After US Kills Iran's Soleimani
Oil prices jumped more than $3 on Friday after a U.S. air strike in Baghdad ordered by President Donald Trump killed the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, sparking concerns for an escalation of regional tensions and disruption to crude supplies.Brent crude rose to a peak of $69.50 a barrel, its highest since mid-September when Saudi oil facilities were attacked, and was up 3.7% or $2.43 a barrel by 1445 GMT at $68.68.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $2.17 or 3.5% at $63.35 a barrel…
Gould Elected to Oxy Board of Directors
US based oil and gas company Occidental Petroleum announced on Thursday that former Schlumberger Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Gould has been elected to its Board of Directors effective March 1, 2020.Gould has more than 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He started his career at Schlumberger in 1975 and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the oilfield services giant from 2003 to 2011.
Saudi Aramco IPO Proceeds Rise to $29.4 Bln
The proceeds from Saudi Aramco's record initial public offering have risen to $29.4 billion after the oil company exercised an option to sell 15% more stock, an executive at one of the banks leading the deal told Al Arabiya news channel on Monday.Wassim Al Khatib, head of investment banking at the investment arm of Saudi Arabia's biggest bank, National Commercial Bank, said the state-controlled oil giant had exercised the so-called over-allotment option.Aramco's main IPO raised $25.6 billion on Thursday."The final number of
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…
Timeline: Saudi Aramco's Winding Road to IPO
State-run oil giant Saudi Aramco has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at the top of its indicative range, making it the world's biggest flotation by raising more than Alibaba's $25 billion listing in 2014.Here are key events in the Saudi state oil giant's planned stock market debut.Dec 5, 2019 - Saudi Aramco announces the offering generated subscriptions of $106 billion by institutional investors and together with the total demand from individual Investors…
Saudi Aramco Shares to Start Trading Dec. 11
Saudi Aramco shares will start trading on Dec.
