Big Oil Spent 1% on Green Energy in 2018
Top oil and gas companies jointly spent around 1 percent of their 2018 budgets on clean energy, but investments by Europe's giants vastly outpaced their U.S. and Asian rivals, a study showed.Companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Total and BP have in recent years accelerated spending on wind and solar power as well as battery technologies, seeking a larger role in global efforts to slash carbon emissions to battle global warming.Investors…
China Becomes Top Natural Gas Importer
China has overtaken Japan to become the world's top importer of natural gas, as Beijing's crackdown on pollution boosts its demand for the more environmentally friendly fuel, while the restart of nuclear reactors in Japan reduces its LNG imports.China's total natural gas imports over January to October this year via pipeline and as liquefied natural gas (LNG) were at 72.06 million tonnes, up a third from the same period last year…
Oil Rises as Saudi Arabia Seeks to Tackle Oversupply
Oil prices rose on Monday after Saudi Arabia said OPEC and its partners believed demand was softening enough to warrant an output cut of 1 million barrels per day next year.Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, said on Sunday it would cut its shipments by half a million barrels per day in December due to seasonal lower demand.Brent crude futures were up 52 cents at $70.70 a barrel by 1445 GMT, while U.S. crude futures…
Oil Gains after Saudi Paves the Way for an Output Cut
Oil rose by more than 1 percent on Monday, set for its largest one-day increase in a month after Saudi Arabia said OPEC and its partners believed demand was softening enough to warrant an output cut of 1 million barrels per day.Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, said on Sunday it would cut its shipments by half a million barrels per day in December due to seasonal lower demand.Brent crude futures rose 80 cents on the day to $70.98 a barrel by 1205 GMT, while U.S.
Hedge Funds Enforce Correction to Oil Market's Course
Hedge funds have sold the equivalent of almost half a billion barrels of crude oil and refined products in the last six weeks, as worries about slowing demand replaced earlier concern over sanctions on Iran.Hedge funds and other money managers cut their combined net long position in the six major petroleum futures and options contracts by another 108 million barrels in the week to Nov. 6.Portfolio managers have sold 479 million barrels of crude and products since the end of September…
Cano Limon Pipeline Hit by More Bombings
Colombian state-run oil company Ecopetrol said on Tuesday that three new bombings of the Cano Limon pipeline have caused contamination in several waterways in the country's northeastern Arauca province.The attacks on Sunday and Monday brought total bombings of the 485-mile (780-km) pipeline to 82 this year.Cano Limon, which can transport up to 210,000 barrels of oil per day, has been out of service for much of 2018 because of bombings and illegal taps and was not functioning at the time of the latest attacks.
Oil Down After Trump Urges OPEC Not to Cut Supply
Oil prices fell more than 2 percent on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump put pressure on OPEC not to cut supply to prop up the market.Brent dropped $1.97 a barrel, or 2.8 percent, to a low of $68.15 before recovering to around $68.52, down $1.60, by 1420 GMT. U.S. light crude was $1.35 lower at $58.48.Both crude benchmarks have fallen more than 20 percent since peaking at four-year highs in early October."The market now increasingly looks concerned about the prospect of too much supply…
US warns sanctions still an option against Nord Stream 2
The United States could yet impose new sanctions to try to block construction of the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline across the Baltic Sea to the European Union, the U.S. ambassador to the EU said on Tuesday.Asked if Donald Trump could take further measures to thwart a project which the president has said would leave EU countries even more beholden to Moscow for their energy, Gordon Sondland said: "We have not deployed…
China LNG Growth Not Slowing -Woodside
China's appetite for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has not slowed, but its purchases have been spread more evenly, avoiding last year's sudden spike to meet winter demand, Australia's top independent LNG producer said on Tuesday.LNG demand from North Asia's main hubs in Japan, China and South Korea has slowed in recent weeks, raising concern that forecasts for a milder than usual winter may dent consumption. There are also…
U.S. Allows Eight Jurisdictions to Keep Buying Iran Oil for Now
The United States said on Friday it will temporarily spare eight jurisdictions from U.S. Iran-related sanctions, allowing them to keep importing Iranian oil after U.S. economic penalties come back into effect on Monday.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who announced the decision in a conference call, did not name the jurisdictions, but he said that the European Union as a whole, which has 28 members, would not receive…
Tellurian to Start Building LNG Export Plant in 2019
U.S. liquefied natural gas company Tellurian Inc said on Wednesday it expects to start construction on its Driftwood LNG export terminal in Louisiana in the first half of 2019 and begin operations in 2023.Chief Executive Meg Gentle said in the company's third-quarter earnings that Tellurian will announce partners in the $27.5 billion project by the end of 2018.Driftwood is one of dozens LNG export projects under development…
Oil Up as U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Iran
Oil prices recovered some ground on Monday after five days of heavy losses as the United States imposed a range of punitive sanctions on Iran, aiming to curb exports by the Islamic Republic, including its sales of fuel.The move is part of a wider effort by U.S. President Donald Trump to curb Iran's missile and nuclear programmes and diminish its influence in the Middle East.Iran said it would continue to sell oil abroad.Benchmark Brent crude oil was up 80 cents a barrel at $73.63 by 1420 GMT. U.S.
US Judge Halts Keystone XL Oil Pipeline
A U.S. judge in Montana has halted construction of the Keystone XL pipeline designed to carry heavy crude oil from Canada to the United States, drawing a sharp rebuke on Friday from President Donald Trump.The ruling of a U.S. Court in Montana late on Thursday dealt a major setback to TransCanada Corp, whose stock dropped 2 percent in Toronto. Shares of companies that would ship oil on the pipeline also fell.TransCanada said in a statement it remains committed to building the $8 billion…
Oil Falls as U.S. Crude Enters 'Bear Market'
Oil prices fell to multi-month lows on Friday as global supply increased and investors worried about the impact on fuel demand of lower economic growth and trade disputes.Benchmark Brent crude fell below $70 a barrel for the first time since early April, down more than 18 percent since reaching four-year highs at the beginning of October.Brent dropped $1.52 to a low of $69.13 before recovering to around $69.55 by 1430 GMT, down 4.5 percent for the week and 16 percent this quarter.U.S.
U.S. Pipeline Operators Reap Hefty Profits from Bottlenecks in Texas
Some of the biggest pipeline operators in the United States have supercharged earnings this year by buying deeply discounted shale in West Texas oilfields and selling it at a premium at Gulf Coast ports.These companies are taking advantage of extraordinary markdowns in West Texas where surging production and a lack of pipeline space sent the regional price for oil in late August $23 per barrel below the coastal price in Houston.Record…
US Drillers Add Rigs for Fourth Week in Five
U.S. energy firms added oil rigs for a fourth time in the last five, keeping the rig count at its highest in over three years even though crude futures were on track to fall for a fifth week in a row to their lowest level since February.Drillers added 12 oil rigs in the week to Nov. 9, bringing the total count to 886, the highest level since March 2015, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday.The U.S.
Encana Widens N. America Reach with $5.5 bln Newfield Deal
Canada's Encana Corp will buy Newfield Exploration Co for $5.5 billion, giving the natural gas producer greater access to North America's biggest oilfields.Thursday's all-stock deal will give Encana more acreage in United States' Anadarko and Permian basins as well as Canada's Montney regions. This fits into its five-year plan to boost output by focusing on high-margin, liquids-rich production.U.S. listed shares of Encana fell 15 percent…
Enbridge's Profit Beats Estimates
Enbridge Inc, Canada's largest pipeline operator, topped analysts' estimates for quarterly profit on Friday, as the company transported more oil on its Mainline system that runs from western Canada to the United States.The company said it moved 2.58 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil on its Mainline system during the quarter, up from 2.49 million bpd a year earlier.Canada's oil producers are desperate for new export pipelines…
US Oil Drillers Cut Rigs for First Week in Four
The U.S. oil drilling rig count declined this week for the first time in four weeks, although the rig count held close to its highest in over three years as production surges to record highs and some companies forecast even higher output this year.Drillers cut one oil rig in the week to Nov. 2, bringing the total count down to 874, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday.The U.S.
US Grants Temporary Iran Oil Waivers to Eight Countries
The United States has granted exemptions to eight countries allowing them to temporarily continue buying Iranian oil, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday, as Washington reimposed sanctions on Iran's banking, energy and shipping industries.Some of the eight countries - China, India, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea - include OPEC member Iran's top customers.Pompeo said more than 20 countries have already cut their oil imports from Iran, reducing purchases by more than 1 million barrels per day.(R
