US Energy Exports Severely Disrupted by Hurricane Laura
Oil and gas exports from the United States have been severely disrupted by Hurricane Laura, with nearly a million barrels per day (bpd) of crude exports likely reduced this week by closures of U.S. Gulf Coast terminals and disruptions at ports.The hurricane also temporarily suspended operations at several liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in the world’s third largest exporter of the super-cooled gas, with shipments on track to fall to their lowest in 18 months.Laura made landfall early Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana border, one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the region…
U.S. Sends First Crude Shipment to Saudi Arabia in Years
The United States sent a shipment of crude to Saudi Arabia in June, data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed on Wednesday, in what appears to be the first such delivery since the U.S. ban on crude exports ended in 2015.The United States shipped about 550,000 barrels, or 18,300 barrels per day (bpd), of crude to Saudi Arabia in June, U.S. Census data shows. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has no recorded instances of a U.S. crude shipment to Saudi Arabia.U.S. Census data shows a miniscule 1,000-barrel shipment to Saudi Arabia in 2002.
Flurry of US Crude Export Fixtures Offers Slimmer of Hope
A flurry of tentative bookings to export U.S. crude oil from the Gulf Coast suggests demand is edging up after the coronavirus slammed energy consumption worldwide.BP, Trafigura and Equinor have all tentatively fixed vessels this past week to carry U.S. crude to global destinations over the coming month, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and shipping sources.Commodities merchant Trafigura and Occidental Petroleum are among companies looking to book vessels to ship crude from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Asia, one shipbroker said. The U.S. Gulf export market was particularly active last week…
Oil rises 5% in second weekly gain on output cuts, demand hopes
Oil prices settled 5% higher on Friday in their second consecutive week of gains as U.S. producers cut production with the number of drilling rigs falling to a record low, and as more states moved ahead with plans to relax lockdowns intended to halt the coronavirus pandemic.The number of operating oil and natural gas rigs fell by 34 to an all-time low of 374 this week - reflecting data going back 80 years - as the energy industry slashes output and spending to deal with the coronavirus-led crash in fuel demand.North American oil companies have…
Pemex Trading Arm Mulls Canceling May-June Cargos
The trading arm of Mexican state oil company Pemex is mulling options to slash the number of fuel cargoes the country imports in May and June as demand plummets because of the coronavirus, three sources close to the talks told Reuters.Pemex last week declared force majeure over fuel supplies from its trading arm PMI Comercio Internacional after a bottleneck of more than 60 vessels built up outside Mexican ports, waiting to discharge.But PMI still has not declared force majeure - a contract provision that allows a party to temporarily suspend its obligations due to external circumstances - over its own fuel purchases, which are mostly done through supply contracts with U.S.
Enterprise Offers Crude Shipments From Gulf Coast to Cushing
Enterprise Products Partners LP said it would offer spot shipments of crude on an existing pipeline from the U.S. Gulf coast to Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for benchmark U.S. crude futures, as demand to store oil inland surges.The move marks a sharp reversal from recent pipeline projects that were all built connecting inland markets to the Gulf Coast as U.S. crude exports climbed to record highs after Washington lifted a ban in late 2015.However, the coronavirus pandemic has crushed global oil demand and dented U.S. crude exports, and put a premium on finding places to store oil as a worldwide glut builds.About 54% of total U.S.
The Numbers Tell the Story of Oil Industry Crisis
Global oil producers and refiners are struggling with a series of unprecedented dislocations as the simultaneous epidemic and volume war between Saudi Arabia and Russia rip through every element of the supply chain.Some idea of the extraordinary speed and scale of the disruptions was evident in the "Weekly Petroleum Status Report" published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.The United States is the world's largest oil consumer and producer, though it is not entirely representative of the whole global market.But its weekly…
Brent Crude Drops to $26.35. Outlook Bleak
Oil prices fell on Thursday, ending three sessions of gains, as movement restrictions worldwide to contain the coronavirus destroyed demand and overshadowed expectations that a U.S. $2 trillion emergency stimulus will bolster economic activity.Brent crude futures fell $1.04, or 3.75%, to $26.35 a barrel by 0834 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 94 cents, or 3.8%, to $23.55 a barrel. Both contracts are down about 60% this year."Oil markets received a lift from the U.S. stimulus chatter, but for the most part activity remains rudderless, awash in a sea of oil," Stephen Innes, market strategist at AxiTrader, said.The U.S.
Trafigura, Phillips 66 to Build Deepwater Texas Oil Port
Global commodities trader Trafigura said on Friday it had formed a joint venture with U.S. refiner Phillips 66 to build a major deepwater port in Texas capable of handling supertankers, ditching its own competing project.The Bluewater Texas Terminal, which will be located 21 nautical miles east of the entrance to Corpus Christi port, will consist of two single point mooring buoys that can load Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) capable of carrying around 2 million barrels of oil.Geneva-based Trafigura said it had withdrawn its Texas Gulf Terminals…
Corpus Christi Crude Exports Boom
U.S. crude exports from Corpus Christi, Texas, have surged to a record in recent weeks, often surpassing hubs such as Houston and Beaumont, Texas, thanks to faster-than-expected infrastructure additions.The infrastructure boom at Corpus Christi helped push crude exports there to a weekly record of 1.59 million barrels per day (bpd) in late December, more than doubling levels that held for the first eight months of last year, and above Houston's 2019 peak of 1.36 million bpd, according to vessel-tracking firm ClipperData.The heavy flows suggest that fears of a bottleneck that would impede U.S.
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 of remaining…
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. That reduction, however…
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, drillers added 15 rigs…
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, according to Baker Hughes data going back to 1987.The oil rig count…
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 of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are all projecting that the oil market will be in surplus in 2020.Each of the three agencies is forecasting that non…
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 900,000 b/d, respectively.ESAI points to declining capital expenditures by many shale producers in response to investor pressure to spend within cash flow…
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 Network on Friday that…
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 2,400 sq km (927 sq miles) in the oil-rich Khuzestan province, Rouhani said.Iran ranks as the world’s fourth–largest reserve holder of oil, and the second-largest holder of gas reserves, according to the U.S.
U.S. Refiners Control Gasoline, Diesel Oversupply
U.S. refiners have cut seasonal crude processing sharply since the start of the second quarter, averting a potential oversupply of gasoline and distillates, but worsening the build up of crude stocks.U.S. refiners have processed an average 16.64 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude since the start of the year compared with 16.94 million bpd at the same point in 2018 (https://tmsnrt.rs/2N9ziVH).Some of the loss can be attributed to the destruction of the 335,0000 bpd Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery by fire near the end of June.But refiners started running below prior-year rates from March…
Investors Brace for Poor US Shale Earnings
Investors are bracing for weaker results from U.S. shale players in coming days as lower oil and natural gas prices and cost-cutting measures have weighed on third-quarter operations.Major shale producers ConocoPhillips and Concho Resources this week kick off quarterly earnings reports for a group whipsawed this year by volatile pricing and investor demands for improved returns. Oil and gas producers have cut drilling and slashed jobs amid worries over pricing outlooks.U.S. oil prices are down 17% and natural gas is down about 31% from a year ago, undercutting production increases.
