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Oil prices rise on tight market outlook, expected fiscal stimulus
Oil prices rose early on Friday, with Brent jumping back above $50 per barrel, as investors positioned themselves for more price increases this year in expectation of a tighter market. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $50.04 per barrel at 0026 GMT, up 33 cents from their last settlement. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 28 cents at $48.61 a barrel. Traders said the higher prices were a result of a tightening physical market, in which large oversupply that led to the 2014-2016 price slump was now being brought back into balance. A further easing of monetary policy expected on the back of Asia’s slowing economies and because of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union was also seen as a reason for financial traders to put money into commodities, […]
Oil Prices Fall on Demand Fears After Brexit Vote
Oil prices edged lower in volatile trade on Friday amid continued uncertainty about the impact of the Brexit referendum on crude demand. Brent crude, the global oilbenchmark, fell 0.6% to $49.41 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading down 0.6% at $48.05 a barrel. Analysts at Barclays said that uncertainty in financial markets created by the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union will be a drag for oil demand, which has already been weakening this year. “The U.K. Leave vote has added another nail to the coffin for global oil demand in 2016,” the bank said in a report on Friday. “The path of oilprices is likely to track the political uncertainty in the months ahead.” Barclays has revised […]
Paper: OPEC worked to derail U.S. shale
Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries altered their behavior to limit the role of U.S. shale oil producers, a Norwegian paper found. “There is no consensus in the literature on how OPEC behavior affects crude oil prices,” a discussion paper published Friday by Pal Boug, Adne Cappelen and Anders Rygh Swensen with Statistics Norway read. “Some studies treat the oil market as a standard competitive market where OPEC plays no important role, whereas others argue that OPEC is a dominant producer with a competitive fringe or a cartel that adjusts its production to influence crude oil prices in a way that benefits the member states.” According to OPEC, its mission is to coordinate member state polices to […]
Exclusive: BP-Exxon impasse blocks renewal of giant Azeri oil deal – sources
U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil ( XOM.N ) and Britain’s BP ( BP.L ) are at loggerheads over a giant oil production deal with Azerbaijan, blocking renewal of what was once called “the contract of the century”, three high-level industry sources told Reuters. BP, which operates the Azeri-Chigar-Guneshli (ACG) fields in the Caspian Sea and relies on them for a tenth of its global output, has tentatively agreed terms with the Azeri government on extending the 30-year contract, they said. But Exxon, which gets around one percent of its hydrocarbon production through its stake in the ACG consortium, has been holding out for a better deal since the halving of world oil prices in 2014. The result is deadlock in talks over a project that may produce another $100 […]
US auto sales hit record in first 6 months
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U.S. auto sales may be slowing, but they still set a record in the first six months of this year. Sales through June were up 1.5 percent to 8.65 million, eclipsing last year’s record of 8.5 million, according Autodata Corp. That was partly due to a strong June, which saw sales rebound after a disappointing May. Sales rose 2.5 percent to more than 1.5 million. Ford, Honda, Fiat Chrysler, Hyundai, Subaru and Nissan all reported gains for the month. Sales were down at General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen. After six straight years of growth – and record sales of 17.5 million last year- U.S. sales are beginning to plateau. In the first six months of last year, for example, sales were up 4 percent, or more than double the pace of this year. But low gas prices, low interest rates, enticing new vehicles […]
