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Oil falls below $50 on economic concerns
Oil fell below $50 a barrel on Tuesday as concern about a potential slowdown in economic growth that would weigh on demand trumped supply outages in Nigeria and other exporting nations. Trade in one of Britain’s largest property funds was suspended in one of the first signs of major financial stress following the country’s vote to leave the EU. A flurry of data from China in coming weeks is expected to show weakness in trade and investment. Brent crude was down $1.04 at $49.06 a barrel at 0847 GMT. The global benchmark is still up more than 80 percent from a 12-year low close to $27 reached in January. U.S. crude was down $1.28 at $47.71 a barrel. “Asia has been relatively weak and China is not providing much support,” said […]
Brent Oil Trades Near $50 as Nigeria Militants Carry Out Attacks
Niger Delta Avengers claim five attacks in blow to cease-fire U.S. drillers bring back rigs as oil market seen stabilizing Brent crude traded near $50 a barrel as Nigerian militants claimed fresh attacks over the weekend, threatening to deepen the country’s biggest output losses in decades. September futures rose as much as 0.8 percent in London after advancing 1.3 percent Friday. The Niger Delta Avengers said they attacked five crude-pumping facilities overnight Sunday, dealing a blow to a government effort to enforce a cease-fire. Shale drillers in the U.S. brought back the most oil rigs of any week this year as confidence in a stabilized market prompts talk of expansion. “You end up with a rather bullish cocktail” when global supply losses are combined, Tamas Varga, anoil analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London, said in a report. “Regular pipeline bombings, production shut-ins and force majeure in […]
Libya Oil Deal Doesn’t Mean It’s Ready to Pump More Oil
The end of a split in Libya’s National Oil Corp. marks a small step toward healing the divided country, but the political stalemate that shut down of most of its crude production is as entrenched as ever. The Government of National Accord was intended to unify Libya after a United Nations-brokered peace deal in December. While it has made some progress, the country is still split down the middle between governing factions. The influence of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj remains largely confined to Tripoli, while military commander Khalifa Haftar dominates the eastern stronghold of what used to be the internationally recognized government. The rest of the territory is a shifting patchwork of tribes, militias and Islamic State. Libya splintered after fighters from different regions came together five years ago to oust Moammar al Qaddafi. Since then, the factions have been vying for control of Africa’s largest crude reserves, source […]
Suicide Bombings Hit 3 Cities in Saudi Arabia, One Near a Holy Site
Bombings rocked three cities across Saudi Arabia on Monday, including near the Prophet’s Mosque in the holy city of Medina, raising the specter of increasingly coordinated attacks by militants seeking to destabilize the monarchy. A suicide bomber struck near the United States Consulate in the coastal city of Jidda in the morning, wounding two security officers. Then, near dusk, when Muslims were ending their daily Ramadan fasts, other blasts struck near a Shiite mosque in the country’s east and at a security post in Medina, killing four guards, according to the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television network.
World’s Top Oil Trader Says Prices Won’t Rise Much Further
Vitol CEO Ian Taylor says crude to end 2016 near $50 a barrel Sees weaker demand growth in China and the rest of Asia Oil prices won’t rise much further over the next year and a half as demand growth slows and refiners comfortably meet gasoline consumption, according to the world’s largest independent oil-trading house . “I cannot see the market really roaring ahead,” Vitol Group of Cos. Chief Executive Officer Ian Taylor told Bloomberg Television in an interview. “We have a lot of oil in the system and it will take us considerable time to work that off.” Since rallying from a 12-year low of $27.10 a barrel in January, Brent crude has been hovering around $50 a barrel for the last month. The international benchmark will probably end the year “not too far away from where we are today” and rise to about $60 by the end […]
