Top Stories
Oil steadies as Saudi sees OPEC ‘common position’
Oil prices steadied on Thursday after Saudi Arabia said OPEC was moving towards a common position on oil production that some investors think could support prices. Brent crude futures for November were unchanged at $46.89 a barrel by 0825 GMT (0425 ET) after settling $1.84 lower at Wednesday’s close. U.S. crude futures were up 5 cents to $44.75 a barrel, after falling $1.65 in the previous session. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Thursday that OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers were increasingly moving towards a common position. “I think there is a move toward a common position, toward a common effort,” he told an event in Tokyo. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are due to meet in Algeria on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF) on […]
Natural Gas Sinks on Large Stockpile Addition
Natural-gas prices are posting some of their largest daily losses of the past month on Thursday after data showed a storage addition last week far beyond expectations. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said natural-gas stockpiles grew by 51 billion cubic feet last week, compared to the 43 bcf expected by forecasters surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The report is a widely watched measure of supply and demand. A larger-than-expected addition to storage likely indicates greater supply or smaller-than-expected demand. Losses had been mounting throughout the morning and doubled after the EIA’s report. Futures for October delivery recently fell 8.9 cents, or 3.1%, to $2.798 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are at intraday lows for the past week. “All of a sudden it’s Labor Day and the market realizes the heat’s going away,” said Teri Viswanath, managing director, natural gas, at PIRA […]
OPEC Pumps Record Crude In August
Oil Asia OPEC’s crude production increased by 40,000 bpd in August over July to a record-high in recent times, with Saudi Arabia likely setting a fresh output record, according to the Reuters survey published on Wednesday. The closely-followed survey is based on shipping data and information provided by industry sources. Last month, total OPEC output rose to 33.5 million bpd from 33.46 million bpd for July, with output by Middle Eastern producers offsetting oil taken offline in Africa’s Nigeria and Libya. Reuters sources said that Saudi Arabia had likely reached a new production record. The survey puts the output of OPEC’s biggest exporter at 10.70 million bpd, up from 10.67 million bpd. Some industry sources even predict that Saudi Arabia may have pumped 10.90 million bpd in August. According to the survey, among the Middle Eastern countries, output rose last month in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE, while […]
Venezuelans turn out in mass protest against Maduro
Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan protesters flooded the streets of Caracas on Thursday to put pressure on the socialist government of President Nicolás Maduro to allow a recall referendum to remove him. The protest comes as the South American country endures its most severe economic and social crisis in living memory. Two-time presidential candidate and opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who spearheaded the rally, hailed the march as “the largest mobilisation in the history of Venezuela. Venezuelans want to decide their future. Let the world see how afraid Maduro is of the people in the streets, and of the recall vote.”
Despite last-ditch efforts by the government to quash the rally — including the arrest of opposition leaders, deportation of journalists and accusations that the opposition was fomenting plans for a coup — the turnout was bigger than anything seen two years ago when mass protests rocked the country, killing dozens in opposing camps. It was even considered by some observers as the largest rally against the socialist revolution, launched by the late Hugo Chávez, in more than a decade. Anti-government protesters dressed in white chanted “this government will fall”, and held placards reading “you are useless, resign”.
Shell Looking Beyond Petroleum
There are many players looking to enter the oil markets thanks to the raft of deals available as the oil price crash appears to be over. For the oil majors, this will likely mean major opportunities to snap up unconventional producers and assets at low valuations. One “oil” major that may not be participating is Shell. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant is increasingly turning away from its roots in oil and moving towards natural gas as an alternative. In the year 2000, 37 percent of Shell’s production was from natural gas. By 2015, that number had risen to 49 percent. For ExxonMobil, those figures were 40 percent in 2000 and 43 percent in 2015. For Chevron and BP, the 2000 figures were 27 percent and 40 percent respectively, and for 2015, it was 33 percent and 38 percent. Among oil majors, only ConocoPhillips has seen a comparable shift […]
