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U.S. Oil Rig Count Increases For 6th Time In 7 Weeks
The US oil and gas rig count rose by 7 this week, with Baker Hughes adding 6 more oilrigs to the count and one more gas rig, bringing the total operational rigs in the U.S. to 447. Released at 1:00pm EST Friday, the new Baker Hughes weekly rig count shows 357oil rigs currently active in the U.S., along with 89 gas rigs active. The biggest gains were made in New Mexico, with 4 new rigs, and Louisiana, with 3 new rigs. Last week, the rig count was up 9 rigs in total, with 10 new oil rigs on the scene, with the biggest gains in Texas’ Permian basin, which saw 4 new active oil rigs last week, following by Williston with two new rigs last week. Rigs engaged in exploration and production in the US rose for the third straight week, data showed on […]
Is Oil Going Back Under $40?
In recent weeks the oil market has seen negative sentiment drive prices lower based on expectations of heightened output (some of which have been realized) from recent problem areas including Canada, Nigeria and Libya while refining margins have collapsed and Brexit has added to macro/demand concerns. Over the last two months speculators have trimmed net length by 32 percent in NYMEX WTI and reduced net length in ICE Brent by 21 percent. During WTI’s rally from $26.05 to $51.67 many traders assumed that a gasoline demand boom and falling non-OPEC+Russia production would accelerate a clearing of the global crude supply overhang and lead to higher prices. Instead, traders are looking at a more negative macro picture, a global glut of gasoline is weighing on the entire complex and fear of another move into the $30s is gaining momentum. • In our view, however, a protracted move […]
Oil Settles Near $46 Amid Nigeria Force Majeure, US Fuel Glut
Oil closed near $46 a barrel in New York as the market weighed a force majeure declared by Exxon Mobil Corp. on crude shipments out of Nigeria against excess U.S. oiland product inventories. Futures rose 0.6 percent after fluctuating between losses and gains in New York. Exxon declared force majeure on shipments of Nigeria’s biggest crude export grade. China processed a record amount of crude in the first half of 2016 as economic growth last quarter exceeded estimates, adding support to the market. U.S. crude production, on the other hand, rose for the first time since early June last week and fuel stockpiles climbed, according to an Energy Information Administration report released on Wednesday. “We have bullish news. We have bearish news. It’s a moody market,” Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago, said by telephone. “The big bear case is we […]
Oil Prices Tick Higher on Demand Expectations
Oil prices rose Friday as better-than-expected Chinese economic data boosted expectations for oil demand from that nation, the world’s No. 2 oil consumer. But U.S. drilling data showed an uptick in the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S., capping price gains. U.S. oil for August delivery settled up 27 cents, or 0.6%, at $45.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose 1.2% this week. Brent, the global benchmark, rose 24 cents, or 0.5%, to $47.61 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, posting a 1.8% weekly gain. Oil demand has been robust this year because of relatively low prices around the world, even as a persistent oversupply of crude has kept prices subdued. Oiltraders have closely watched China for signs of whether the country’s crude consumption is set to slow amid worries about its economic growth. China’s National Bureau of Statistics said […]
Oil bounces after big losses but glut persists
Oil prices rallied from sharp losses on Thursday but brokers said the downtrend could resume soon as record-high stocks and worries over slowing economic growth dampened sentiment. Brent crude oil was up 50 cents at $46.76 a barrel by 0745 GMT (03:45 a.m. EDT). U.S. crude was up 60 cents at $45.35. “The oil market is oversupplied, OPEC production is on the rise and we had a rather bearish weekly U.S. oil stats report,” said Tamas Varga at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates. Crude stocks in the United States fell less than expected last week, while distillate inventories rose the most since January and gasoline stocks unexpectedly increased, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. A bearish assessment of the oil market by the […]
As China’s Economy Slows, Beijing’s Growth Push Loses Punch
Mo Ping for years made his living by tending the mango and jujube trees that he grew on less than an acre on this tip of land in the far south of China. Then last year Mr. Mo and others in his village near the city of Leizhou received what they considered a lowball offer to sell their land to make way for a $1.5 billion coal-fired power plant. Most rejected it, but the local government sent in bulldozers anyway. “There were several hundred police on the scene, and they wouldn’t allow us to get anywhere near the farm,” said Mr. Mo, a 51-year-old with dirt caked under his close-trimmed fingernails. “My heart ached and I cried because I was really upset.” The coal plant is part of a huge and expensive government push to reinvigorate the Chinese economy. Officials have fast-tracked the plant in recent […]
