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Big Oil Begins To Worry About Trump’s Wall
Donald Trump’s idea to build a wall along the southern border of the U.S. has been called everything from controversial to harebrained, but—to the likely dismay of some of the oil majors—it’s now officially part of the Republican Party’s platform. As it turns out, the idea has been on the GOP table for a while, and Trump was just the man to voice it loudly and persistently enough. Trump’s wall is on the agenda, should he become president. A wall stopping people and vehicles from illegally crossing into the U.S. may appear to be a simple and effective solution to illegal immigration, but it sure won’t sound so good to Marathon Oil, Anadarko Petroleum, Exxon, Chevron, Kinder Morgan and their peers. The reason: since Mexico liberalized its energy market back in 2014, it has become an attractive investment destination for U.S. energy companies. E&Ps are bidding for oil and […]
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Brent Crude Fails to Extend Gain as Turkey Oil Flows Continue
Tanker traffic and pipeline flows are normal: Energy Ministry Thousands of army officers, judges snared in wave of arrests Brent crude held below the highs reached following a failed coup in Turkey last week as shipments continued through the vital conduit for oil from Russia and Iraq to the Mediterranean Sea. Futures were little changed in London, below levels touched on Friday as the coup raised concern about potential disruptions. Oil tankers are loading and unloading cargoes at Turkey’s ports and supplies are arriving in ships and pipelines from neighboring countries, an Energy Ministry official said Sunday, declining to be identified in line with ministry rules regarding comments to news media. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered reprisals for the failed attempt to oust him. Turkey Oil Infrastructure Turkey oil, natural gas pipelines, refineries and storage tanks “There are obviously concerns about the situation,” Ric Spooner, a chief market strategist […]
China Oil, Coal Buying Seen Sustained as Local Supplies Drop
Falling oil output, higher refining may support crude imports Coal imports may continue to rise to fill gap in supply China’s appetite for foreign energy is as strong as ever. Growing demand from oil refiners and the continued filling of strategic crude reserves in the face of domestic production declines will support crude buying by the world’s second-largest consumer, according to analysts from Energy Aspects Ltd. and ICIS China. Coal imports will continue to rise to help fill a supply gap left by a mining slowdown. “Crude buying will remain substantial in the second half” of the year, Michal Meidan, an analyst at Energy Aspects, said by e-mail. “This is because domestic output is declining and there will also be SPR fills of around 50 million to 60 million barrels.” Demand from the world’s largest energy consumer is a bright spot for energy markets hammered by oversupply. Oil has […]
Shrinking EU Market Share Forces Gazprom To Action
For all the talk that Brexit would spell the end to the EU drive for energy market liberalization, the European Commission seems to have no intention to halt its ambition to complete the internal energy market. And especially in West and Northwest Europe, success is already within reach. As a report by the International Gas Union (IGU) showed in early May, 92 percent of all natural gas prices are now determined on spot-based hubs, up from just 27 percent back in 2005. Overall at the end of 2015, gas-on-gas competition is now the name of the game in most parts of Europe where spot trading makes up 64 percent of all natural gas exchanges, a 49 percentage point increase from a decade ago. Oil-indexed prices are becoming more and more outdated as a global gas glut has transformed Europe into a buyer’s market, in which abundant liquidity and a […]
Exxon Mobil bids $2.2 billion for Inter Oil, may spark bidding war
The logo of Exxon Mobil Corporation is shown on a monitor above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, December 30, 2015. ExxonMobil Corp has made a bid worth at least $2.2 billion for Papua New Guinea-focused InterOil Corp ( IOC.N ), winning the support of InterOil and topping an offer from Oil Search Ltd ( OSH.AX ), Oil Search said on Monday. ExxonMobil’s move pits it against French giant Total SA (TOTF.PA ), which is backing Oil Search’s offer with an agreement to buy part of InterOil’s stake in the potentially lucrative Elk-Antelope gas field. Oil Search has at least until July 21 to submit a revised offer and said it was talking to Total about making a higher bid. “The parties are in active dialogue and have the flexibility to submit a revised offer either during the three day notice period or […]
