Top Stories
Major Banks Growing More Bearish On Oil Prices
The renewed downturn in oil prices has forced major banks to slash their price forecasts for 2017 as a new bear market induces heightened pessimism. The Wall Street Journal surveyed 13 investment banks on their predictions for Brent prices, and the average result was $56 per barrel for 2017, which was about $1 per barrel lower than the survey the WSJ conducted in June. The investment banks also don’t see oil prices bouncing back to $50 per barrel until the end of this year, which is a dramatic change from last year’s expectation that oil would hit $70 in 2016. “There is still a lot of oil out there and the sentiment is pretty bearish,” Michael Wittner, chief oil analyst at Société Générale SA, told the WSJ. “For the time being, the path of least resistance for oil prices continues to be lower.” On Wednesday, the EIA provided another […]
Oil prices give up early gains as oversupply weighs
Oil prices slipped after gains earlier on Thursday and the previous day as overproduction and large volumes of unsold crude and ample refined products around the world weighed on markets. Brent crude futures were trading at $42.77 a barrel at 0942 GMT, down 33 cents from their last close and down from an intra-day high of $43.65 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $40.69 per barrel, down 14 cents, and after hitting an intra-day high of $41.41 per barrel and rising 3.3 percent in the previous session. “Prices began to recover following the publication of the U.S. inventory data [on Wednesday], and continued to do so into the morning,” Commerzbank said in a note. U.S. gasoline stocks dropped 3.26 […]
Oil Soars 6 % As Andy Hall Warns Of A “Violent Reversal”
WTI Crude is up over 6 percent in 24 hours since yesterday’s surprise build (and production cut), as the machines squeeze out an over-exuberant short positioning once again. However, just as we saw last year around this time, Astenbeck infamous oil veteran Andy Hall is warning that a “violent reversal higher” looms again amid extreme positioning and potentially improving fundamentals. Exaggerating the move further is the surge in the contango which has once again made sea-storage profitable, sending yield-seeking traders into the carry trade (and squeezing shorts further). As Bloomberg reports , despite what Hall called a “miserable month” for oil in July, supplies are still shrinking, he said in his letter, setting up prices to reverse themselves. “Prices are now back at levels that would ensure the eventual bankruptcy of most of the oil industry”, hammering both private oil companies and producing countries like […]
OPEC’s New Chief Says Oil Above $100 a Barrel Was ‘Abnormal’
Oil above $100 was ‘unsustainable’ risk to economy: Barkindo Rise in U.S. rigs unlikely to boost output or hurt price: OPEC Oil’s climb above $100 a barrel before prices crashed in 2014 was driven by “abnormal” conditions that couldn’t last, according to OPEC’s new Secretary-General. The “skyrocketing of prices” that pushed crude as high as $147 in 2008 was “unsustainable” and probably harmful to the global economy, Mohammed Barkindo said in the group’s monthly Bulletin. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will continue to work with other oil producers and consumers to find the commodity’s “elusive fair price,” he said. Oil surged above $100 as climbing demand, political risks to supply and a weakening dollar lured speculators to bet on ever-rising prices. After slumping in the financial crisis of 2008, prices recovered to trade near $100 until summer 2014, when a glut caused by booming U.S. shale supply sent […]
$40 Billion In Spending Planned For Canada’s Oil Sands
The oil sands of Alberta have attracted a lot of attention recently, not just because of the wildfires that took a lot of production offline in May, but also because of longer-term issues such as environmental protection and oil price trends. It seems, however, that they have a reasonably bright future ahead of them. A GlobalData report has revealed that total capex investments in the oil sands stand at $82.8 billion, of which $40.6 billion worth of new and expanding projects are seen to come on stream over the next ten years. That’s pretty impressive against the backdrop of divestments and cost cuts that have plagued the local oil industry thanks to the oil price rout. The oil sands are a major contributor to the Canadian GDP. Last month Statistics Canada reported that, because of the wildfires, GDP in May fell by 0.6 percent, which was the […]
