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Brent Crude Heads For Weekly Loss

Crude-oil futures extended losses in Asian hours Friday due to an uncertain demand outlook that has kept oil prices choppy throughout the trading week. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at $101.99 a barrel at 0624 GMT, down $0.41 in the Globex electronic session. April Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.21 to $108.75 a barrel. Both Nymex WTI and Brent crude fell overnight and have settled lower for two of the past three sessions, after a strong rally last week. The easing of strong winter demand in the U.S., warmer temperatures in Europe and worries over China’s sustained economic growth are together weighing on crude-oil prices. "It’s also probably worth bearing in mind that the global supply/demand balance typically swings to a surplus for the second quarter, when global demand is at its weakest for the year," […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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WTI Crude Trims Monthly Gain as U.S. Fuel Demand Declines

West Texas Intermediate crude fell for a second day, trimming a monthly advance amid speculation demand may slow in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, as refineries enter the spring turnaround season. Futures decreased as much as 0.5 percent in New York and were set for the first weekly drop in one-and-a-half months. A measure of U.S. fuel use slid to the lowest level since June, data from the Energy Information Administration show. OPEC’s production declined to the least in more than two years as Saudi Arabia curbed output and Libya ’s supply was disrupted, according to a Bloomberg News survey. “Supply is still ample, winter demand is coming off, and refineries will enter maintenance season,” Carsten Fritsch , an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt , said by e-mail. “ Oil prices should continue trading marginally lower today and the days ahead.” WTI for April delivery fell […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Asia's Iran oil buys start to rise after nuclear deal

Asian buyers increased purchases of Iranian crude by 22 percent in January from a year ago as the grip of sanctions imposed since 2012 loosened following a landmark agreement in November to curtail Tehran’s nuclear programme. The OPEC member’s oil sales in January to its four biggest buyers topped the 1 million barrels per day (bpd) where Western powers wanted to hold shipments to maintain pressure on Iran to end the disputed programme. China, India, Japan and South Korea together bought an average of 1.25 million bpd last month, government and industry data showed. They bought 1.03 million bpd in January a year ago. Increased crude exports from Iran may […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Asia’s Iran oil buys start to rise after nuclear deal

Asian buyers increased purchases of Iranian crude by 22 percent in January from a year ago as the grip of sanctions imposed since 2012 loosened following a landmark agreement in November to curtail Tehran’s nuclear programme. The OPEC member’s oil sales in January to its four biggest buyers topped the 1 million barrels per day (bpd) where Western powers wanted to hold shipments to maintain pressure on Iran to end the disputed programme. China, India, Japan and South Korea together bought an average of 1.25 million bpd last month, government and industry data showed. They bought 1.03 million bpd in January a year ago. Increased crude exports from Iran may […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Bombings kill at least 31 in Iraq

A bomb hidden on a motorcycle exploded at a secondhand market in Iraq’s capital, the deadliest of a series of bombings Thursday around Baghdad that killed at least 31 people, authorities said. The motorcycle market blast struck Baghdad’s sprawling eastern Sadr City district as night fell, killing at least 22 people and wounding 45, officials said. It appeared as though the motorcycle bomb had been slipped in among the other bikes on display, officials said. A wounded man, who identified himself as Ahmed, rested in a nearby hospital. "I was about to leave the market when a huge explosion happened," Ahmed told Reuters. "I was hit in my face and my hands and when I got up, everyone was screaming and running towards me away from the blast." Meanwhile, two other bombs struck across the capital targeting minibuses ferrying home laborers at the end of the workday. In Sadr […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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New trouble sends Libya's oil production nosediving again

Libya’s oil production has tumbled to about 230,000 barrels per day after armed groups shut down the el-Sharara oil field in the Murzuq desert in the southwest, adding to a crippling seven-month oil crisis centered in the rebellious east. The shutdown of el-Sharara, one of Libya’s biggest fields with a normal output of 340,000 bpd, was a serious setback to efforts by the problem-plagued transitional government to push national production back to the 1.4 million bpd it achieved last summer. But about 2 1/2 years after Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was driven from power in a NATO-backed uprising, the North African producer remains mired in lawlessness and anarchy, with the government powerless to restore stability or control dozens of heavily armed militias and tribal groups. The current production level marked a significant decline from the 370,000 bpd the National Oil Corp. announced last […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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New trouble sends Libya’s oil production nosediving again

Libya’s oil production has tumbled to about 230,000 barrels per day after armed groups shut down the el-Sharara oil field in the Murzuq desert in the southwest, adding to a crippling seven-month oil crisis centered in the rebellious east. The shutdown of el-Sharara, one of Libya’s biggest fields with a normal output of 340,000 bpd, was a serious setback to efforts by the problem-plagued transitional government to push national production back to the 1.4 million bpd it achieved last summer. But about 2 1/2 years after Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was driven from power in a NATO-backed uprising, the North African producer remains mired in lawlessness and anarchy, with the government powerless to restore stability or control dozens of heavily armed militias and tribal groups. The current production level marked a significant decline from the 370,000 bpd the National Oil Corp. announced last […]

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Egypt plans dam-busting diplomatic offensive against Ethiopia

CAIRO, Feb. 27 (UPI) — Egypt may be in the throes of political turmoil, but the government has begun a diplomatic offensive aimed at stopping Ethiopia from building a huge hydroelectric dam on the Nile River that Cairo says will be a disaster for the Arab world’s most populous nation. The military-backed administration began its effort to internationalize the thorny issue in hopes of gathering support for its case against Ethiopia, where the Blue Nile rises in the northwestern highlands, after bilateral negotiations deadlocked in January. "The campaign initiated by Egypt … aims to persuade the international community to reject the dam’s construction because it may lead to further conflict and instability in the region of the Nile Basin," an Egyptian diplomatic source in Cairo told the Middle East’s al-Monitor website Feb.19. "More negotiations with Ethiopia only waste time and directly threaten Egypt’s water security," said the source, who […]

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Jordan expects huge savings from shale oil

Jordanian officials say shale oil exploration in the country could save it an estimated $300 million per year in heavy oil and diesel imports. Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour met Thursday in Amman with Estonian Finance Minister Jurgen Ligi to discuss investments in Jordan’s shale oil deposits, the official Jordan News Agency reported. Both sides are planning work on a plant that will use shale oil to produce electricity and reduce imports, the report said. In 2008, Jordan and Estonia agreed to funnel shale oil to the Attarat power station, which is expected to begin service in 2017. The plant should have an operating capacity of 540 megawatts, officials say. The Jordanian government says it estimates it holds about 34 billion barrels in shale oil that it expects to tap into with the help of Estonian investments. Estonian officials have described Jordan’s shale potential […]

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Nigeria: Shell Shuts Nembe Creek Trunkline Due to Oil Leak

Shell has shut a key oil pipeline in southern Nigeria to stop a leak caused by oil theft and sabotage, a spokesman said yesterday, without disclosing the volume of output loss. "We closed the Nembe Creek Trunkline on Sunday for the removal of crude theft points," spokesman Precious Okolobo told AFP. Shell has deployed engineers to repair the pipeline in the Niger Delta region, which feeds the Bonny exports terminal and would reopen "as soon as repair works are completed," he added. Oil majors do not usually give information on production losses. Local media in Nigeria estimated that about 95,000 barrels of crude per day might have been shut in as a result of the closure. Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer, accounting for more than two million barrels per day. Crude oil theft or "bunkering" is a major problem in Nigeria, with estimates that the country loses some $6 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple