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North America Should Look to Nafta on Oil Boom, Pemex CEO says

North America will become the world’s cheapest source of energy if Canada, Mexico and the U.S. pool their resources to reduce costs and generate industrial growth across the continent, the chief executive of Mexico’s state-owned oil producer said in an interview. The call for greater collaboration to leverage North American’s oil and natural gas boom comes as leaders of the three nations prepare to gather in Toluca, Mexico, for a summit on Feb. 19. Mexico, the U.S. and Canada should work together on matters such as regulation and infrastructure to make the most efficient use of the continent’s growing energy production that’s reshaping global markets, said Emilio Lozoya, the CEO of Petroleos Mexicanos , or Pemex. “More than a counterbalance” to the market influence of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, “I see it as our own strength,” Lozoya said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg News […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Crude-oil markets subdued as traders out for Presidents Day and IP Week

Brent crude oil was largely unchanged in London trading Monday, with activity reduced by the Presidents Day holiday in the U.S. and a high profile industry event. Brent crude for April delivery was trading down just 3 cents at $109.05 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures were trading up 43 cents at $100.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Nymex contract continues to be underpinned by cold weather in the U.S. that has boosted demand for oil products. The front-month contract topped $100 a barrel last week for the first time in 2014 and has mostly held above that mark since. Nymex’s strength is also supporting the price of Brent, with imports of crude oil into the U.S. rising slightly to meet the cold-weather demand. The front-month Brent contract has now traded near the top of its recent $100-$110 a barrel range for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil price above $100 on China credit growth

The price of oil extended gains above $100 a barrel Monday as a rebound in Chinese credit growth suggested steady demand in one of the world’s largest petroleum consumers. Benchmark U.S. crude for March delivery was up 47 cents to $100.77 a barrel at 0630 GMT in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 5 cents to close at $100.30 a barrel Friday. Favorable credit growth numbers from China suggested its economy is avoiding a sharp slowdown, which would keep demand for energy steady. Lending by Chinese banks and in the largely unregulated underground market rebounded to 2.6 trillion yuan ($430 billion) in January from December’s 1.2 billion yuan, according to the central bank. Lending usually surges at the start of a new year but January’s rise exceeded forecasts and might help to ease worries about cooling retail sales, manufacturing and other activity. Brent crude, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The World Floating Production Market Forecast 2014-2018

  Floating Production Deployments set for Significant Increase in 2014 Douglas-Westwood’s NEW World Floating Production Market Report forecasts that between 2014 and 2018 $99 billion (bn) will be spent on floating production systems (FPS) – an increase of 138% over the preceding five-year period. The long-term growth in the sector is underpinned by the continued exploitation of deep waters, marginal fields and fast-track/short term deployments. Deepwater FPS deployments are expected to total $68bn in value and account for over two-thirds of the total spend. FPSOs form the largest segment of the market (80%) both in terms of units installed and forecast capital expenditure (Capex) over the 2014-2018 period. Latin America accounts for 29% of the 139 installations forecast and 38% of the projected Capex. The FPS sector recovery following the 2008/2009 downturn continues steadily. A total of 54 units were ordered in 2011-2013 compared to 23 units ordered during […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tanker Insurers Warn on Iran Shipments

The world’s largest pool of tanker insurers is advising members they shouldn’t insure Iranian oil shipments, citing the short-time frame of sanction loosening agreed to between Iran and Western powers. The move is a blow to Iran, which had hoped a six-month, temporary easing of sanctions would allow it to restart petrochemical exports and modestly boost its export of crude. It could also complicate efforts by Washington and its allies to provide Tehran’s new political leadership enough incentive to keep up its side of the nuclear pact it reached with the West. Late last year, Tehran agreed to closer scrutiny of its nuclear program in exchange for temporary sanctions relief. As part of the package, which formally went into effect last month, sanctions against Iranian petrochemical shipments were suspended until July. The package also theoretically allowed insurers to cover ships carrying Iranian crude. While that doesn’t affect a cap […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraq strains under largest internal refugee crisis since height of war

Iraq has the largest internal displacement since the height of the US war on its hands today as government forces try to wrest control of parts of Anbar Province back from militants, adding yet another source of instability to a country already teetering. Skip to next paragraph According to a Feb. 13 United Nations report , 62,679 families have fled since the fighting began at the end of December – 13,000 of them this week alone. With the UN’s rough estimate of six people per family, that is more than 370,000 people, most of them pouring out of the Anbar cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. According to the report, 85 percent of Fallujah’s population has been displaced. Some are finding shelter in other parts of Anbar, but many are moving on to neighboring provinces, and an estimated 5,000 families have traveled to the relative safety of Iraqi Kurdistan in the […]

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Iraq turns to Sunni tribes, but distrust remains

Iraqi officials have begun recruiting thousands of Sunni fighters on the government payroll, supplying weapons to other volunteer tribal fighters and pledging millions of dollars in aid to restive Anbar province as they try to beat back extremist Sunni jihadi militants. The militants are battling for control of mainly Sunni areas west of Baghdad in a key test of the Shiite-led government’s ability to maintain security more than two years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops. But the push to expel the jihadis — members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, until recently al-Qaida’s powerful affiliate in Iraq — is complicated by divisions among the tribes that form the social fabric of the besieged city of Fallujah and other parts of Anbar, raising questions over whether the government needs to make a bigger investment to win over Sunni skeptics. Many in the Sunni […]

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Slaying of South Korean tourists signals turn in Egypt’s Islamist insurgency

“This is more of a challenge to the government and the state’s authority than there ever was before,” said Kamal Habib, a founding member of Islamic ­Jihad, a group that was at the forefront of a similar revolt in Egypt in the 1990s but that later renounced violence. He noted that today’s insurgents are using heavier weapons, such as missiles and bombs. The bus blew up Sunday afternoon when it was parked just 200 yards from the Israeli border in the resort town of Taba, sending black plumes of smoke into the sky, according to images on Egyptian state television. There was no immediate assertion of responsibility for the attack, which killed two South Korean tourists and the Egyptian bus driver, according to the Health Ministry. It had earlier reported that three tourists were killed. At least 15 South Koreans were wounded. But Habib said the blast indicates that […]

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Venezuela expels 3 US diplomats

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday ordered the expulsion of three U.S. Embassy officials who he said had been conspiring against his government. Maduro didn’t identify the consular officials, but said intelligence officials who tailed them for the past two months found evidence they were trying to infiltrate Venezuelan universities, a hotbed of recent unrest, under the cover of doing visa outreach. Foreign Minister Elias Jaua is scheduled to provide more details Monday. Triggering the expulsion was the Obama administration’s siding with opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who is being hunted by police as Maduro accuses him of leading a "fascist" plot to oust the socialist government two months after it won mayoral elections by a landslide. Maduro said State Department official Alex Lee, in a phone conversation with Venezuela’s ambassador to the Washington-based Organization of American States, warned that arresting Lopez would bring serious negative consequences with international ramifications. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuelan Opposition Leader Says He Will Risk Arrest

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who hasn’t appeared in public since a state dragnet was launched for his capture last week, vowed in a video message Sunday that he would march with antigovernment protesters in the coming days and face arrest. Thousands of antigovernment demonstrators filled the streets for a fourth consecutive day Sunday since a deadly march claimed three lives last week. State authorities have accused Mr. Lopez of plotting the bloodshed to spark a U.S.-backed coup. In a video posted on the website YouTube, Mr. Lopez called for a new protest on Tuesday, which he said he would lead to the Interior and Justice Ministry, setting the stage for his possible apprehension. "I have nothing to fear, I have not committed any crime," he said in the brief video. "If there is some decision to illegally arrest me, well that is where I will be." There was […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple