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Highlights of the latest OMR

Welcome to the OMR Subscriber’s website Please check that your usage of this website conforms to the licence you subscribe to at http://www.iea.org/oilmar/licenceomr.html. Please complete our reader survey to win a copy of the MTOMR 2014: www.surveymonkey.com/s/IEA_OMR_Survey Highlights of the latest OMR dated: 15th May 2014 Oil prices rose marginally month-on-month in April, supported by continued tensions between Russia and the Ukraine, supply outages in OPEC and non-OPEC countries and stepped up crude buying as refiners complete seasonal turnarounds. ICE Brent futures were last trading at $109.85/bbl and NYMEX WTI at $102.10/bbl. Forecast global demand growth for 2014 has been raised marginally since last month’s Report , to 1.32 mb/d, on higher 1Q14 data. Baseline adjustments to 2012 add 0.1 mb/d to the historical average and total demand, now pegged at 92.8 mb/d in 2014.  Global supplies rose 700 kb/d month-on-month to 92.1 mb/d in April, with roughly half of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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IEA April Estimates Confirm Iran Reducing Its Oil Exports

Iran’s oil exports fell in March after reaching a 20-month peak two months earlier, a top energy watchdog said Thursday, potentially easing concerns Tehran that could breach a six-month cap agreed with the West. In its monthly market report, the International Energy Agency said that "estimated April import volumes [by foreign buyers of Iranian oil] were down by about 180,000 barrels a day to 1.11 million barrels a day." The export numbers, which include condensates, compared with 1.29 million barrels a day in March and a 20-month peak of 1.58 million barrels a day in February, it said. The IEA’s data confirmed statements by Iran’s deputy oil minister for international affairs Ali Majedi to the Wall Street Journal last week that crude exports–which exclude condensates–averaged 1.2 million barrels a day in the past three months. That suggested a reduction from February levels of 1.3 million barrels […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Futures Ease Slightly

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at $102.06 a barrel at 0548 GMT, down $0.31 in the Globex electronic session. June Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.14 to $110.05 a barrel. The highlight of the week has been a surprise move in U.S. oil inventories, which rose while markets expected them to be flat, and gasoline and diesel stocks, which fell while markets expected an increase. This may add some volatility to oil prices, Societe Generale said in a note. It said oil stocks at the delivery hub of Cushing, Okla.–which have dropped for 14 of the past 15 weeks and are now at their lowest since December 2008–remain a big concern. On tap today is the International Energy Agency’s monthly oil market report and investors will be looking for any change in oil demand or supply […]

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Iran Is Exporting 1.5 Million Barrels of Oil a Day, Says Minister

Iran is exporting 1.5 million barrels of oil a day, well above an export cap agreed with the international community last November, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Thursday. Last week, Mr. Zanganeh told The Wall Street Journal that the country plans to continue to increase exports, despite agreeing to limit international oil sales to one million barrels a day as part of a broader interim deal with six world powers over its nuclear program. Speaking on the sidelines of a gathering of international energy ministers in Moscow, Mr. Zanganeh added that conditions in the oil market are good and no big changes are expected when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna next month. The oil producers’ cartel meets twice a year to discuss the oil market and determine its level of production. In recent years, its members have maintained […]

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Libya's El Feel Oilfield Restarts, El Sharara Closed

Libya’s El Feel oilfield has restarted production, National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Wednesday, as it moves slowly to restore some output following protests that closed fields and ports. The government said on Monday it had reached an agreement with protesters to reopen the western El Sharara, El Feel and Wafa oilfields and the pipelines connecting them to the Zawiya port. Expectations and doubts about the return of the oilfields have driven global oil prices this week. The El Sharara oilfield, the largest at 340,000 barrels per day (bpd), was still closed on Wednesday, because protesters had not yet opened the pipeline valve to the port, field manager Hassan Sadiq said. "They (protesters) reopened the valves for the Wafa and El-Feel oil fields but not for Sharara," he said. "We are ready to resume work once the valves are reopened." NOC spokesman Mohammed El […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya’s El Feel Oilfield Restarts, El Sharara Closed

Libya’s El Feel oilfield has restarted production, National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Wednesday, as it moves slowly to restore some output following protests that closed fields and ports. The government said on Monday it had reached an agreement with protesters to reopen the western El Sharara, El Feel and Wafa oilfields and the pipelines connecting them to the Zawiya port. Expectations and doubts about the return of the oilfields have driven global oil prices this week. The El Sharara oilfield, the largest at 340,000 barrels per day (bpd), was still closed on Wednesday, because protesters had not yet opened the pipeline valve to the port, field manager Hassan Sadiq said. "They (protesters) reopened the valves for the Wafa and El-Feel oil fields but not for Sharara," he said. "We are ready to resume work once the valves are reopened." NOC spokesman Mohammed El […]

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Iraqi forces begin Fallujah offensive

Iraq’s security forces are now waging a massive offensive in Fallujah against militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), which is currently controlling most of the city. Government forces have regained control of several villages and neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city, as well as the University of Fallujah, in an apparent effort to cut off ISIS supply lines and isolate militants ahead of a larger ground attack. The campaign to retake Fallujah has been dubbed "Ta… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraq parties plot for power as vote count drags on

Iraq’s political parties are already maneuvering to form a government nearly two weeks before preliminary results from the elections are due, with Nuri al-Maliki’s bid to retain the premiership hanging in the balance. With violence at its worst in years and many voters dissatisfied over rampant corruption, high unemployment and poor basic services, the incumbent premier faces strong opposition. But Maliki’s bloc is still widely expected to take the largest number of parliament seats from the April 30 vote, even if they do not win a majority, sparking a race between him and his rivals to secure the 165 seats necessary to form a government. Parties from Iraq’s Shiite, and Kurdish communities have already begun to meet to discuss potential alliances, though provisional results are not expected until May 25. "Politics parties … are manoeuvring in the meantime until results are announced," said Ihsan al-Shammari, professor of politics […]

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Revenues should increase from Kurdish oil, Gulf Keystone says

Production revenues from oil produced from the Kurdish north of Iraq should increase this year, Gulf Keystone Petroleum said Wednesday. Gulf Keystone, which has headquarters in London, said it received a gross payment of $6.46 million in May for its first crude oil exports from the Shaikan reserve areas in the Kurdish north of Iraq. "Production revenues are expected to increase significantly in [second half of] 2014," it said . The company issued an interim financial statement Wednesday. It said gross exports by truck totaled 836,205 barrels for the first quarter of the year. Domestic sales from the Shaikan reserve area in the Kurdish north was 24,767 barrels for the quarter. The company estimates the region’s Shaikan field could hold as much as 10.5 billion barrels of oil. The semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government has said production could reach 250,000 bpd by 2018. Exports of Kurdish […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple