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WTI Crude Declines on Rising U.S. Fuel Inventories

West Texas Intermediate crude fell for the second time in three days after industry data showed fuel supplies increased in the U.S., the world’s largest oil consumer. Brent was little change in London. Futures dropped as much as 0.9 percent in New York. Gasoline and distillate inventories each expanded by 400,000 barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report yesterday. Government data today is forecast to show stockpiles of the motor fuel shrank by 1.4 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg News survey. WTI’s moving averages have formed a “death cross,” a bearish chart signal. “The API figures indicate a rise in stockpiles at the end of driving season,” Thina Saltvedt, an Oslo-based analyst at Nordea Bank AB, said today by telephone. “The market has reacted and is now waiting to see what the weekly inventories will show.” WTI for October delivery slid as much as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Closes Lower on Cool Weather Forecasts

(Adds analysts comments, details and prices) By Timothy Puko NEW YORK–Natural-gas prices closed lower for the second straight session as cool weather forecasts keep setting low expectations for demand starting next week The front-month October contract settled down 4.3 cents, or 1.1%, to $3.847 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. After a two-day surge that broke $4/mmBtu last week, prices have fallen back into the 30-cent range they had traded in since July 18. Traders may have been too excited by a temporary burst of heat that is now hitting the country, said Jan Stuart, global energy economist at Credit Suisse Group AG. September just isn’t a hot enough month to get people to use so much air conditioning and gas-fired electricity that it would balance out the unrelenting production coming from the shale drilling boom, he said. "It makes you want to question […]

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ISIL and the Confused Energy Picture

ISIL and the Confused Energy Picture For everyone following today’s energy developments the overall picture is confusing, to say the least. This is particularly apparent with regard to oil supplies from mid-June onwards when the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL — also referred to as ISIS — Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) conflict flared up, with the insurgents making rapid advances across northern Iraq. It could be expected that the immediate knock-on effect of this conflict would be a surge in oil prices, much like the world experienced back in 2008 when there were similar tensions in the Middle East. Indeed, some commentators suggested that this would happen, claiming that ISIL was bent on controlling Iraqi crude oil and as a result there would be a global oil shock as prices skyrocketed. However, over at Chatham House and the Brookings Institution calmer heads were more cautious. […]

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Australia considering ‘general request’ on military action in Iraq

Australian Defence Force planes Australia has received a “general request” surrounding a potential military role in Iraq and is “considering what we may be able to make available”, Tony Abbott has told parliament. The prime minister raised the prospect of a greater role for Australia in countering the advance of Islamic State (Isis) in an update on Wednesday. He did not elaborate on the nature of the general request, but the government has previously signalled that it was prepared to consider making Australian Super Hornets available for US-led air strikes on Isis targets in Iraq. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has participated in humanitarian airdrops of supplies to Iraqi people trapped by Isis. The ADF also announced on Wednesday that it had completed a mission to deliver arms for use by Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting Isis in northern Iraq. Australian political leaders expressed their revulsion at the emergence of […]

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Israel Plans to Sell Natural Gas to Jordan

A group of Israeli companies has signed a preliminary deal to export natural gas from the country’s offshore Leviathan field to Jordan. Reuters JERUSALEM—A group of Israeli energy companies said Wednesday they have signed a letter of intent to sell natural gas to a Jordanian power company, in a potentially multibillion-dollar deal that could strengthen ties between the two Middle East neighbors. The Israeli companies said they would supply 45 billion cubic meters of gas over 15 years from the offshore Leviathan field to Jordan’s state-owned National Electric Power Co. The companies—which include U.S.-based Noble Energy Inc. ‘s Noble Energy Mediterranean Ltd. unit, along with Israel’s Delek Drilling LP, Avner Oil Exploration LP and Ratio Oil Exploration LP—didn’t disclose the value of the deal. Delek Drilling and Avner declined to comment on the deal. Israeli media have reported that the deal is valued at roughly $15 billion. The Israeli […]

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Oryx Petroluem: Kurdish security improved

| License Photo Canadian energy company Oryx Petroleum said "tangible improvements" in the Kurdish north of Iraq mean it can return to work at the Hawler license area. The company in June sold its first volumes of crude oil from the Demir Dagh reserve area to the domestic market. Most of the company’s work there was secured from violence, but Chief Executive Officer Michael Ebsary said operations had experienced a short interruption . "We are very pleased that tangible improvements to the security environment in the Kurdistan Region have enabled us to resume all activities at our core asset, the Demir Dagh field," he said in a statement Wednesday. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said Wednesday it was no longer advising against all travel to the Kurdish capital, Erbil, though much of northwestern Iraq is considered too dangerous for British nationals . The rise of the Islamic State, […]

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Iran, U.S. in another round of bilateral nuclear talks in Geneva

GENEVA (Reuters) – Iran and the United States began bilateral nuclear talks in Geneva on Thursday, the second time the two sides have met since Iran and six world powers failed to meet a July 20 deadline to resolve differences in the long-standing dispute. State news agency IRNA and a U.S. official confirmed the talks were underway. Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia have set a new deadline of Nov. 24 to negotiate a comprehensive agreement under which Tehran would scale back its nuclear activities in exchange for gradually ending the sanctions that have crippled its oil-dependent economy. "If there is good will and a constructive approach, we can reach a desired result before Nov. 24," IRNA quoted Iran’s deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi as saying late on Wednesday. The United States last week penalized a number of Iranian and other foreign companies, banks […]

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Saudi Arabia Oil Sales to U.S. Imperiled by Shale Boom

After years of keeping the price of crude sold to the U.S. low enough to maintain market share, Saudi Arabia is losing ground as the shale boom leaves U.S. refiners with ample supplies of inexpensive domestic oil. Arab Light crude for sale in the U.S. averaged 48 cents a barrel less than Light Louisiana Sweet, a Gulf Coast benchmark, in August, the narrowest discount in data compiled by Bloomberg back to 1991. The U.S. imported 878,000 barrels of Saudi crude a day in the first four weeks of August, the least since 2009. Shale drilling has boosted U.S. oil output to the highest level since 1986. As refineries turn to lower-priced domestic oil to make fuel at a record pace , the Saudis and other foreign suppliers are left with dwindling slices of the market. In June, imports from Saudi Arabia accounted for the smallest share of crude processed […]

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Former Libya Rebels Keep Oil Flowing Amid Islamist Surge

The group that controls Libya ’s largest oil port pledged to work with the government to keep crude flowing to international markets and defend oilfields against any advance by Islamist militias that seized Tripoli, the country’s capital. “We are in agreement with the government of Prime Minister Abdulla al-Theni to work together and defeat Islamist terror,” said Ali Al-Hasy, a spokesman of the Executive Office for the Barqa region, which seeks self-rule for eastern Libya. “The oil fields and oil ports in the region between Benghazi and Sirte are well under our control. Our role is to make sure oil is flowing and production is rising, to ensure that the government has the means to provide for the needs of the people and to successfully confront these terrorists.” While Islamist militias seeking to expand their political power seized control of Tripoli last month, forcing the government to move its […]

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IMF: Oil attacks hurting Yemen’s economy

The IMF said it approved a $552.9 million credit to Yemen to help the country maintain a level of economic stability. The amount is available in semi-annual disbursements, though the IMF’s executive board said $73.8 million was unleashed immediately. Yemen has struggled to sustain a level of political stability and national security since the Arab Spring in 2011 led to the resignation of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh . The current administration of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi is under pressure from the Houthi movement, a Shiite militia. Naoyuki Shinohara, acting chairman of the IMF board, said national security challenges are in the way of Yemen’s economic growth . "In particular, fiscal and external balances have weakened due to delays in key reforms and increased sabotage of oil facilities," he said in a statement Tuesday. The Yemeni government has said militants have tried to use attacks on oil infrastructure […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple