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Banks mixed on impact of low crude oil prices

After Halliburton announces a pull back, several banks offer a mixed report on the impact low oil prices have on the economy. File photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/UPI DALLAS, Jan. 15 (UPI) — The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said in its latest forecast it was less optimistic about its outlook for the year because of the low price of oil. The bank said early this week it expected job growth would be modest and drilling and extraction in the state, the nation’s top oil producer, should fall "sharply" if oil prices stay below the $50 per barrel mark. In its so-called Beige Book, the bank said Wednesday demand for oil services in the Permian and Eagle Ford shale basins declined. "Outlooks for the first half of 2015 are very uncertain and significantly weaker than in the prior reporting period, with firms expecting anywhere from a 15 to 40 […]

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No oil price recovery yet despite U.S. shale slowdown: IEA

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices may have further to fall and a rebound could take some time, despite increasing signs that the downtrend will end, possibly in the second half of this year as North American supply growth slows, the West’s energy watchdog said on Friday. Crude oil prices have fallen almost 60 percent over the last six months with both of the world’s crude oil benchmarks now trading below $50 a barrel as supplies of high quality, light oil from the United States and Canada have overwhelmed demand at a time of lacklustre global economic growth. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has not cut production despite the collapse in prices. "How low the market’s floor will be is anybody’s guess. But the sell-off is having an impact. A price recovery – barring any major disruption – may not be imminent, but signs are mounting that the […]

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Oil Market Report

mb/dWorld Oil Demand1Q20122Q20123Q20124Q20121Q20132Q20133Q20134Q20131Q20142Q20143Q20144Q20141Q20152Q20153Q20154Q2015868890929496© OECD/IEA 2014 World Oil Demand *Please note that these Highlights are from the latest Oil Market Report, which is released in full to subscribers only – according to this schedule each month . Non subscribers get free access to the latest Highlights on this schedule, however the full Oil Market Report is released to the public two weeks after the report is released to subscribers. If you would like to receive the full report with accompanying charts and graphs on the day of publication please subscribe or contact the subscription manager . The price of oil continued to collapse into January as rising supplies collided with weak demand growth and OPEC maintained its commitment to not cut production. Brent crude futures last traded at $48.40/bbl, near a six-year low. NYMEX WTI was at $47.75/bbl. Macroeconomic weakness continues to restrain global oil demand growth, with 4Q14 deliveries estimated […]

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IEA Sees Oil-Price Recovery; Cuts 2015 Non-OPEC Output Estimate

Non-OPEC oil producers will increase output this year at a slower rate than previously forecast, aiding a recovery in crude prices, the International Energy Agency said. The adviser lowered its non-OPEC supply growth estimate by 350,000 barrels a day, the first cut since the 2015 forecast was introduced in July. Half the cut is from Colombian output while effects on U.S. production are so far “marginal,” it said. The slow-down in non-OPEC output will lead to a “rebalancing” of currently over-supplied global markets in the second half, reviving prices, the agency said. “Companies have been taking an axe to their budgets, postponing or cancelling new projects,” the Paris-based IEA, which advises 29 nations on energy policy , said in its monthly market report. “A price recovery, barring any major disruption, may not be imminent, but signs are mounting that the tide will turn.” Oil prices have collapsed almost 60 […]

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Iraq to Double Exports of Kirkuk Crude Amid Oil Surplus

Iraq will double exports within weeks from its northern Kirkuk oil fields and continue boosting output further south amid a global market glut that’s pushed prices to their lowest level in more than five and a half years. Crude shipments will rise to 300,000 barrels a day from the Kirkuk oil hub, where authorities are also upgrading pipelines between fields, Fouad Hussein, a member of the Kirkuk provincial council’s oil and gas committee, said yesterday in a phone interview. “There is a need to install a new pipeline network” to increase exports from the area, Hussein said. Kirkuk, which currently exports about 150,000 barrels a day, will boost shipments to 250,000 barrels a day and then to 300,000 “in the coming few weeks,” he said. Iraq, holder of the world’s fifth-largest crude reserves, is rebuilding its energy industry after decades of wars and economic sanctions. The country exported 2.94 […]

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Iran’s Budget Assumes $40 Oil After Prices Decline 33%

Iran , its oil exports curbed by sanctions, is lowering the crude price for this year’s budget to $40 a barrel as the energy slump affects governments and industry. The government is revising its draft budget to assume a base price of $40, from $72, the state-run Fars News Agency reported Finance and Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia as saying today. The minister said some projects will have to be halted, according to Fars. The Iranian calendar year begins March 21. Brent, a pricing benchmark for more than half the world’s oil, fell 18 percent this year after tumbling 48 percent last year. Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell Plc yesterday called off plans to build a $6.5 billion petrochemical plant in the emirate in response to lower oil prices. Brent crude futures fell 2.9 percent to $47.28 a barrel at 2:27 p.m. in Dubai. Iran, OPEC’s fourth-largest producer, budgeted […]

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Eni acquires deepwater blocks offshore Egypt

01/15/2015 Eni SPA will resume exploration offshore Egypt under concession agreements based on production sharing it has signed covering two deepwater blocks offered in Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co.’s 2013 bid round ( OGJ Online, Sept. 25, 2014 ). Eni subsidiary IEOC is operator. The company holds 100% of the North Leil block, covering 5,105 sq km in 2,050-3,000 m of water about 170 km offshore. It holds 50% of the Karawan block, which covers 4,565 sq km in 1,200-2,200 km of water about 107 km offshore. BP PLC holds the remaining interest. The Karawan block is adjacent to the west of the North Leil block and adjacent to the east of the Shorouk block, which Eni acquired last year. Royal Dutch Shell PLC drilled a dry hole on the Karawan block in 2001 and a dry hole on the North Leil block in 2007. Eni has worked in […]

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Venezuela’s Maduro Pledges OPEC Coordination for Prices

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his government plans to coordinate with OPEC and non-OPEC producers to create a “formula that impacts the oil market and restores the normalization of prices” in the next few weeks. Maduro spoke on Venezuela state television after meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as falling oil prices threaten the economies of both nations. The two leaders met today in Moscow to discuss global oil markets and the “stability of natural resources,” Maduro said. “Venezuela is not just a friend but also a close partner, one of Russia ’s most important partners,” Putin said in a statement posted online by Venezuela’s Information Ministry. Venezuela, which holds the world’s largest crude reserves, relies on oil exports for almost 95 percent of foreign currency earnings. The price of the country’s crude fell to $42.44 a barrel last week from a peak of $100.64 on June 27. […]

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Night lines banned at shops in some Venezuela states; scarcity persists

People line up outside a supermarket to buy toilet paper in Caracas January 12, 2015. REUTERS/Jorge … CARACAS (Reuters) – Governors in three Venezuelan states have banned overnight queuing amid huge and sometimes rowdy lines around shops across the scarcity-plagued country. Shortages of basic consumer products from milk to toilet paper have worsened since a lull in distribution over the Christmas and New Year holidays, prompting many to wait from the early hours on foot – or in hammocks – before shops open. The ubiquitous lines and frequent jostling for places when shop doors finally open are an embarrassment and irritation to Venezuelans across the political spectrum. There have also been scattered protests and arrests. "We are going to prohibit lines outside commercial establishments," Falcon state governor Stella Lugo said late on Tuesday. "Security forces have been instructed." She joined two other governors, in the states of Bolivar and […]

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Cheaper oil tames U.S. producer inflation; jobless claims up

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. producer prices in December recorded their biggest fall in more than three years on tumbling energy costs while underlying inflation pressures were tame, a cautionary note for the Federal Reserve as it ponders its next step on monetary policy. The Labor Department said on Thursday its producer price index for final demand declined 0.3 percent, the biggest drop since October 2011, after falling 0.2 percent in November. "That makes the Fed’s job more difficult," said Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh. "We expect inflation to slow … the Fed needs to be more cautious about raising interest rates." In the 12 months through December, prices at the factory gate increased 1.1 percent, the smallest gain since November 2013, after rising 1.4 percent in November. A broader measure of underlying producer inflation pressures that excludes food, energy and trade services edged […]

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