Month: February 2015

Singapore (Platts)–13Feb2015/309 am EST/809 GMT Front-month April ICE Brent crude prices breached the $60/barrel mark for the first time in over a month during mid-afternoon Asian trade Friday, February 13, amid investor optimism that a Greek debt deal with the European Union could be reached. At 2:20 pm in Singapore (0620 GMT), April ICE Brent crude prices rose 72 cents (1.21%) from Thursday’s settle to $60/b. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem agreed Thursday on the sidelines of a European Union summit to resolve their differences over extending Greece’s current bailout, AFP reported. Article continues below… Platts Global Alert is a complete real-time information service for the global energy industry, providing breaking reports of deals done, price indicators for crude and products and more than 200 end-of-day assessments. Talks Wednesday between Greek Finance Minister Yaris Varoufakis and his 18 eurozone counterparts had broken down acrimoniously […]

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Dow Jones Newswires By Timothy Puko Natural-gas futures dropped Thursday after federal data showed U.S. storage levels fell less than expected last week. Storage levels shrank by 160 billion cubic feet in the week ended Feb. 6, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. The drain was 10 bcf less than the 170-bcf consensus average of 16 forecasters surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The EIA update is widely considered one of the best measures of supply and demand, and this draw would indicate larger supply or lower demand than expected. That caused prices to drop sharply. The front-month March contract settled down 8.4 cents, or 3%, at $2.713 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It snapped a three-session winning streak that came from colder weather and rising expectations for demand. Natural-gas analysts have overestimated storage withdrawals three weeks in a row, a trend that […]

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LONDON— Royal Dutch Shell PLC Chief Executive Ben van Beurden sees oil demand outpacing supply growth this year, and is warning that supply may decline if oil prices stay low. In excerpted, prepared remarks released by Shell on Thursday, Mr. van Beurden said expectations for higher economic growth this year should translate into higher demand for oil. “But seeing today’s prices, supply will probably not keep pace with this growth,” according to his prepared remarks, which he is expected to deliver later Thursday. “It may even decline.” Mr. van Beurden said a rapid recovery in oil prices could “occur if projects are postponed or even canceled. This would lead to less new supply—not so much now, but in two or three years. Combined with economic growth, the market could tighten quickly in this scenario.” He said, though, that if U.S. output proves resilient in the face of today’s lower […]

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LONDON—Oil prices rose on Thursday but analysts remained cautious after news that U.S. oil supplies had touched record highs. Brent crude for March delivery rose 2% to $55.80 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March recently traded at $50.16 a barrel, up $1.34, or 2.8%. Market participants said traders are looking to book gains before the expiration of the Brent March contract on Thursday. Analysts also pointed to weakness in the U.S. dollar, which is supportive of dollar-denominate commodities such as oil. Looking at the longer term fundamentals, however, the picture hasn’t changed much, analysts say. U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week, reaching another record high, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The EIA also reported U.S. oil production rose by 49,000 barrels a day to 9.2 million last week, an […]

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Christine Lagarde, managing director or the International Monetary Fund, extends hand to Ukraine as cease-fire deal helps allay investor concerns about the state of world affairs. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI Multilateral negotiators in the capital of Belarus hammered out an "immediate and full" cease-fire agreement in eastern Ukraine that would enter into force during the weekend. Ongoing conflict in the region has put Western powers in a tug-of-war with Russia over Ukraine, a former Soviet republic. The agreement came as the International Monetary Fund extended a $17.5 billion hand to a Ukrainian economy left hobbled by war. That was enough to lift oil markets limping into the second week of February, following last week’s rally that led some analysts to speculate a floor price for crude oil has been reached. The price for the global benchmark Brent gained more than 3 percent early in the trading session to […]

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LONDON (Reuters) – Brent oil futures rose to $56 a barrel on Thursday, as a weakened dollar and industry spending cuts offset worries of a supply glut after U.S. crude inventories increased for a fifth consecutive week. The dollar fell 0.25 percent against a basket of currencies .DXY, making dollar-traded commodities such as oil more attractive. "The dollar is weaker against all the commodities at the moment," said Michael Hewson, chief analyst at CMC Markets. "We saw a heavy selloff in commodities yesterday and I think that’s why we’re getting a little bit of a rebound in oil prices on the back of that." March Brent futures LCOc1 were up $1.38 at $56.04 a barrel by 0938 GMT (04:38 a.m. EST), following a 3 percent loss in the previous session that saw prices break below $54 at one point. U.S. March crude futures CLc1 were trading up $1.58 at […]

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Houston (Platts)–12Feb2015/436 pm EST/2136 GMT The NYMEX March natural gas futures contract settled at $2.713/MMBtu Thursday, down 8.4 cents, as the market responded bearishly to gas storage data that was on the low end of analyst expectations. "The smaller-than-expected 160-Bcf draw was the third consecutive bearish miss, reinforcing the idea that the background supply/demand balance has weakened, most likely on increased supply," Citi Futures Perspective analyst Tim Evans said in an email. "This will be a test of market sentiment and will possibly downgrade the concern about upcoming cold." US natural gas in storage fell 160 Bcf to 2.268 Tcf for the week that ended Friday, the US Energy Information Administration said Thursday in its weekly gas storage report. The pull from storage stocks was on the low end of analyst expectations that EIA would estimate a 160-170 Bcf draw. "On its face, the draw was not that bearish, […]

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Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Bloomberg, International Monetary Fund Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter of crude oil and other petroleum liquids in the world, and their oil exports accounted for 89% of the country’s total revenue in 2014. The recent decline in global oil prices is decreasing the value of these exports, leading to a potential budget shortfall. In its 2015 budget, Saudi Arabia plans to spend about $230 billion but expects to take in $190.7 billion in revenue, resulting in an overall deficit of $38.6 billion. While the oil price assumption was not specified in Saudi Arabia’s budget, the budget was crafted in December 2014, when crude oil prices were between $55 and $70 dollars per barrel. In addition to having the second-largest proved oil reserves —268 billion barrels, or 16%, of the world total in 2014, behind only Venezuela’s 298 billion barrels—Saudi Arabia has […]

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