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Sluggish Oil Demand Emerges As A Potent Factor In The Peak Oil Debate

Peak oil isn’t what it used to be. That’s not simply because the theory of global oil supply peaking has been postponed courtesy of the U.S. production rebound, it is also because a second meaning to the expression is making a return, and that’s peak demand. A fresh glimpse of demand for oil peaking came last week in the release of the April edition of Oil Market Report by the International Energy Agency. While most interest was in oil supply, a natural focus given the glut which has depressed the price of oil, there was a more important factor in the report and that was the modest demand growth forecast from the agency. Sluggish Demand Growth The key figures were a 1 million barrel-day increase in worldwide oil supply during March to an 95.2 million barrels a day, and a 1.1 million barrel a day increase in demand to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil extends gains on lower U.S. rig count, Chinese stimulus

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Monday, extending last week’s gains as a drop in the number of U.S. rigs drilling for crude pointed to lower supply later in the year, while China’s latest stimulus measure also underpinned the market. U.S. oil drilling rigs fell for a record 19th straight week to the lowest since 2010, data from Baker Hughes showed. While the drop slowed, suggesting the collapse in drilling could be coming to an end, Schlumberger Ltd ( SLB.N ), the world’s largest oilfield services company, said an eventual recovery in U.S. oil drilling activity may never reach last year’s frenzied pace. China’s central bank cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves on Sunday, the second industry-wide cut in two months, adding liquidity to bolster the economy. Brent crude CLOc1 was up 70 cents at $64.15 a barrel by 0532 GMT. It settled […]

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Oil Futures Gain on China Central Bank’s Move

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures rose in Asian trade Monday after China announced a surprise cut in banks’ reserve requirements over the weekend. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in May traded at $56.45 a barrel at 0433 GMT, up $0.71 in the Globex electronic session. June Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.65 to $64.10 a barrel. Over the weekend, China’s central bank announced a surprise one-percentage-point cut in banks’ reserve requirement. The move came a few days after data showed China’s economic growth decelerated to 7% year-over-year in the first quarter, the slowest pace in six years. The size and timing of this cut indicates the country’s leaders are more deeply concerned about the state of the economy than official comments previously indicated, Brian Jackson, China economist at IHS Global Insight, said. He said the move potentially unleashes 1.2 […]

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Khamenei says Iran nuclear weapons are a ‘myth’

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday the United States had created the "myth" of nuclear weapons to portray Iran as a threat, hardening his rhetoric before nuclear negotiations resume this week. Khamenei has supported the talks but has continued to express deep mistrust of the United States. As the highest authority in Iran, the withdrawal of his support could cause the negotiations to collapse. "They created the myth of nuclear weapons so they could say the Islamic Republic is a source of threat. No, the source of threat is America itself," Khamenei said in comments cited by the semi-official Fars news agency. "The other side is methodically and shamelessly threatening us militarily … even if they did not make these overt threats, we would have to be prepared," he said in an address to military commanders. Iran and six world powers including the […]

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Supreme Leader Denies Iran Seeking Nuclear Weapons

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivering a speech to military commanders in Tehran. ENLARGE Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images DUBAI—Iran’s supreme leader said it is a myth that his country is trying to develop nuclear weapons, and he accused the U.S. and Israel of posing the real threat to security in the Middle East. In remarks Sunday to mark Iran’s annual Army Day, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exhorted troops to increase their defensive preparedness and said his country was constantly under threat of military action and wasn’t even given ample scope to defend itself. “They fabricated the nuclear weapon myth to say that the Islamic Republic is a threat,” Mr. Khamenei said, according to his official website. “No! The threat is the U.S.,” he said, accusing Washington of interfering and fomenting insecurity. The U.S. and Israel both act without any checks and “meddle in any place they find necessary,” he […]

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Oil Executives Circle Iran

Oil Executives Circle Iran thumbnail International sanctions have yet to be lifted on Iran, but Western oil executives this past week showed an appetite for doing business there at a stately hotel a few blocks from the Danube River. A little-publicized conference, the South Caspian Region Petroleum & Energy 2015 Summit, drew energy executives from Houston and London to Vienna where they shared coffee and cake with Iranian government officials on Tuesday and Wednesday. Among the international companies that sent executives were Chevron Corp. and Amec Foster Wheeler PLC, according to attendees. The presence of Western oil officials at an Iran-focused conference points to the shaping of a new business landscape in the Persian Gulf country with the prospect that economic sanctions could be lifted sometime this year. Iran and a group of Western nations led by the U.S. agreed this month to a political framework for lifting a […]

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Iraq Fighting Triggers Humanitarian Crisis Near Baghdad

ENLARGE Displaced Iraqis who fled fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State for the city of Ramadi, 60 miles from Baghdad, arrive on the outskirts of the capital on Sunday. Photo: ahmad al-rubaye/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images AMRIYAT AL-FALLUJAH, Iraq—Fighting between Islamic State and Iraqi security forces has displaced at least 90,000 civilians in the past several days, the United Nations said on Sunday, as a new humanitarian crisis unfolded on the fringes of the capital. Thousands of displaced people carried what few belongings they could across a floating bridge that forms the only connection between Anbar province—the heartland of Iraq’s Sunni minority—and Baghdad over the weekend. Most were fleeing the embattled city of Ramadi—Anbar’s provincial capital about 60 miles west of Baghdad. Fighting in Anbar intensified two weeks ago when provincial officials announced the start of a campaign to clear the province of Islamic State insurgents. Late last week, […]

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Houthi Militant Leader Vows No Surrender

ENLARGE Houthi commander Abdel Malik Al Houthi delivers a televised speech on the Al Masirah television station in San’a, Yemen, on Sunday. Photo: yahya arhab/European Pressphoto Agency Abdul Malik Al Houthi, leader of Yemen’s ruling Houthi militants under siege from a Saudi-led effort to unseat him, vowed Sunday he would continue to resist an air campaign and naval blockade that has deepened turmoil in his country. “Our fighters will not evacuate from the main cities or the government institutions,” Mr. Houthi said in a speech, broadcast by the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV channel. “Anyone who thinks we will surrender is dreaming.” The Saudi-led strikes aim to restore to power Yemen’s exiled president , Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Mr. Hadi was forced to flee last month as Houthi militants bore down on the southern port city of Aden, where he had been based. He is now in Saudi Arabia, which […]

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Exclusive: Naimi says Saudi oil production near record high in April

SEOUL (Reuters) – Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi says Saudi Arabia is producing near record levels of crude in April, underscoring the kingdom’s willingness to defend market share at a time when oil markets have staged a fragile recovery. There are worries that growing production from Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could snuff out a recent rebound in oil prices, particularly with economic growth in key oil consumer China the slowest in six years in the first quarter. OPEC had said its overall output surged to 30.79 million barrels per day in March, up 810,000 bpd from the previous month, with demand higher than expected due to lower prices. Naimi said that oil production in Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, was "around 10 million" bpd in April. "I have said many times we will always be happy to supply […]

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Venezuela proposes novel OPEC oil blending deal to fight for market share

ORINOCO BELT, Venezuela (Reuters) – Venezuela has launched talks this month on a novel plan to blend the country’s heavy crude with light oil from other OPEC allies, seeking to create a new variety that can compete against swelling U.S. and Canadian supplies. The proposal, which would expand on a pilot scheme involving Algerian oil last year, envisions supplying refineries built for medium-grade crudes rather than the light oil that has become plentiful as a result of the North American shale boom, said the head of state oil company PDVSA, Eulogio del Pino. Del Pino said he raised the idea during the Summit of the Americas in Panama earlier this month and at a meeting with ambassadors from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Caracas last week. He did not specify how other members had responded or what the next steps would be. The talks suggest that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple