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Saudi-led air raids in Yemen kill 21 two days into truce

Saudi-led air raids killed 21 civilians in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Monday morning, relatives of the victims and medics told Reuters, two days after the start of a United Nations-brokered humanitarian truce that Riyadh does not recognize. "Three missiles targeted the neighborhood, destroying 15 houses and killing 21 people and wounding 45 others," said a resident. A Saudi-led Arab coalition has been bombing the Houthi militia and army forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh since March 26, aiming to push them back from southern and central areas and restore the country’s exiled government. The Houthis, who are allied to Riyadh’s main regional rival Iran, advanced from their northern stronghold a year ago, capturing the capital Sanaa in September and then pushing south early this year, prompting the Saudi-led airstrikes. More than 3,000 people have been killed in the fighting and air strikes so far, amplifying an existing […]

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Mexico’s New Oil Era Is Here and an Economic Legacy Is at Stake

Mexico’s president Enrique Pena Nieto. Photographer: Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto’s credibility on law and order was damaged this weekend by the prison escape of the nation’s most famous drug trafficker. Now he’s about to be tested on his pledge to attract private investment to the flagging oil business and help revive the economy. On Wednesday, the government will hold the first in a series of petroleum auctions that will help open the energy industry, bringing in an estimated $62.5 billion by 2018 and increasing annual output by 500,000 barrels a day. The exploration and production contracts, the first since then-President Lazaro Cardenas nationalized the fields in 1938, will end the monopoly of state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. The success of the auctions also will determine whether Pena Nieto, 48, can reverse a decade-long decline in crude output and fulfill his pledge to double the pace of […]

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Chinese stocks: When mispricing becomes more important than pricing

Shenzhen Stock Exchange (2010) byLeon Petrosyan. Via Wikimedia Commons . Defenders of the free market faith tell us that price conveys a great deal of information, enough that you can base an entire economic system on it without any central planning or coordination whatsoever. Whether extreme devotion to this principle is wise may not be so important to determine this week as whether free market prices are actually available in many markets. Recent events surrounding the precipitous decline of the Chinese stock market are illustrative of this problem, but I’ll come back to this a little later. Years of suppressing the cost of credit through central-bank imposed near zero interest rates has led to the mispricing of anything that depends on credit. The list is long and includes real estate because mortgages are central to its purchase; oil because cheap bank loans and low bond rates financed otherwise uneconomic […]

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China June coal imports jump 16.5% on month to 16.6 million mt

China’s coal imports, including lignite, thermal and metallurgical coal, totaled 16.6 million mt in June, up 16.5% from May, according to preliminary data released Monday by the General Administration of Customs. "Coal trade data showed a positive reversal with imports picking up in June. They have been on a steady decline since hitting a high of 35Mt [million mt] in early 2014," ANZ analysts wrote in a note to clients on Monday. China’s June imports were, however, down nearly 34% year on year. ANZ analysts noted that weak hydro output in June partly supported demand for coal. Article continues below… Platts Coal Trader International is the only daily publication where you can access Platts proprietary price assessments for coal trading in the Atlantic and Pacific markets, including FOB Newcastle 5,500 NAR; CFR South China 5,500 NAR; and FOB Kalimantan 5,900 GAR. Every Friday, CTI includes a weekly biomass supplement […]

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China’s Incendiary Market Is Fanned by Borrowers and Manipulation

Photo An investor monitored stock prices at a brokerage house in Beijing. Chinese officials promoted stock rallies and intervened when prices plummeted. Credit Ng Han Guan/Associated Press SHANGHAI — At the height of the frenzy for Chinese stocks, just about every company was a winner. An online gaming start-up was valued at $7 billion. Shares in a fireworks company that had moved into finance shot up 300 percent. A struggling property developer was transformed into a stock market darling, just by changing its name to suggest it was an Internet company. Then there was the case of Beijing Baofeng Technology, an online video company whose stock price soared 4,200 percent in the three months after it went public early this year. The company’s shares climbed by 10 percent — the maximum amount allowable under exchange rules — nearly every day for more than 30 days. Viewed through the lens […]

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China Rally Gains Steam but Many Firms Still Halted

China shares led Asia higher Monday, as Beijing’s efforts to reverse a massive selloff appear to be holding up, though trading for hundreds of stocks remains halted. The Shanghai Composite Index ended up 2.4% at 3971.14. The index has gained 13.2% since Wednesday’s close, the start of a three-day rally, though remains down 23.2% from its high reached in June. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose 4.2% and the small-cap ChiNext gained 5.8%. Both are down about a third since June peaks. In Hong Kong, stocks rose 1.3%, lifted in late trading by news that eurozone leaders had reached a unanimous deal on Greece’s bailout . A gauge of Chinese companies listed on the city’s stock exchange, known as H-shares, ended up 1.2%. Despite the gains, investors are cautious after four weeks of volatility. Trading suspensions remain a frustration for investors, who might otherwise have sold stocks for cash. […]

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China Oil Imports Rebound as New Emergency Reserves Open

China’s crude imports rebounded last month to near a record as the world’s second-largest oil consumer began filling tanks at a new strategic petroleum reserve site. Overseas shipments rose to 29.49 million metric tons in June, a 27 percent increase from May when shipments were the least since February 2014, according to preliminary data released by the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs on Monday. Oil imports last month were equivalent to about 7.2 million barrels a day compared with a record 7.4 million in April, Bloomberg calculations show. China’s crude imports rose as it began filling the second phase of emergency reserves in the eastern city of Qingdao that have a capacity of 3 million cubic meters (about 19 million barrels). Oil imports may climb in the third quarter from the previous three months as another storage site in the southern Chinese city of Huizhou is scheduled to open, […]

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China June trade data spurs hopes for second half, but imports shrink again

A truck drives past shipping containers at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province January 23, 2015. China’s export sales unexpectedly rose for the first time in four months in June and imports fell again but posted their best performance this year, causing some optimism tepid trade flows are picking up. Yet hopes were offset by a realization that China’s trade sector had a poor second quarter, with volumes contracting significantly from a year ago, further dragging on an already stuttering Chinese economy. With China set to publish its second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data on Wednesday, some analysts warned that lackluster trade is the precursor for disappointing economic growth. "The soft trade data in the second quarter suggest that China’s second quarter GDP will underperform," ANZ economists said in a note, adding that the figure could fall to 6.8 percent from the first quarter’s 7.0 percent. Given the headwinds […]

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Ripples in China Stir Expectations for Oil

In the oil world, just like everywhere else, the sun rises in the East. Oddly, it may set there, too. Friday sees the release of the International Energy Agency’s monthly oil-market report. Many will focus on what the IEA has to say about supply, particularly from U.S. shale. But in a week where China’s stock market showed all was far from well in the world’s emerging market-in-chief, oil investors shouldn’t forget demand. In the July report, the IEA will release its first monthly forecast of what oil demand will be in 2016. In February, when the agency released its annual five-year outlook, it projected global demand next year at 94.47 million barrels a day, up from 93.34 million projected for 2015. These numbers move around a lot. A year ago, the IEA’s first forecast for demand growth in 2015 was 1.41 million barrels a day. By January, that had […]

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The West is so dry even a rainforest is on fire

In a normal year, Washington state’s Olympic National Park is arguably the wettest place in the continental U.S. An annual 150 inches of rain inundate the park’s western slopes, soaking the soil and slicking the branches of the lush temperate rain forest that grows there. Mosses, lichens and ferns festoon the trunks of centuries-old trees, whose thick canopy casts the forest floor into damp, dark shadow. The landscape has a primordial feel to it — cloaked in mist and swathed in green, it looks as though a dinosaur could come stomping out of the underbrush at any minute. But this is not a normal year. This year, ancient tree trunks smolder at their base as they burn from within. The downed wood and debris that carpet the forest floor have dried up into kindling. The abundant lichens that are characteristic of this type of rain forest are now facilitating […]

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Gas overtakes coal at US power stations

The US generated more of its electricity from gas than from coal for the first time ever in April — in a sign of how the shale boom is putting mounting pressure on the country’s mining industry. Plunging prices for natural gas, which have fallen alongside oil since last summer, led to it being used to generate 31 per cent of America’s electricity in April, while coal contributed 30 per cent. This was the first month in US history that gas-fired electricity generation surpassed coal-fired generation, according to SNL Energy, a research firm — although it came close in 2012 when gas prices were also very weak. In 2010, coal provided 45 per cent of US power. Since then, competition from cheap shale gas — unlocked by the rise of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing — plus a growing regulatory burden on coal-fired power plants, has squeezed out coal […]

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Texas Oil Production Increases 16%

While crude oil production in the U.S. seems to have leveled off, oil production in Texas continues to move forward at a brisk pace. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that US oil production declined slightly by 0.5 percent or 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May from the prior month to an average of 9.7 million bpd. In Texas, however, crude oil production increased 16 percent in May to 107 million barrels (3.6 million bpd) from 92 million barrels (3.1 million bpd) in May 2014, according the Texas Petro Index. The surplus of oil in Texas and worldwide has created a softening of price. Prices declined on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) on July 7 to $51.98 the lowest price since April 13 and a 17 percent drop since its 2015 high of $62.58 in May. The six-year low was set on March 18 at $42.03. The […]

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European Leaders Reach Agreement to Resolve Greek Debt Crisis

Photo Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece after reaching an agreement with European leaders in Brussels on Monday. Credit Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Associated Press BRUSSELS — European leaders said Monday morning that they had reached a deal meant to resolve Greece ’s debt crisis and avert a historic fracture in the Continent’s common currency project. “EuroSummit has unanimously reached agreement,” Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, wrote on his Twitter account shortly before 9 a.m. on Monday. The new bailout for Greece would involve “serious reforms” and “financial support,” he wrote. The deal announced early Monday allows only the start of detailed negotiations on a new assistance package for Greece. But the prospect of a new bailout program was expected to give the European Central Bank the leeway to continue channeling sorely needed emergency funding to Greek banks hollowed out by a long economic slump and the withdrawal […]

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Eurozone Leaders Reach Unanimous Agreement on Greece

BRUSSELS—Eurozone leaders said early Monday that they would give Greece another three-year bailout involving some €80 billion ($89 billion) in rescue loans, provided the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras manages to implement a round of punishing austerity measures in the coming days. “EuroSummit has unanimously reached agreement” Donald Tusk, who presided over the talks with leaders, said in a tweet . “All ready to go for ESM [European Stability Mechanism] program for Greece with serious reforms & financial support.” European stocks rallied early Monday on the news. In early trade, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.2%, building on Friday’s hefty gains . Germany’s DAX rose 1.3%, France’s CAC-40 added 1.5% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6%. The euro hit an intraday high of $1.1197 against the dollar before falling 0.4% on the day. The tentative rescue deal—hammered out after 22 hours of, at times acrimonious, negotiations between the […]

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Foreigners Seen Pulling Dividend Cash From Russia as Rally Fades

As Russian companies pay out an estimated 875 billion rubles ($15 billion) in dividends this year through July, some asset managers think foreigners are set to take the money and run. A 14 percent gain in dollar terms has put Russia among the 10 best-performing markets after the worlds’ worst drop in 2014. And the Micex Index’s 4.5 percent dividend yield is the highest among the biggest emerging-market benchmarks. While those may look like reasons to be bullish, GL Financial Group and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc are among those predicting that slumping oil prices and a worsening economic outlook will prompt shareholders to cash out after they’re paid. “The dividend season could serve as an opportunity for investors to exit Russian shares,” Sergey Vakhrameev, a money manager at GL Financial, which oversees about $100 million in assets, said by phone from Zurich. “The majority of foreign investors […]

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IMF Warns Proposed Legislation in Ukraine Threatens Reforms

KIEV, Ukraine—The International Monetary Fund warned Sunday that recently proposed legislation in Ukraine threatens to undermine reforms critical to the success of a $40 billion bailout package for the country. Poul Thomsen, director of the IMF’s European department, said in a statement that seven pieces of legislation up for review in Ukraine’s parliament next week could roll back important reforms on pensions and energy tariffs that Ukrainian lawmakers passed earlier this year. The fund also condemned a separate law passed by parliament earlier this month that would allow Ukrainians to repay foreign currency loans at a more favorable exchange rate, a move some experts have said could collapse the country’s banking system. President Petro Poroshenko has signaled he will veto the foreign-exchange bill. The IMF’s concerns come as Ukraine continues to struggle with a buckling economy, as the armed conflict with Russia-backed rebels persists in the country’s east. Ukraine’s […]

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Nuclear Plant Closing Reflects Overhaul of German Energy Production

Photo Solar panels are commonplace now in Grafenrheinfeld, where a nuclear plant was shut last month. Germany aims to close all such plants by 2022. Credit Gordon Welters for The New York Times GRAFENRHEINFELD, Germany — In one of this country’s most popular novels for young readers, the nuclear reactor on the edge of this Bavarian town melts down, spewing a radioactive cloud that threatens all of Germany and robs a 14-year-old girl of her family and her hope for the future. Last month, that nuclear power plant in Grafenrheinfeld , responsible for meeting the energy needs of industry-heavy Bavaria since 1981, came to a less dramatic but equally symbolic end. The plant became the first active reactor to be decommissioned since 2011, following Chancellor Angela Merkel ’s about-face on nuclear power after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant catastrophe in Japan. Taking Grafenrheinfeld offline is a milestone in Germany’s […]

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Oil balanced on IEA, IMF growth forecasts

Oil prices hold steady in early Friday trading after a report on global demand declines balances an brush off of the Chinese stock market collapse. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI NEW YORK, July 10 (UPI) — Crude oil prices started Friday holding relatively steady despite a downbeat forecast from the International Energy Agency. Brent crude oil prices started the day relatively unchanged from Thursday’s close to $58.53 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was steady at $52.65 per barrel. Crude oil markets were volatile for the first full trading week in July as investors took stock of Greek economic troubles and ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran and its international partners. Deadlines and key developments on both fronts may be settled during the weekend. Greek’s economic problems were in part behind the series of events that undermined global performance during the latest fiscal crisis, though European leaders said the […]

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Natural Gas Prices Rise on Hotter Forecast

By Nicole Friedman Natural-gas prices rose Friday on forecasts for slightly hotter temperatures across much of the U.S. over the next two weeks, but analysts questioned whether the gains could be sustained in an oversupplied market. Natural-gas futures for August delivery settled up 4.4 cents, or 1.6%, to $2.770 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Hot weather boosts demand for gas-powered electricity, as households and offices turn on air-conditioning units. Though no extreme heat is expected this month, "today’s forecast is a bit warmer than yesterday’s" in the next 11 to 15 days, said private forecaster WSI Corp. in a note. Robust production has kept prices subdued this summer. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that natural-gas inventories grew by 91 billion cubic feet last week, more than analysts and traders had expected. Gas stockpiles now sit at 2.7 trillion cubic feet, […]

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Greek, Chinese and Puerto Rican Crises All Fall Short of Going Global

After economic turmoil erupted on three continents in recent weeks, a familiar consequence of past crises is notably absent: panic. In Europe, Greece veered dangerously close to exiting the euro. In China, a historic stock bubble appears to be deflating. In North America, Puerto Rico threatens one of the biggest government defaults in U.S. history. But there has been little of the global contagion that followed the deepening U.S. mortgage crisis in the fall of 2008 and previous Greek debt crises. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, responding to signs that Greece may yet strike a deal to stay in the euro, climbed to within 3% of its all-time high. VIX, the stock market’s “fear gauge,” is below levels reached as recently as last December. Yields on bonds issued by Europe’s weaker countries have edged up, but by far less than Greece’s. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen , […]

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WoodMac: $60 Barrel Forecast Hinges on Greece Exit, China Market Trouble

Analyst firm Wood Mackenzie said Friday that it would maintain its July 2 forecast of an average Brent crude oil price of $60/barrel, provided that Greece remains in the Eurozone and that the recent rout in China’s equity market doesn’t reduce China’s oil demand. Global oil prices have declined in response Greece’s no vote on July 5 on further austerity measures, and continued to fall on news of China’s stock market rout. On Friday, Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras submitted a plan for an economic overhaul of Greece following the Greek population voting down a plan drafted by international creditors for the repayment of the nation’s debt. After incurring losses in eight of the previous 10 trading days, the Shanghai Composite on Thursday rose 5.8 percent to 3,709.33, while the smaller Shenzhen market rose 3.8 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported. But both the Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen markets […]

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IEA Says Oil Prices May Fall More Amid Slowing Demand

The International Energy Agency said Friday global demand for oil would slow down next year, as it warned that crude prices could resume a recent downward spiral. “The bottom of the market may still be ahead,” the agency said in its closely watched monthly oil-market report. In its first oil-consumption assessment for next year, the IEA—which advises industrialized nations on their energy policies—said global oil demand growth is forecast to slow to 1.2 million barrels a day in 2016. That compares with an average 1.4 million barrels a day this year. It said a return of Iranian oil and if Greece were to exit from the euro could put further pressure on oil prices—which have lost about 10% in the past month. Tehran this week failed to meet a deadline to clinch a nuclear deal with world powers. But if sanctions were lifted, it could raise exports immediately out […]

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IEA: OPEC production highest in three years

Paris-based IEA finds OPEC production at a three-year high, while long-term output from producers outside the group grinds "to a halt." File Photo by UPI/Gary C. Caskey PARIS, July 10 (UPI) — Output from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates helped boost OPEC oil production to a three-year high, the International Energy Agency said Friday. The Paris-based IEA said in its market report for June production from the 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reached 31.7 million barrels per day, an increase of 340,000 bpd from May and the highest level in three years . A survey earlier this week from energy reporting service Platts found OPEC production in June surged for the fourth straight month . Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, produced an average 10.3 million bpd in June and Iraq increased production by 330,000 bpd to more than 3 million bpd. The […]

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Oil refiners’ ‘mini golden era’ will end soon: IEA

A gas pump is seen hanging from the ceiling at a petrol station in Seoul June 27, 2011. A brief period of high profitability for the world’s oil refineries is likely to come to an end as quickly as it began, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday. Weak crude oil and relatively high prices for gasoline, diesel and petrochemical feedstock have pushed up refining profits sharply over the last six months, helping oil companies cope with much lower profits from upstream production. In the first quarter of this year, combined profits for the likes of BP ( BP.L ), Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ), Exxon Mobil ( XOM.N ), Total ( TOTF.PA ) and Eni ( ENI.MI ) from refining and trading represented 60 percent of total earnings, compared with 18 percent last year, according to Reuters calculations. Crude oil prices collapsed from $115 a barrel […]

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As deadline looms, Kerry says U.S. in no rush to get Iran deal

The United States and other major powers are not in a rush to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday, suggesting an accord was unlikely hours ahead of a deadline set by the U.S. Congress for a quick review. Adding to signs that a deal was not close at hand, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted by Iranian news agency Tasnim as saying Tehran’s "redlines" should be respected in talks aimed at a deal under which Iran would curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. "A deal can be reached only if our redlines are respected," said Ali Akbar Velayati, the adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He also accused Kerry of making comments that were "part of America’s psychological warfare against Iran." Velayati’s reported remarks came after a senior Iranian official in Vienna accused […]

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Diplomats Allow Three More Days to Salvage Iran Nuclear Deal

Diplomats gave themselves three more days to salvage an agreement with Iran that seeks to put to rest concerns over its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. Foreign ministers missed a third deadline in two weeks and now have through Monday, July 13, to resolve the remaining sticking points in an accord that they say is mostly complete. Extending the talks past a July 9 cutoff means the U.S. Congress would have 60 days to review any deal instead of 30 days, delaying the lifting of sanctions. “It’s safe to say we have made progress,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Friday evening. He said the latest session focused on “a couple of very difficult issues” and “the atmosphere is very constructive,” with more meetings scheduled later Friday and on Saturday. For energy-rich Iran, an agreement could speed its return to oil markets and lift financial […]

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Iranian Oil Looms for European Refiners as Nuclear Talks Stall

European refiners from Spain to Greece are ready to resume purchases of crude from Iran as talks on a nuclear deal that could allow the country’s return to oil markets remained deadlocked. Italy’s Saras SpA said it would buy Iranian crude if sanctions were to end, while Spain’s Cepsa S.A.U. said it would “definitely” consider it. Hellenic Petroleum SA said the return of Iranian barrels would be positive for refiners. “As soon as Iranian oil becomes available, we will certainly start buying again,” Loukas Tripelopoulos, a spokesman for Motor Oil Hellas SA, said by e-mail on July 3. “Motor Oil was always very fond of Iranian crude.” Italy, Spain and Greece were the top European buyers of Iranian crude until the imposition of sanctions on the Middle East nation in 2012, according to data from the International Energy Agency. Together, they imported 456,000 barrels a day in 2011, or […]

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Iran Blames U.S. for Delays on Nuclear Deal

Photo People attending demonstrations for Qds Day, or Jerusalem Day, in Tehran on Friday. Credit Newsha Tavakolian for The New York Times TEHRAN — As nuclear negotiations in Vienna grind on through deadline after deadline, Iranian officials have begun a public campaign to blame the United States in the event that the talks fail. Iran ’s public diplomacy has long been geared toward selling a possible deal to hard-liners at home. But as an interim agreement between Iran and the West was extended on Friday to give negotiators more time, the government seemed to recognize the need to prove to ordinary Iranians that it had done all it could to obtain a final agreement and the lifting of economic sanctions. “Such people may ask those in charge of the negotiations, ‘Why have you not compromised more?’ ” said Farshad Ghorbanpour, an analyst who is close to the government of […]

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A Final Hurdle in Iran Talks Deals With Conventional, Not Nuclear, Arms

VIENNA — One of the last major obstacles to concluding a historic nuclear deal with Iran is a dispute over a set of United Nations sanctions that appeared to be resolved months ago and only peripherally has to do with nuclear weapons . The sanctions, passed in a series of resolutions by the United Nations Security Council beginning nine years ago, ban the shipment of conventional arms into and out of Iran . For those worried about Iran’s continued muscle-flexing in the Middle East — supporting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, Palestinian terror groups and Shiite militias in Iraq — keeping the ban in place is critical for containing Tehran, even after a deal is reached. President Obama’s secretary of defense, Ashton B. Carter, even told Congress this week that part of the ban, on technology for ballistic missiles, was critical to […]

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Bombing and heavy fighting rock Yemen despite truce

Saudi-led air strikes and heavy shelling between warring factions shook several cities in Yemen on Saturday, residents said, violating a United Nations humanitarian truce which took effect just before midnight. The U.N.-brokered pause in the fighting was meant to last a week to allow aid deliveries to the country’s 21 million people who have endured over three months of bombing and civil war. A coalition of Arab states has been bombing the Iranian-allied Houthi rebel movement – Yemen’s dominant force – since late March in a bid to restore to power President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh. Air raids pounded Houthi and Yemeni army units in the capital Sanaa and in the embattled southern cities of Taiz and Aden, where residents also reported intense artillery exchanges between the fighters and local militiamen. In Aden, one of the country’s most deprived and war-torn areas, witnesses said Houthi […]

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Sudan builds trenches around oil fields: minister

Sudan oil and gas minister Mohamed Awad Zayid has revealed that Sudanese security forces have dug trenches around oil fields on the border with South Sudan to fend off acts of sabotage. "The trenches will protect the oil fields from sabotage," Zayid was quoted as saying by the state-owned Sudan Vision daily Friday. Zayid did not mention the oil fields nor the group or country that Sudan suspects of sabotaging the vital facilities. But the nearest oil fields, located on the Sudan-South Sudan border, is Heglig, which produces more than half of Sudan’s current total of 133,000 b/d of crude oil. 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. Heglig, whose ownership is being disputed by both Sudan and South Sudan, is […]

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Nigeria: Is Nigeria’s Other Insurgency Making a Comeback?

Blog Even as Nigeria struggles to fight against Boko Haram insurgents in its northeast, a dangerous but forgotten conflict on the other side of the country is resurfacing. Before the rise of Boko Haram, the conflict in the southern Niger Delta region had long been considered the most potent threat to Nigeria’s security. Over the years, it has displaced thousands and cost the government a hundred billion dollars in lost oil revenue. Violence in the south has been at a low ebb since 2009, when Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan bought off rebel leaders with a generous package of stipends. But those amnesty payments are set to expire in December, and new President Muhammadu Buhari will have a harder time dealing with the region than his predecessor: unlike Jonathan, Buhari does not come from the Delta, and global declines in oil prices mean that he has far less cash […]

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U.S. Oil-Rig Count Rises for Second Straight Week

The number of U.S. oil-drilling rigs, which is a proxy for activity in the oil industry, had fallen sharply since oil prices headed south last year. Oil prices fell nearly 60% from June 2014 to a six-year low in March, as soaring production from the U.S. and other countries overwhelmed global demand. There are still about 59% fewer rigs working since a peak of 1,609 in October, though the pace of declines has slowed considerably recently. In late May, several U.S. shale-oil companies said they were ready to bring rigs back into service , setting up the first big test of their ability to quickly react to rising crude prices. According to Baker Hughes, gas rigs were down by two to 217 this week. The U.S. offshore rig count grew by two to 31 in the latest week, though it is still off 25 from a year earlier. For […]

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Eni Oil-Pipeline Explosion in Nigeria Kills 12, Injures 3

Twelve people died and three were injured in an explosion during repair work at an Eni SpA crude oil pipeline in Nigeria. The victims worked on a maintenance team for a local service company, Rome-based Eni said in a statement Friday. The Tebidaba-Clough Creek pipeline in the Niger delta was previously “damaged by acts of sabotage.” The company said it is still investigating the cause of Thursday’s blast. Accidents are common in Nigeria, where pipelines are often breached in attempts to pilfer crude. The incidents interrupt oil and gas flows, affecting Nigeria’s energy exports and revenue for companies including Eni, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp. Thursday’s incident was the worst since January 2012, when an explosion at Chevron’s Funiwa gas field killed two workers, according to a spokesman for a local environmental group. “The dead were unidentifiable,” said Alagoa Morris of Environmental Rights Action, the Nigerian affiliate […]

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U.S. Oil Drillers Add Rigs for Second Straight Week

Drillers put rigs in U.S. oil fields back to work for a second straight week, suggesting the end of an unprecedented retreat from the country’s prolific shale formations. Rigs targeting oil in the U.S. increased by five to 645, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website Friday. They rose by 12 last week. Natural gas rigs fell by two to 217 and miscellaneous rigs dropped by two to one, bringing the total count up one to 863. The biggest regional growth came in the Permian Basin of West Texas, where eight oil rigs were added to 239. The Eagle Ford shale in South Texas saw a drop of five rigs to 81. “There are operators in the Permian Basin who are identifying properties that are economic even at these prices,” Matt Marietta, an analyst at Stephens Inc. in Houston, said in a phone interview. “We’ll continue to get this […]

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EIA’s estimates for state crude oil production account for incomplete, lagged data

graphs of Texas crude oil and lease condensate production, as explained in the article text Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Monthly , and the Texas Railroad Commission Note: June 2015 reports include estimates through April 2015. Market analysts have a keen interest in understanding how crude oil production in key states has been affected by recent changes in crude oil prices and drilling activity. EIA develops state-level production estimates for selected states that are based in part on state-level data. However, data published by state agencies are often incomplete when first published because of a combination of late reporting and processing delays, mainly due to the filing of production reports that do not contain all required information. Because EIA’s methodology for state-level production estimates aims to anticipate and account for expected revisions to data collected by the states, state-level production data published by EIA and state agencies […]

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Hedge funds cut bullish exposure to U.S. oil by most since 2012

Rigging equipment is pictured in a field outside of Sweetwater, Texas June 4, 2015. Hedge funds and other speculators have made their sharpest cut in more than two and a half years to their bullish exposure toward U.S. crude oil, trade data showed Friday, a further sign that investor confidence in the oil market recovery may be ebbing. U.S. crude prices sunk to three-month lows on Tuesday as Greece’s debt woes and China’s stock market plunge escalated, while Iran continued with efforts to remove Western sanctions on its exports so it could more ship more oil into an already flooded market. Corresponding with the oil price tumble, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed money managers’ net long position in U.S. crude futures and options fell by nearly 20 percent in the week to Tuesday, the biggest weekly decline since December 2012. Benchmark U.S. West Texas Intermediate […]

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Energy Storage and the Cost of Going Off-Grid

New energy storage offerings from Tesla and other manufacturers are widely expected to enhance the attractiveness of rooftop solar power and other renewables . However, recent analysis from the Brattle Group shows that even with rapid cost reductions, grid-independence will remain beyond the reach of most consumers . Last month’s Annual Energy Conference of the US Energy Information Administration included speakers and panels on topics such as crude-by-rail, potential US oil exports, and the role of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, all of which should be familiar to my readers here. However, the topic that really caught my interest this year was energy storage. Storage has been in the news lately, particularly since the launch of Tesla’s new home and commercial energy storage products . In fact, Tesla’s Chief Technology Officer spoke on the first morning of the conference. Much of his talk (very large file) focused on Tesla’s expectations […]

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In California, Big Oil Finds Water Is Its Most Prized Commodity

California’s epic drought is pushing Big Oil to solve a problem it’s struggled with for decades: what to do with the billions of gallons of wastewater that gush out of wells every year. Golden State drillers have pumped much of that liquid back underground into disposal wells. Now, amid a four-year dry spell, more companies are looking to recycle their water or sell it to parched farms as the industry tries to get ahead of environmental lawsuits and new regulations. The trend could have implications for oil patches across the country. With fracking boosting the industry’s thirst for water, companies have run into conflicts from Texas to Colorado to Pennsylvania. California could be an incubator for conservation efforts that have so far failed to gain traction elsewhere in the U.S. Drillers may have little choice. The state’s 50,000 disposal wells have come under increased scrutiny this year, after regulators […]

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North Dakota oil output jumps in May despite low prices

An oil pumpjack operates near Williston, North Dakota January 23, 2015. North Dakota’s daily oil production rose 3 percent in May, state regulators said on Friday, hinting that the state’s Bakken shale formation may be more resilient to sliding crude prices than expected. The state’s well count hit a record high in the month with producers deciding to hydraulically fracture more freshly drilled wells, bucking a trend to mothball them. Drilling permit applications also spiked. "I was surprised by the increase in output for May," said Lynn Helms, head of the state’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). "It’s pretty astounding at how good (oil producers) have gotten at what they do." The data signaled that Whiting Petroleum Corp, Continental Resources Inc and other producers in the state have been able to weather a more than 50 percent drop in U.S. crude prices since last summer. North Dakota, the No. […]

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BHI: US rig count continues upward creep

Although the overall US drilling rig count merely edged up a unit to 863 rigs working during the week ended July 10, it represented the third consecutive week of gains and another jump in oil-directed rigs, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. Over the past 3 weeks the overall count has risen 6 units. The warm streak follows 28 consecutive weeks of losses, which has resulted in the count currently having 1,012 fewer units year-over-year ( OGJ Online, June 26, 2015 ). BHI also reported this week that the average US rig count for June was 861, down 28 from May and down 1,000 from June 2014. In an energy update this week, Raymond James & Associates Inc. noted that permitting activity, a main indicator of rig count activity, was low a week ago as a result of the Independence Day holiday in the US. Just 680 new […]

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The EIA’s Short-Term Guessing Game

The EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook came out a few days ago. That is where they try to guess the future production and price for oil, for the USA as well as the world. As of late they seem to be getting a little timid with their predictions. They are saying not much growth is happening until the fourth quarter of 2016, and only a slight bump then. STEO N-O Liquids This chart is Non-OPEC Total Liquids in million barrels per day. Production of N.O Liquids surged upwards from September of 2012 until December 2014, gaining 6.38 million barrels per day in those 27 months. That’s an average increase of 236,000 barrels per day per month. But then in January 2015 there was a drop of 800,000 bpd. Non-OPEC total liquids still have not reached that December high again but the EIA thinks they will by August. I have my […]

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Greek parliament backs government bailout proposals

The Greek parliament voted overwhelmingly on Saturday in favor of authorizing the left-wing government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to negotiate with international creditors on the basis of a reform program unveiled this week. A number of leftist members of the ruling Syriza party, including the speaker of parliament, Zoe Constantopoulou and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis called "present" – in effect abstaining from the vote in a sign of their opposition to the mix of tax hikes and spending cuts it included. However despite the dissidents, there was never any danger to the package, which was backed by pro-European opposition parties. A total of 251 voted ‘Yes’, 32 voted ‘No’ and 8 ‘Present’, while 9 deputies were absent. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou and Renee Maltezou; writing by James Mackenzie ; editing by Costas Pitas )

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Greece Struggles to Rally Support for Its Proposals

Photo Euclid Tsakalotos, the Greek finance minister, on Friday at a meeting of the Syriza party, which was said to be tense because of serious objections among legislators over the additional austerity measures that are laid out in the proposals. Credit Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters BRUSSELS — Just hours after abandoning its anti-austerity position and accepting tough terms to try and secure another bailout, Greece ’s governing party struggled on Friday to rally domestic support for its abrupt reversal while influential voices in Germany and Eastern Europe expressed skepticism about whether Greece would really follow through on pledges to be more fiscally responsible. With a Sunday deadline looming for a decision on whether to cut Greece adrift, a crunch point that all sides see as Greece’s last chance to avoid bankruptcy and stay in the euro, the chances of a deal seemed to hang less on the precise details of Greece’s […]

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In Athens, Greeks Wonder Whether Tsipras Folded or Restored Dignity

Photo Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece, seated, was applauded by members of his governing Syriza Party at the Parliament building in Athens on Friday. Credit Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters ATHENS — Did Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras betray his principles and cave in to Greece ’s creditors? Or did he fight valiantly and succeed in establishing that his nation’s debt load is not sustainable and has to be reduced? Those were the questions being asked across Greece on Friday in the wake of Mr. Tsipras’s abrupt decision to give the creditors nearly all of what they have sought throughout the long and contentious negotiations over keeping Greece afloat. From the halls of Parliament to streets filled with people who have suffered through five years of severe economic hardship, Greeks were struggling to process the news, gird themselves for further budget cuts and assess what they had gotten for their efforts to […]

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Greece Needs $83 Billion in Fresh Funding

BRUSSELS—Greece will need €74 billion ($82.55 billion) in fresh funding, the three institutions overseeing the eurozone bailout program said in their assessment of the country’s request for a new aid package, according to three European officials. The €74 billion could include €16 billion from the International Monetary Fund, should the Washington-based institution decide to participate in the new aid program, the officials said. A fourth official said some funding could come from Greece raising money on debt markets. Two officials said the institutions—which, along with the IMF, include the European Commission and the European Central Bank— found Greece’s proposals for new overhauls and budget cuts to be a basis for negotiating a new bailout “under certain conditions.” The development indicates some of the struggles that could lie ahead this weekend, when eurozone finance ministers and leaders meet to decide on how much money they are willing to commit to […]

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Greek Debt Crisis 2015

Pro-Euro protesters gather in front of the parliament during a rally in Athens. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann LATEST: France says Greek proposals "serious and credible" Following is the latest news on Greece’s debt crisis after euro zone leaders set Athens a deadline of the end of the week to come up with convincing reform proposals. All times are in GMT. 0852 – Eurogroup chief Jeroen Djisselbloem says a "major decision" on Greece could be made at the planned meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Saturday. 0817 – French President Francois Hollande says negotiations between Greece and its international creditors must resume with the aim of reaching a deal after the country came up with "serious and credible" proposals. 0801 – French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron says he is reasonably optimistic that Greece will reach an aid-for-reforms deal with its creditors. 0746 – France’s European affairs minister says the latest proposals […]

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Oil rises on hopes for China, Greece but demand worries weigh

A man (R) refuels his motorcycle at an Aegean Oil gas station in Athens February 10, 2015. Oil prices rose on Friday, lifted by a rebound in Chinese stock prices and hopes that the Greek debt crisis could be resolved, but worries about oversupply and slowing demand limited gains. Brent crude oil LCOc1 was up 31 cents at $58.92 a barrel by 0839 GMT. So far this month, the international benchmark has lost more than 7 percent. The day’s gains lagged those seen in stock markets, as worries about global demand growth kept oil prices in check. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday that oil prices are set to come under further pressure from easing global demand and an expanding glut of crude, while a rebalancing of the oil markets may last well into next year. The IEA, the West’s energy watchdog, said it expected global demand […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple