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Remember When We Were Running Out of Crude Oil Storage?

Given the amount of air time the crude oil storage situation received back in March and April, this might be a good time to revisit that situation. If you recall, there was a great amount of hand-wringing regarding the crude oil storage picture in the U.S. Inventories were high and they were continuing to rise. There were a great many articles like this one, which assured us the situation was dire: US running out of room to store oil; price collapse next? “The U.S. has so much crude that it is running out of places to put it, and that could drive oil and gasoline prices even lower in the coming months. For the past seven weeks, the United States has been producing and importing an average of 1 million more barrels of oil every day than it is consuming. That extra crude is flowing into storage tanks, especially […]

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Ruble Heads for Weekly Slide on Oil Before Fitch Rating Decision

The ruble fell as the biggest weekly drop in oil prices in almost three months outweighed optimism Fitch Ratings will retain Russia’s only investment-grade rating. The currency weakened 0.5 percent to 55.824 per dollar as of 5:49 p.m. in Moscow, heading for a weekly decline of 1.9 percent. Brent crude retreated 1.1 percent, poised for a 3 percent decrease in the last five days. Government bonds, known as OFZs, slid. The Russian currency has dropped 12 percent since May 18 as the central bank bought foreign exchange to replenish its reserves, adding to the impact of interest-rate cuts this year. Fitch is the only one among the three major rating companies to keep Russia at investment grade. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said July 2 he doesn’t expect the agency to revise that rating on Friday. “Nobody is counting on the Fitch downgrade at the moment, so if it happens, […]

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French Oil Strike Fizzles in Sign Jobs Worries Damping Militancy

A labor union that orchestrated a complete shutdown of France’s refineries in 2010 failed to gain support for a nationwide strike at oil plants this week in a sign its influence is waning. The Confederation Generale du Travail had called for a walkout at refineries, oil depots and import terminals to protest against a plan by Total SA to halt crude processing at La Mede plant in southern France. There was no labor action Thursday at refineries other than La Mede, where a three-week strike has idled operations, Total said. “The CGT is losing ground in its traditional bastions of power like energy and chemicals,” Bernard Vivier, director of Paris-based researcher the Higher Institute of Labor , said in an interview. “France’s social climate isn’t one of revolt these days but rather of resignation.” The CGT, one of half a dozen unions representing oil workers in France, is protesting […]

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Oil Oversupply Meets Rising Demand in Quietest Market Since 2013

Quietest Oil Market Since 2013 The sleepiest oil market since 2013 will probably limp through the second half of the year as well. Crude traded in a $5 range in June, the narrowest in 19 months. Volume was the lowest since December and open interest – – the number of futures contracts outstanding — was the least since January. New York-traded futures, which have swirled around $60 a barrel for the past two months, will average about $59 in third quarter and $63 in the fourth, according to forecasts of 22 analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Neither the potential return of Iranian crude to the market nor the long-anticipated decline in U.S. production is stirring a reaction. While gasoline demand has increased faster than projected, keeping the oil glut from growing, record production from OPEC’s biggest members and potential for a quick increase in U.S. shale output have capped a […]

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Oil Drops as U.S. Shale Shows Resilience; Greece, Iran in Focus

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures fell in Asian trade Friday, with Nymex crude trading at its lowest level in more than two months, dragged lower by concerns over resilient U.S. shale production in the face of low oil prices and high OPEC production. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $56.66 a barrel at 0331 GMT, down $0.27 in the Globex electronic session. August Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.18 to $61.89 a barrel. The U.S. oil-rig count rose by 12 to 640 the past week, snapping 29 straight weeks of decline, Baker Hughes data showed. This raised concerns U.S. shale-oil production could remain strong and continue to pressure oil prices. Though U.S. oil production continues to rise and contribute to the global surplus, rising output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an even […]

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Oil Heads for Biggest Weekly Drop Since March as Rig Count Rises

Oil headed for the biggest weekly decline since March as a rebound in U.S. drilling added to signs that producers will keep pumping into an oversupplied market. Futures in New York fell for a third day, extending this week’s decline to 5.2 percent. The number of active rigs seeking oil climbed by 12 to 640, the first gain since December, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. Iran said it recognizes the right of United Nations monitors to seek visits to sensitive sites , as diplomats work on a nuclear agreement that could restore the OPEC member’s crude exports. Oil’s recovery from a six-year low in March has faltered amid speculation that rising prices will spur production and prolong a surplus. OPEC’s output expanded last month to the highest level since August 2012 as Iraq pumps at a record pace, a Bloomberg survey showed this week. “The rig count […]

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NYMEX August gas settles at $2.822/MMBtu, up 3.9 cents

The NYMEX August natural gas futures contract climbed 3.9 cents to settle at $2.822/MMBtu as the market reacted to the US Energy Information Administration’s weekly gas storage report that was toward the low end of analysts’ expectations. The contract traded as high as $2.885/MMBtu before pulling back toward the end of trading. The EIA estimated an injection of 69 Bcf for the week ended June 26, which was toward the low end of expectations of analysts surveyed by Platts, who expected an injection between 68 Bcf and 72 Bcf. The injection was well below the 102-Bcf injection reported for the same week last year and the 75-Bcf five-year average injection. "If summer temperatures can continue at these elevated levels, we could see another [demand-led] rally. However, if the climate succumbs to the super El Nino that has developed, we can expect a swift drop and the potential for triple-digit […]

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Oil Nearly Erases Gains After Rig Count Grows

By Timothy Puko Oil prices fell back nearly to unchanged, erasing almost 1.7% in gains on the day, after the U.S. oil-rig count rose for the first time in seven months. U.S. oil producers added 12 rigs last week, breaking 29 straight weeks of cuts. They are responding to prices that have rebound to and stayed at $60 a barrel and since late April. That convinced producers they could end months of massive cutbacks that started after the U.S. shale drilling boom flooded the market and sent prices crashing. But oil production has kept increasing even as drilling has been decreasing, making many investors fearful that more rigs in the fields could lead to another precipitous decline in prices. The U.S. benchmark price just yesterday broke below a $4 range it had traded in for two months. That jolt came after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported domestic oil […]

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Oil Falters After Rig Count Grows

The amount of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose for the first time in seven months, triggering a slump in crude oil prices to their lowest settlement in two months. U.S. oil producers added 12 rigs last week , breaking 29 straight weeks of cuts, in response to prices that have rebound to- and stayed at $60 a barrel since late April. That convinced producers to end months of massive cutbacks that started after the U.S. shale drilling boom flooded the market and sent prices crashing. But the increase in rigs is scaring investors and analysts who have warned that oil could be on the verge of another sharp fall. Production has kept making small gains even as drilling has declined and stockpiles have hit historic levels around the world. If rigs get back to work, that could keep the market flooded with oil, a concern that […]

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Natural Gas Gets Boost From Another Low Weekly Storage Addition

By Timothy Puko Natural gas prices rose Thursday after another sign the market’s longstanding oversupply may be relenting. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said producers made a lower-than-normal addition to storage for a second-straight week. Storage levels grew by 69 billion cubic feet in the week ended June 26, 2 bcf less than the average of forecaster surveyed by The Wall Street Journal and 6-bcf lower than the average addition for this week of the year. Prices for the front-month August contract settled up 3.9 cents, or 1.4%, to $2.822 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices pared gains in the afternoon and ended the day firmly in the 17-cent range they have settled in for the past three weeks. The EIA update is widely considered one of the best measures of supply and demand for the natural gas market. When a stockpile addition […]

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Britain Hints It May Join U.S. Campaign Against ISIS in Syria

Photo Prime Minister David Cameron, whose spokeswoman said lawmakers should “be thinking” of doing more in Syria. Credit Neil Hall/Reuters LONDON — Jolted by the deaths of 30 British tourists in Tunisia at the hands of a gunman professing allegiance to the Islamic State , Prime Minister David Cameron is considering joining the United States in bombing the group’s forces in Syria . Mr. Cameron’s spokeswoman, Helen Bower, briefing reporters on Thursday, said that the prime minister wanted members of Parliament to “be thinking about” authorizing Britain to do “more in Syria .” Ms. Bower said Mr. Cameron thought that “there has been and continues to be a case for doing more in Syria” against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Britain is already conducting bombing runs against the group in Iraq. “What has changed is the growing evidence that ISIL poses a threat to people […]

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Signs of a Compromise Over Inspections in Iran Nuclear Talks

Photo Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, at a government meeting in June. He has said repeatedly that foreigners will not be allowed to visit military sites. Credit Supreme Leader Official Website/Handout/European Pressphoto Agency VIENNA — An Iranian official signaled Thursday that Tehran was trying to bridge the gap between Western demands for inspections of any suspected nuclear-related facility and a declaration by Iran ’s supreme leader that foreigners could not enter military sites or interview Iranian scientists. That effort, described by a senior Iranian official to reporters here Thursday afternoon, came as three Western officials said Iran now appeared to concede that it would have to ship more than nine tons of low-enriched nuclear material out of the country as part of a comprehensive deal the parties hope to nail down next week. Just three months ago, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, […]

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards wary of threat to business interests

Soldiers of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards march during an annual military parade to mark Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq in the capital Tehran, 22 September 2007. Iran today showed off a longer-range missile in public for the first time and proclaimed a string of anti-Israel slogans in a major military parade amid mounting tensions with the West. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE Alarm bells rang for Iranian businessmen in May when the elite Revolutionary Guards cancelled a conference organised by Iranians linked to the Forum of Young Global Leaders shortly before the gathering was due to take place in Tehran and Isfahan. It was a reminder to the business community that the 120,000 strong military force, known for its loyalty to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, feels increasingly insecure about what a nuclear deal could mean not just for Iran but also for its commercial empire, whose multi-billion dollar interests […]

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Iran’s Giant Super-Tanker Fleet Eyes Western Waters

TEHRAN—Iran’s biggest oil shipping company has amassed the world’s largest fleet of super tankers and is in talks to sail back into western waters should the Islamic Republic strike a nuclear deal , according to senior officials. NITC, the privatized Iranian shipping company, says it has 42 very large crude carriers, known as VLCCs, after buying 20 such China-built vessels in the past 2½ years. It is the first time the company has disclosed the size of its VLCC fleet which it expanded as sanctions cut off access to European-insured vessels, “No other company in the world owns that number of VLCCs,” said Capt. Nasrollah Sardashti, NITC’s commercial director, in an interview in the Iranian capital. VLCCs can carry 2 million barrels of oil each. NITC’s biggest rivals all list fewer ships, and one London-based analyst who tracks oil-tanker fleets, said he also believes NITC has the largest fleet. […]

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Iranian Official Sees ‘Opportunities’ for Better Ties After a Nuclear Deal

VIENNA—A senior Iranian official raised the possibility of improved relations with the U.S. if a nuclear accord is reached between Tehran and world powers this month, amid signs that the negotiations were progressing slowly. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, among several top diplomats who joined the talks on Thursday, said before leaving Vienna that he would return Sunday—indicating little chance of a final agreement before next week. “There is still some work to be done, and I expect to come back to the talks Sunday evening,” he said, adding he hopes then to “be in a situation to advance toward perhaps…a robust deal.” The U.S. and Iran have been foes for almost 40 years, after radical Islamist students and political parties overthrew the pro-American Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979. But senior Iranian and American diplomats have been locked in intense, face-to-face negotiations on the nuclear issue for nearly […]

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Egypt, Stunned by Sinai Assault, Vows to Erase ‘Terrorist Dens’

Photo A funeral on Thursday in Ashmoun, in the Nile Delta, for First Lt. Mohamed Ashraf, one of the soldiers killed Wednesday in a militant attack in the Sinai Peninsula. Credit Sameh Abouhasan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images CAIRO — Egypt ’s military killed 23 militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula early Thursday, a senior security official said, as the government sought to reassert control and eradicate what it called the area’s “terrorist dens” after the largest assault there by jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State. That assault, on Wednesday, stunned officials in President Abdel Fattah el-Sisis’s government with its scale and audacity. Militants belonging to a group calling itself Sinai Province launched coordinated attacks on military checkpoints in the northern Sinai before storming a town and occupying it for hours. The military carried out airstrikes with F-16 warplanes on the town, Sheikh Zuwaid, to force a militant retreat. A […]

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Power Outages Dim South Africa’s Prospects

SOWETO, South Africa—Residents of this sprawling township famous for its resistance to white-minority rule are fighting a battle they thought consigned to history: keeping the lights on. National power company Eskom Holdings Ltd. is reeling from years of underinvestment and poor management, surrendering to power outages that frequently plunge Soweto’s 1.3 million residents into darkness. Nonayona Mkeshana and her neighbors have resorted to cooking over open fires and singing and dancing in the street now that television sets have gone dark. “We’ve had to get used to it, to survive,” said Ms. Mkeshana, a 59-year-old grandmother who lives with her son and his children. South Africa’s Treasury on Wednesday said it sold its stake in mobile company Vodacom Group Ltd. VOD -1.87 % to raise $2 billion to keep Eskom solvent. Chief Executive Brian Molefe said blackouts could continue for months as Eskom catches up on years of neglected […]

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China Accelerates Efforts to Stem Selloff

China shares tumbled Friday, even as Beijing moves swiftly to try to plug losses, with the smaller Shenzhen index suffering its worst week since December 1996. The Shanghai Composite, which ended down 5.8%, lost 12.1% this week and more than a quarter of its value since a high on June 12. The Shenzhen Composite fell 5.3% while the ChiNext board, composed of small-cap stocks, lost 1.7%. Both are down more than a third from peaks last month, with weekly losses of 16.2% and 10.8%, respectively. Chinese officials over the past week have dug deep for measures to stop massive stock selloffs. Still, the array of attempts—from lifting restrictions on investing with borrowed funds to cutting interest rates —so far have failed to encourage investors to buy, even though China’s main stock index has nearly doubled since last year. On Friday, China’s securities regulator said it would slow the pace […]

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Asia oil refining margins hit 2015 low, Mideast supply to drag

SINGAPORE Rallying oil refining margins have ground to a halt in Asia. Currently at a 2015 low, they could drop another 20-30 percent this quarter, led by declining profits in diesel as supply from the Middle East adds to a global glut. While softer Asian demand for diesel will be a drag, margins will likely draw some support and stay above last year’s low as the region’s gasoline uptake remains healthy. Asian refining margins enjoyed a stellar run in the first half of this year on weak oil prices and hit a two-year top above $10 per barrel in June. But they have almost halved this week to $5.60 with supply of refined products from traditional importers in the Middle East building up. "We see refining margins weakening on worsening diesel fundamentals, particularly east of Suez, though gasoline should be supportive," said Robert Campbell, head of oil products research […]

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China’s diesel exports may return after going missing in action

LAUNCESTON, Australia One of the little mysteries this year in Asian oil markets has been the drop in China’s diesel exports. Customs data show that China exported 1.303 million tonnes of diesel in the first five months of the year, a drop of 24 percent over the same period in 2014. This equates to about 64,700 barrels per day (bpd), which is a substantial drop on the 82,000 bpd China exported over the whole of 2014. It also means that Chinese refiners have come nowhere close to using their export quotas for diesel in the first half of 2015, even if the June data does show a substantial ramping up of diesel exports. Refiners are able to export as much fuel as they receive government quotas for, and the diesel allowance was 2.62 million tonnes for the first half of 2015, according to an April 27 report from pricing […]

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New oil expected offshore New Zealand

New Zealand said strategy for offshore oil developments paying off. Oil is country’s No. 4 source of export revenue. (UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr.) WELLINGTON, New Zealand, July 2 (UPI) — The New Zealand government said Thursday a long-term investment by Austrian energy company OMV in the country’s largest oil field has paid off. OMV started producing oil from the Maari field, the largest offshore oil field in New Zealand, in 2009. It’s so far produced a total 15 million barrels and the company has since embarked on a campaign to double the expected rate of production. "The national government’s hard work in this area has delivered significant levels of exploration activity," Energy Minister Simon Bridges said in a statement. "By necessity, the petroleum sector has a long-term view and – even with the current low global oil price – we remain confident that New Zealand remains attractive for those wanting […]

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California’s push for cleaner buses could edge out natural gas

LOS ANGELES Fifteen years ago, California led the way to cleaner transit buses with strict tailpipe emissions standards that effectively ushered out diesel as the primary fuel for buses in the state and replaced it with natural gas. Now, California is poised once again to take the lead, this time by mandating a switch to so-called "zero-emission" buses by 2040. The new push by California’s powerful Air Resources Board (CARB) has the potential to marginalize natural gas as a bus fuel in the same way its adoption once marginalized diesel. In response, the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition has proposed expanding the definition of “zero-emission vehicles” to include not just electric buses, but also those powered by so-called “renewable natural gas,” which is produced from cow manure or decomposing organic matter in landfills. Whereas regular natural gas offers a reduction in greenhouse gases of about 15 to 20 percent […]

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Oil Rigs Rebounding at Sub-$60 Shows Shale Boom’s Resilience

Sudden rebound in U.S. oil rigs despite sub-$60 crude shows how resilience U.S. shale has become amid increasing competition. For the first time in almost seven months, America’s shale drillers put rigs in oil fields back to work, and they’re doing it at a lower price. The last time they added rigs, crude futures were trading near $70 a barrel. Today, even after a rebound, they’re under $60. And yet drilling rigs rose in almost every major oil basin in the country this week, raising the total by 12, according to field-services company Baker Hughes Inc. The sudden rebound in the U.S. oil rig count is a testament to how resilient U.S. shale has become as it battles against OPEC for market share. Spurred by last year’s collapse in prices, shale explorers have been able to bring down their breakeven costs by $15 to $20 a barrel, a Bloomberg […]

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WPX Plans to Increase Bakken Activity

WPX Energy Rockies Asset Map | Click to Enlarge WPX Energy announced this week they plan to increase activity in their Williston operations during the second half of the year. Related: Shale Oil: Sky’s the Limit WPX currently has an inventory of 14 Williston wells awaiting completion and the company will resume completions in August, starting with a four-well pad. Since the fourth quarter of 2014, many companies pulled back oil rigs as crude prices declined. WPX will be the first to approve more rigs in the play since prices have stabilized. The company credits significant process improvements, structural changes to lower costs and successful discussions with key vendors as key to this decision to move forward. “The combination of cost reductions and higher EURs gives us the opportunity to generate returns in excess of 30 percent in today’s commodity price environment,” says Rick Muncrief, president and chief executive […]

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BP Agrees to Pay $18.7 Billion to Settle Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Claims

If approved by a federal judge, the deal would conclude a monumental legal showdown over the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 crew members aboard the drilling rig and caused the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The agreement would avert years of litigation over the environmental impact of the spill, which leaked millions of barrels of crude into the Gulf and coated hundreds of miles of sensitive beaches, marshes and mangroves. The settlement would add at least $10 billion to the $44 billion BP has already incurred in legal and cleanup costs, pushing its tab for the spill higher than all the profits it has earned since 2012. But the payments would be stretched out over 18 years at around $1.1 billion annually, softening the blow to the company’s cash flow. Much of the penalties would likely be tax-deductible, analysts noted. The money largely will end up […]

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Fossil fuels have made up at least 80% of U.S. fuel mix since 1900

graph of share of energy consumption in the United States, as explained in the article text While the energy history of the United States is one of significant change, three fossil fuel sources—petroleum, natural gas, and coal—have made up at least 80% of total U.S. energy consumption for more than 100 years. Recent increases in the domestic production of petroleum liquids and natural gas prompted shifts between the uses of fossil fuels ( largely from coal-fired to natural gas-fired power generation ), but the predominance of these three energy sources is likely to continue into the future. For the first several decades of American history, families used wood (a renewable energy source) as a primary source of energy. Coal became dominant in the late 19th century before being overtaken by petroleum products in the middle of the 20th century, a time when natural gas usage also rose quickly. Since […]

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Weekly US coal production estimates dip below 16 million st: EIA

Weekly US coal production totaled an estimated 15.5 million st in the week that ended Saturday, down 4.7% from the prior week and down 17.8% from the comparable week a year ago, US Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday. While EIA does not comment on its production estimates, the weekly production estimate came in below 16 million st for the fourth time in the last five weeks, as coal output continues to fall because of low natural gas prices. Coal production during the week that ended June 27 in Wyoming and Montana, mostly made up of output from the Powder River Basin, totaled an estimated 6.7 million st during the week, down 17% compared with last year, according to the EIA. Year-to-date coal production in Wyoming and Montana is estimated to total 195.3 million st, down 8% compared with the same period last year. Article continues below… Platts Coal […]

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The EIA’s Questionable Numbers

EIA Post 1 EIA Post 2 EIA Post 3 EIA Post 4 EIA Post 5 The Drilling Productivity Report has the Permian + Eagle Ford peaking in April. EIA Post 6 What is an oil worker in Venezuela living on in terms of what it would cost if bought here in the USA ?My seat of the pants guess is that between various subsidies which may or may not be available etc the average worker who is supposedly making a buck or two is actually making at least ten bucks or twenty bucks in dollar equivalent purchasing power. For fifteen or twenty bucks you can buy enough of the cheapest sort of staples by careful shopping here in this country to ( inadequately ) feed two to four people plus maybe a bottle of aspirin once in a while. If you have to you can wear the same clothes […]

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BHI: US oil rig count rises for first time in 30 weeks

A sudden 12-unit jump in oil-directed rigs during the abbreviated week ended July 2 represented their first rise since Dec. 5, 2014, and helped lift the overall US drilling rig count for a second consecutive week, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. The overall count, up 3 units during the week to 862, has now gained 5 units over the past 2 weeks following 28 consecutive weeks of losses ( OGJ Online, June 26, 2015 ). The US is still down 1,012 units compared with this week a year ago. Following a surge in well permits 2 weeks ago and last week’s first rig count rise of the year, permits last week fell to their lowest level since the Christmas-New Year’s holiday, Raymond James & Associates Inc. noted this week in an energy update. Just 680 permits were issued, representing a 6-month low only a week after a […]

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Oil drops on rising U.S. rig count

LONDON Oil prices fell on Friday as a rising U.S. rig count stoked fears of global oversupply and after Chinese regulators opened an investigation into suspected stock market manipulation. U.S. oil drilling increased this week for the first time after 29 weeks of declines, a sign U.S. oil production may start to increase more strongly again after a slowdown due to a period of low oil prices. Oil rigs increased by 12 to 640 following a slump that cut the number of active U.S. rigs from a peak of 1,609 in October to a nearly five-year low last week, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc ( BHI.N ) said. "This is the first weekly increase in 30 weeks and is an indication that the slump in drilling activity has ended," said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "Oil prices have retreated on that news," Fritsch told […]

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Soft U.S. jobs data weighs on dollar, euro hostage to Greek vote

LONDON The dollar fell against a basket of currencies on Friday, hurt by softer than expected U.S. employment data and with most investors staying on the sidelines before Greece’s referendum on bailout conditions at the weekend. Volumes were expected to be low, with U.S. markets closed for Independence Day. Caution also reigned ahead of Greece’s Sunday referendum on an international bailout deal that could ultimately determine whether it stays in the euro zone. The dollar index was down 0.15 percent at 95.977 .DXY, retreating from a four-week high of 96.422 hit earlier in the day. Against the yen, the dollar was buying 123.03 yen JPY= , flat on the day. The euro edged up 0.15 percent to $1.1105 EUR= . "With liquidity thin and the Greek referendum coming up, not many would want to take large positions going into the weekend. The U.S. jobs report has taken the wind […]

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First Offshore Wind Farm in U.S. Powers Ahead

BLOCK ISLAND, R.I.—Beloved by locals and tourists for its soaring clay bluffs and unspoiled views, this small New England island is heading toward another distinction: home to the nation’s first offshore wind farm. Five towering windmills off the island’s southeast coast are scheduled to begin generating power late next year. The Block Island plan has moved ahead of the Cape Wind project, a much larger turbine farm planned in the waters off Cape Cod in Massachusetts, wind-energy experts said. A contract dispute with local utilities following a slew of legal fights has thrown that 14-year effort into question. Proponents of the Block Island plan hope it will help jump-start the offshore wind industry in the U.S. The American Wind Energy Association trade group estimates there are 11 projects in 10 states in various stages of development. The U.S. lags behind other parts of the world in developing offshore wind, […]

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‘Yes’ camp takes slim lead in Greek bailout referendum poll

ATHENS Supporters of Greece’s bailout terms have taken a wafer-thin lead over the "No" vote backed by the leftist government, 48 hours before a referendum that may determine the country’s future in the euro zone, a poll showed. The opinion poll by the respected ALCO institute, published in the Ethnos newspaper on Friday, put the "Yes" camp on 44.8 percent against 43.4 percent for the No" vote. But the lead was within the pollster’s 3.1 percentage point margin of error, with 11.8 percent saying they are still undecided. With banks shuttered all week, cash withdrawals rationed and commerce seizing up, the vote could decide whether Greece gets another last-ditch financial rescue in exchange for more harsh austerity measures or plunges deeper into economic crisis. It could also determine whether Greece becomes the first country to crash out of the 19-nation European single currency area, membership of which is meant […]

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Momentum builds behind giant Norwegian oil field

Norwegian government determines share allocation at Johan Sverdrup oil field, one of the largest ever made off the nation’s coast. Photo courtesy of Statoil OSLO, Norway, July 2 (UPI) — Delineating which company holds what percentage of the interest in Norway’s giant Johan Sverdrup field boosts development potential, executives said. Partners to Johan Sverdrup, the fifth largest oil field ever discovered on the Norwegian continental shelf, asked the government to determine the final share allocation when they submitted formal development plans in February. Maersk Oil, which takes the lowest stake at 8.4 percent, said the determination is a watershed moment for the offshore field. "We are pleased that we now have clarity on the ownership," Morten Jeppesen, managing director for Norwegian operations, said in a statement. "It allows the partner companies to focus on moving forward and develop this giant field in the best possible way." Though the share […]

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Greece needs €60bn in new aid, says IMF

Newspaper + Premium online Premium online Full FT.com subscription Standard online Full news & archive Registration 3 articles per month Price Monthly Annual £76.00 £13.50 per week (52 weeks in total) £42.00 £7.35 per week (52 weeks in total) £30.00 £5.35 per week (52 weeks in total) Free FT Alphaville plus selected FT blogs FT Alphaville and more Unlimited access to Alphaville, the FT’s popular finance blog, plus many other FT blogs featuring comment and analysis from top columnists Gavyn Davies on macroeconomics, economic policy making & financial markets The Westminster blog covering the UK’s political scene Dispatches from FT experts in San Francisco, London & Taipei on Tech blog The World blog on international affairs yes yes yes yes Unlimited FT.com article access Unlimited FT.com article access Enjoy full access to FT.com’s award-winning news, comment and analysis. With over 500 journalists reporting from over 50 countries, read our […]

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Ruble’s Top Forecaster Sees Deeper Rout as Companies Repay Debt

Sanctions are once again catching up on the ruble. While still the best performer in the world this year, no emerging-market currency has fallen more in the past month as the effect of rebounding oil prices faded. Approaching foreign-debt payments and a shrinking economy probably mean it has a further 10 percent to drop this quarter, according to BNP Paribas SA’s Piotr Chwiejczak, the most accurate ruble forecaster in the four quarters through June 30. After a year of sanctions over Ukraine, Russian corporations remain shut out of foreign capital markets, meaning someone needs to sell rubles every time an international debt is paid. As well as a corporate bill this quarter that’s more than half as big again as the previous three months, the ruble is also under pressure as the Bank of Russia continues to buy foreign exchange, fueling speculation the government is demanding a weaker currency. […]

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French Oil Strike Fizzles in Sign Jobs Worries Damping Militancy

A labor union that orchestrated a complete shutdown of France’s refineries in 2010 failed to gain support for a nationwide strike at oil plants this week in a sign its influence is waning. The Confederation Generale du Travail had called for a walkout at refineries, oil depots and import terminals to protest against a plan by Total SA to halt crude processing at La Mede plant in southern France. There was no labor action Thursday at refineries other than La Mede, where a three-week strike has idled operations, Total said. “The CGT is losing ground in its traditional bastions of power like energy and chemicals,” Bernard Vivier, director of Paris-based researcher the Higher Institute of Labor , said in an interview. “France’s social climate isn’t one of revolt these days but rather of resignation.” The CGT, one of half a dozen unions representing oil workers in France, is protesting […]

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Oil prices edge up after sliding on U.S. stock build

SINGAPORE Oil prices edged up on Thursday, partially recovering from price falls of 2.5 to 4 percent a day earlier as U.S. stockpiles rose for the first time in months on the back of high production. Following a 4.2-percent drop on Wednesday, front-month U.S. crude futures were trading at $57.15 per barrel at 0655 GMT, up 19 cents from their last settlement. Heading into the second half of the year, U.S. crude has been testing support on the lower range of a $57-62 per barrel price channel, where it has been trading since early May. "We … expect this support level to hold," Singapore-based Phillip Futures said, arguing that this week’s bearish factors had already been priced into the market. Brent crude futures were trading at $62.33 per barrel, up 32 cents after dropping 2.5 percent in the previous session. Yet the contract remains on a downwards trend that […]

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Oil Stays Low on Supply Pressures, Market Uncertainty

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures remained weak in Asian trade Thursday, struggling to recover from sharp losses in the previous trading session on the back of bearish supply data, and with uncertainty still surrounding the debt crisis in Greece. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $57.03 a barrel at 0314 GMT, up $0.07 in the Globex electronic session. August Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.25 to $62.26 a barrel. There is no fundamental case for strength in oil and the market’s weakness largely stems from oversupply, with estimates showing production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries trending 6% higher than a year earlier at more than 32.1 million barrels a day, analyst Tim Evans at Citi Futures said. He said it is pretty clear that supply is outpacing demand. "Our overall conclusion is that […]

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Oil falls below $63 as Greece defaults, supply soars

LONDON Oil fell below $63 a barrel on Wednesday after Greece defaulted on its debt to the International Monetary Fund while U.S. and OPEC production hit new highs, prompting concern about risks to the economic outlook and ample supply. As well as Greece becoming the first developed economy to default on an IMF loan, oil came under pressure from a surprise gain in U.S. crude stocks reported by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the prospect of higher Iranian oil exports. Brent crude was down 70 cents at $62.89 a barrel at 0847 GMT. U.S. crude fell 89 cents to $58.58. Both contracts made gains on Tuesday. World powers and Iran are holding talks in Vienna on their nuclear dispute. A deadline for an agreement, which could pave the way for higher Iranian oil exports, has been extended until July 7. "Greece is an additional risk factor, but I […]

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Red-hot fuel demand can’t shore up the oil price alone

Sales of transport fuels have exceeded all expectations this year, making demand from reviving economies the mantra of bulls who say the oil price is well on the mend. But warning signs, especially in Europe, may derail that view. Growing stocks, and early stress signals for some oil products, such as diesel, are throwing a cautionary signal to those who believe the shale oil-driven glut in physical crude markets will be absorbed by demand alone. Gasoline consumption has bounced far higher, with U.S. drivers joining those in India, Indonesia and China in driving more often, and in some cases in less fuel efficient cars. Diesel for goods-laden trucks and jet fuel has also been in higher demand. The consumption strength across products led the International Energy Agency (IEA) to revise its demand forecast higher several times, with a current estimate of 1.4 million barrels per day, or 1.5 percent, […]

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WTI-Brent Spread Hits 3-Wk High After Surprise US Oil Stock Build

July 1 (Reuters) – U.S. crude oil futures’ discount to Brent, one of the biggest plays in oil, widened to more than $5 a barrel for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a surprise inventory build. Crude stockpiles in the United States rose 2.4 million barrels last week, the first weekly rise since April, after analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a 2 million-barrel draw. Inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. futures, also known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), rose 123,000 barrels, another unexpected build. "The bottom line is the overall U.S. stock build is weighing on heavily on WTI, and the Cushing build is adding to that," said Tariq Zahir, an oil trader and managing member at Tyche Capital Advisors in Laurel Hollow, New York. One of the most popular trades betting on the volatile fluctuations between […]

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Oil traders rush into WTI spread blowouts on anticipated price slump

NEW YORK Speculators are piling into complex crude options this week, in a bet the market is going to tumble later this year on an expected slowdown in refinery demand and robust oil inventory levels. Some 8,200 lots of bearish calendar-spread options were executed on Tuesday over the remainder of the third quarter, the fourth quarter and into the first quarter of 2016 in the over the counter market, according to CME Group’s daily bulletin on Wednesday. The contracts can go days without a single trade, so the rush was unusual. Those trades included puts, put spreads and fences, dealers say, with strike prices at negative 50 and negative 75 cents. Five hundred puts also traded at a negative $3.00 strike price for the August/September and September/October contracts. Since the end of April, the front to second month spread has strengthened by nearly 80 percent. On Wednesday, the spread […]

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Oil prices settle into new equilibrium: Kemp

LONDON Benchmark crude oil prices have barely moved for more than two months, implying the market has found a temporary equilibrium after the enormous price shock in the second half of 2014 and early 2015. Over the last 30 trading days, the range between the highest and lowest closing prices for front-month Brent futures has been just $4.50 per barrel. The highest close for the front-month futures contract was at $66.54 per barrel (May 21) and the lowest was $62.01 (June 29). The trading range is the smallest since the shock began in June 2014, and down from a peak of almost $40 per barrel in early January 2015. In dollars per barrel, the range has been narrow by the standard of the last decade ( link.reuters.com/cew94w ). Even in percentage terms, which allow for differences in outright prices, the market has been quiet ( link.reuters.com/few94w ). The trading […]

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New oil bull market in sight as Brazil, Iraq cut output targets

LONDON Massive downward revisions to oil output in Brazil and Iraq have increased the risks for oil markets of going from the current feast to famine within just a few years, leading to a price spike that would give a new boost to the U.S. shale industry. Brazil and Iraq had been expected to add over 2 million barrels per day to global supply by 2020 and another 2.5 million by 2025, becoming the two biggest contributors to help meet rising global demand, according to the long-term forecast of the International Energy Agency. With Brazil’s Petrobras cutting this week its five-year production outlook by 1.4 million bpd in response to low oil prices and the ongoing corruption probe and Iraq renegotiating deals with oil majors to reflect "more realistic" output targets, the current glut in the oil markets is poised to end sooner than expected. "All these project cancellations […]

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Natural Gas Retreats on Cooler Weather Forecasts

By Timothy Puko Natural gas sank Wednesday after weather models showed a growing consensus in favor of unseasonably cool weather on the way, a likely precursor to soft demand. Prices for the front-month August contract settled down 4.9 cents, or 1.7%, to $2.783 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are still locked in the 17-cent range in which they have settled for the past three weeks. Prices had surged Tuesday afternoon, reversing losses, after the most widely watched U.S. government forecast showed a trough of cool air hitting farther east than originally expected, creating hotter forecasts. But that model’s Wednesday morning update brought it more in line with other models that suggest cooler weather. "Whoever bought it yesterday, bought it right at the high point," said Santiago Diaz, a broker at INTL FCStone Latin America in Miami. Without hot weather to drive demand […]

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Iran President to Meet U.N. Atomic Agency Head

VIENNA— Yukiya Amano, the head of the United Nations atomic agency, will visit Tehran to meet Iranian President Hasan Rouhani and other top officials on Thursday in what could be a key visit in efforts to unlock a final nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers by July 7. The agency said Wednesday discussions are expected to focus on “how to accelerate the resolution” of outstanding questions about Iran’s past nuclear work, which was widely believed to be aimed at nuclear weapons know-how. Iran denies those charges. Mr. Amano has been thrust to center-stage in the nuclear talks in recent days. He joined the negotiations in Vienna, where the International Atomic Energy Agency is based, four days running from Saturday, meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry , Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and others. The agency will have the crucial role of monitoring and overseeing any […]

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Iran nuclear talks not at breakthrough moment: Hammond

VIENNA The Iran nuclear talks are not at a breakthrough moment yet, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told reporters on Thursday. "The work goes on. You are going to see ministers coming and going to maintain the momentum of these discussions. I don’t think we’re at any kind of breakthrough moment yet and we will do whatever we need to do to keep the momentum," Hammond said. (Reporting By John Irish and Louis Charbonneau ; editing by Arshad Mohammed )

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Iran Nuclear Talks Could Stall Over Access to Scientists and Sites

Photo Secretary of State John Kerry met with Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, on Wednesday at a hotel in Vienna, Austria. Credit Pool photo by Carlos Barria VIENNA — For more than a decade, the C.I.A. has closely followed the workings of one Iranian officer and his sprawling nuclear empire: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the relentless driving force behind what Western intelligence agencies say was Iran ’s Manhattan Project, its effort to design a compact nuclear weapon that could fit atop a missile. Now, in the final push for a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran , accounting for the accomplishments of Mr. Fakhrizadeh and his team of university scientists, missile engineers and military officers is emerging as one of the last and most formidable obstacles — perhaps on a par with the question of whether inspectors will be able, on short notice, to step into any place they suspect […]

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Exports rise on Basra boost

Tankers dock at the Al-Basra Oil Terminal, the principal export point for Iraqi oil. (BEN LANDO/Iraq Oil Report) Iraq set another record for oil sales in June, compensating for reduced exports from the north with a big jump in Basra output.With 3.187 million barrels per day (bpd) of exports in June, Iraq broke its previous records – 3.145 million bpd in May, and 3.077 million bpd in April – and notched its fifth month-on-month increase in a row, according to data released Wednesday by Iraq’s Oil Ministry.The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) also autonomously exported an estimated 360,000 bpd… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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