Category:

Iraq’s Oil Exports Climb to Record With Output at All-Time High

Iraq’s oil exports climbed to a record in June as the drive for market share intensified with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries boosting output. Overseas shipments by OPEC’s second-biggest producer averaged 3.187 million barrels a day in June, based on monthly shipments of 95.612 million barrels, according to Asim Jihad, an Oil Ministry spokesman. Exports rose 1.3 percent from 3.145 million barrels a day in May. Iraq joined Saudi Arabia in pumping more oil as OPEC members defend market share against higher-cost producers. Brent crude has climbed 10 percent this year, spurring speculation that higher prices will lead to even more output and prolong a surplus. Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said last month that Iraq was approaching 4 million barrels a day. It ended June with daily output at a record of 4.388 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey. Total output of OPEC’s 12 members rose […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya’s Thinni Says He Hopes to Sign Peace Deal at UN Talks

Libya’s prime minister said he’s hopeful that a peace deal can be signed during talks in Morocco on Thursday to end the civil conflict in the oil-rich nation. “There will be a lot of discussions tomorrow and there are people in favor and against,” Abdullah al-Thinni told reporters in Malta, where he stopped off en route to joining the United Nations-brokered negotiations. “We aspire to realise this agreement.” Al-Thinni heads a government that’s internationally recognized but only controls part of the country and has been pushed out of the capital, Tripoli, where a rival administration holds sway. Libya’s deepening divisions since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 have slashed oil output and allowed Islamic State militants to establish a foothold. Al-Thinni said that once a unity government was set up, it would continue to fight against Islamic State. Bernardino Leon, the UN envoy who is mediating the talks, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Selloff Sinks Petrobras as Ibovespa Extends Weekly Decline

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the world’s most-indebted oil company, led losses in the Ibovespa as oil slumped on concern supplies are too high. Shares of Petrobras extended a three-day plunge as crude sank 4.2 percent to $56.96 a barrel after data showing U.S. stockpiles rose for the first time in nine weeks and OPEC production increased. The state-run company has said that investments in oil and gas offshore production are economically viable with the commodity above $45. “There are too many uncertainties regarding the profitability of Petrobras’s investments as crude falls,” Eduardo Velho, the chief economist at investment firm INVX Global Partners, said in a phone interview from Sao Paulo. The Ibovespa retreated 0.6 percent to 52,757.54 at the close of trading in Sao Paulo, bringing this week’s decline to 2.3 percent. The gauge had posted the best first half of any year since 2009. Brazilian shares swung between gains […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

FARC Rebels See Upsurge in Colombian Violence as Talks Drag

Colombia Marxist rebels said they’ll step up attacks on security forces after suspending their cease-fire as peace talks to end Latin America’s longest-running insurgency drag on. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, will target the army more than oil installations, a guerrilla commander known as Matias Aldecoa said in an interview in Havana. Pipelines used by companies including Ecopetrol SA and Occidental Petroleum Corp. have been damaged in FARC bombing attacks in the past few weeks. “Soon people will see the war in this latest phase, and they’re going to see the number of police and soldiers who die,” Aldecoa said Saturday, in an interview in Havana. “For us, oil pipelines aren’t the No. 1 target.” The FARC suspended a unilateral cease-fire in May after the armed forces killed at least 26 guerrillas in an attack in south west Colombia. The resumption of attacks has increased casualties […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China stocks fall despite regulators’ bid to stop the slide

SHANGHAI China stocks closed down sharply on Thursday after another wild trading day as investors shrugged off regulators’ intensified efforts to put a floor under the sliding market. The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell 3.4 percent, to 4,107.99, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 3.5 percent, to 3,912.77 points. Among the most active stocks in Shanghai were Bank of China, up 5.3 percent to 5.00 yuan; ICBC, up 5.6 percent to 5.43 yuan and Agri Bank of China, up 1.1 percent to 3.63 yuan. In Shenzhen, BOE Technology, down 8.3 percent to 4.51 yuan; TCL Corp, up 4.6 percent to 5.48 yuan and Vanke, down 0.3 percent to 14.21 yuan were among the most actively traded. Total volume of A shares traded in Shanghai was 58.3 billion shares, while Shenzhen volume was 31.7 billion shares. (Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

As Saudis Keep Pumping, Thirst for Domestic Oil Swells

RIYADH—Saudi Arabia is poised to break records for oil production this summer, analysts said, as domestic-energy needs soar during its scorching summer and the holy month of Ramadan and threaten its ability to ramp up exports. Saudi Arabia has said it produced a near-record 10.3 million barrels a day in May, a mark that industry observers said could increase to 11 million barrels this summer as air-conditioning use increases with temperatures reaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The country has the ability to produce 12.3 million barrels a day for 90 days, but it has never pumped this much. Saudi output averaged 9.22 million barrels a day from 2006 to 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Most of its oil is exported. For the past three years, Saudi domestic energy demand has been rising by about 8% due to an expanding population and new construction and large-scale projects. More […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Jihadist Attacks on Egypt Grow Fiercer

CAIRO — Two years after President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a military takeover promising to restore order and security in Egypt , he faces a rising jihadist insurgency that has shaken the stability of this most populous Arab state, a key ally of the United States. Just two days after militants assassinated Egypt ’s top prosecutor on a Cairo street, the military on Wednesday called in F-16 war planes and helicopters to beat back a coordinated assault in Northern Sinai by a jihadist group affiliated with the Islamic State. Egyptian soldiers were killed, police officers were trapped in their posts, ambulances were paralyzed by booby-trapped roads and residents were warned to stay indoors by jihadists roaming on motorcycles. The scale and complexity of the attack far exceeded any of the group’s previous strikes in Sinai, raising the possibility that it has begun to coordinate more closely with the Islamic […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Egypt military ‘back in control’ of Sinai after clashes

Egypt’s military spokesman has said the situation in North Sinai is "100 percent under control", following clashes that reportedly left more than 100 people dead. The spokesman, Mohamed Sanir, was speaking by phone to state television on Wednesday. A group pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, the Province of Sinai, had claimed responsibility for attacks on more than 15 security sites. Egypt’s army said more than 100 fighters and 17 soldiers were killed after simultaneous assaults on military checkpoints in North Sinai, in the deadliest fighting in years in the province bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip. Some security sources put the death toll for army and police much higher. After a day of fighting, which involved F-16 jets and Apache helicopters, the army said it would not stop its operations until it had cleared the area of all "terrorist concentrations". Security […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Egypt’s Brotherhood urges revolt after members killed

A statement on the Brotherhood’s website said the group held President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi responsible for the killings [YouTube] The Muslim Brotherhood has warned of "serious repercussions" and has called on its supporters to "rise in revolt" after Egyptian police killed 13 of its members. Egyptian police raided an apartment in the Cairo suburb of 6th of October on Wednesday and killed 13 of the outlawed group’s leading members , including a former member of parliament, Nasser al-Hafy, security sources and a member of the group said. The Brotherhood members were reportedly meeting to discuss sponsoring the families of detainees when the police stormed the building. Egypt’s interior ministry, however, said the men were fugitive leaders who were plotting attacks – something the group denies – and said the group included two men who had previously been sentenced to death. Inside Story – Has Egypt’s Sisi failed on security? In […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Mexico Moving Forward With Major Natural Gas Pipeline

On June 22, Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) announced it would tender a new round of 24 energy infrastructure projects totaling $10 billion, including a $3 billion underwater pipeline bringing U.S. natural gas from Texas to Tuxpan, Veracruz. Amidst a grand national “gasification” strategy that has promoted Mexican imports of U.S. natural gas, this may be one of the most ambitious projects yet. Of course there are concerns around potential risks associated with the project – whether there is the local capacity to carry it out, and whether it’s really necessary – all of which must be resolved if the pipeline is to begin transporting the proposed 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2018. As for financing and construction of the Texas–Tuxpan subsea pipeline there are several options. In the case of previous tenders, interest has come from well-established U.S. companies such as Sempra’s IEnova, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China Shares Slide as Beijing’s Moves to Calm Markets Fall Short

Chinese shares plunged Thursday, even as Beijing grasps for solutions to stem the selling, including relaxing rules on the use of borrowed funds to invest in stocks. That effort comes as a surprising turnaround given concerns that margin lending fueled a too-hot rally over the past year. The Shanghai Composite closed down 3.5% while the smaller Shenzhen market was down 5.6%. The ChiNext board, composed of small-cap stocks, sank 4%. Even after losing nearly a quarter of its value from a mid-June high, China’s main stock market has almost doubled in value over the past year. In the minutes before closing, China’s blue chips staged a minirally, which some analysts put down to buying from government-backed funds. Stocks in large, state-owned firms benefited most, with PetroChina Co. nearly hitting its daily upward limit of 10%, rising 8.8%, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, up 5.5%. Just 60 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. hiring seen solid in June, keeping September rate hike in play

WASHINGTON U.S. job growth likely cooled a bit in June after reaching a five-month high, but still-healthy hiring would suggest the labor market is strong enough to support a September interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve. A Reuters survey estimated that nonfarm payrolls rose 230,000 last month after May’s 280,000 jump, the largest gain since December. Even with a slowdown from the prior month, June’s increase would be well above the average for the first five months of the year and more than sufficient to keep up with population growth. "What matters is the trend. We are making a lot of progress in reducing slack and unless the labor market weakens sharply, the Fed is on track to raise interest rates in September," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester Pennsylvania. The jobless rate is forecast to fall one-tenth of a percentage point […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shell to tap new Gulf of Mexico oil

Shell makes investment decision to proceed with new developments in the deep waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico at a time when industry peers are trimming expenses. File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI HOUSTON, July 1 (UPI) — Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday it made a final investment decision to open up new oil developments in the deep waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Shell said it was moving forward with a decision to build what it says will be the largest floating platform in the Gulf of Mexico in order to tap into the deepwater Appomattox prospect . Average production is expected to be about 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. "Appomattox opens up more production growth for us in the Gulf of Mexico, where our production last year averaged about 225,000 boe per day, and this development will be profitable for decades to come," Upstream […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

BP engineer to get new Macondo trial

A frame grab of the live video stream of operations to stop the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is seen on May 28, 2010. Appeals court in New Orleans rules BP engineer Kurt Mix, charged with assessing the leak volume, should get a new trial. UPI/BP NEW ORLEANS, July 1 (UPI) — An appeals court in Louisiana said it granted a new trial for a former BP engineer, Kurt Mix, on grounds of jury exposure to external evidence. Mix was charged with determining the amount of oil leaking from the Macondo well after Deepwater Horizon collapsed in 2010 as a result of a cascading series of failures beneath the rig. He was prosecuted and later convicted of obstruction of justice for deleting text messages and other correspondence related to those calculations. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said Mix’s defense team charged that a jury in the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

CMU policy briefs outline benefits and potential for adoption of electrified vehicles in the US

« Toyota, Nissan and Honda agree on details of H2 station support in Japan | Main | Researchers find Nissan LEAF creates less CO2 than Toyota Prius hybrid in west US and Texas, but more in N. Midwest » Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have published two new policy briefs, along with accompanying videos, about the benefits of electrified vehicles and the potential for their adoption in the US. The briefs condense the findings of a number of recent papers coming out of the CMU group led by Professor Jeremy Michalek. The first—“ Electric Vehicle Benefits and Costs in the United States ”—shows that the benefits of vehicle electrification vary based on vehicle type; driving style; climate; how supplying electricity is generated; and time of charge. To achieve the best outcomes, the brief suggests, plug-in vehicle adoption should typically be focused on HEVs and PHEVs by city drivers […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shell Goes Ahead with Giant Gulf of Mexico Field After Cost Cuts

LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has given the green light for the development of its largest platform in the Gulf of Mexico after making steep cost cuts which made the deep water project economical despite low oil prices. The decision to pour billions of dollars into the Appomattox project comes as companies have scrapped around $200 billion of mega-projects in the wake of the sharp decline in oil prices over the past year. Shell has operated in the Gulf of Mexico for over 60 years. The region contributes about 17 percent of total U.S. crude oil production according to the Energy Information Administration and was the location in 2010 of the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, involving BP’s Deepwater Horizon well. Shell’s investment decision shows the energy giant’s bet on deep water as it seeks to finalise by early 2016 the $70 billion acquisition […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Bankruptcy and More Layoffs Could Threaten Industry Even After Downturn

Just a few short years ago, the oil and gas industry was wringing its collective hands in angst over the profound shortage of workers needed to usher in the shale revolution. New college grads had all but abandoned the oil patch in favor of high tech; middle managers hadn’t returned to the profession after they were burned by the last downturn; and top tier executives were retiring out of the industry and onto the golf course. Universities responded. Large companies implemented worksite “universities,” and senior managers moved up the ranks. The crisis was largely averted. In fact, times got so good in the heady days of $100-plus oil that the workforce became in some ways bloated. And in the cyclical industry that is the oil and gas business, prices eventually tanked and companies began to go under – and thousands of workers took home a pink slip. The specter […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Plight of Greek pensioners heaps pressure on Tsipras

ATHENS Long lines of pensioners jostling to get into a limited number of banks opened specially to pay out retirement benefits have become a powerful symbol of the misery facing Greece and the problems mounting for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. With banks closed down and capital controls imposed to shield the financial system from collapse, the depth of the problems facing the country has become clearer each day. Tsipras’ leftwing government came to power in January vowing to protect pensioners and much of the breakdown in relations with international creditors centered on its refusal to accept the cuts in pensions that the lenders demanded. Mindful of the fact that many older Greeks do not use credit or debit cards and so do not have access to cash machines, it has ordered 1,000 banks to open across the country to pay out a maximum of 120 euros and issue cards. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Cash Crunch Hits Everyday Life in Greece

ATHENS—At an automated teller machine underneath the Acropolis, Angeliki Andreaki clutched her debit card with both hands. She pays her bills in cash, and €330 in rent and €39 in telephone bills were due Wednesday. “Tsipras has turned this country into North Korea,” the 83-year-old Ms. Andreaki said Tuesday, shaking her head about Greece’s prime minister, Alexis Tsipras. “I can’t believe at this age I have to line up to get rationed cash.” She withdrew as much as she could—just €60 ($66)—and went straight to pay her phone bill. She said she would have to come back for five more days to get enough cash for the rent. This is everyday life in Greece since it shut down its banking system and imposed controls to prevent money from flooding out of the country. Greece’s ruling party continued to say it was offering new compromises to its creditors and urged […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Mixed Messages and No Progress in Greek Crisis

Photo A woman being squeezed outside a National Bank branch in Athens on Wednesday while waiting to receive part of her pension. Credit Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters BRUSSELS — Bewildered Greeks, not to speak of people throughout Europe and the world, could be forgiven for wondering who, if anyone, is in charge. In the past few days, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece has blown up negotiations with European creditors on staving off default, then retreated and accepted more or less the same terms, only to have European leaders tell him the offer had expired. Greeks are supposed to vote on a referendum this weekend, but no one there or elsewhere seems sure what they will be asked, or what the consequences will be for voting yes or no. And European leaders here and in Berlin and Paris have been saying distinct — sometimes directly contradictory — things about whether there […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Ruble Falls as Oil Offsets Data Hinting Russia Slump Not So Deep

The ruble fell after its biggest advance in two weeks as declining oil prices overshadowed data showing the nation’s economic slowdown isn’t as deep as predicted. The currency retreated as much as 0.7 percent and traded 0.1 percent lower at 55.3780 against the dollar by 3:36 p.m. in Moscow. Turmoil in Greece pushed the price of oil, Russia’s main export earner, down 1 percent in London. Government bonds rose for a second day as the Finance Ministry sold all 15 billion rubles ($271 million) of December 2017 floating-rate notes it offered. While there are almost no direct ties between the Russian financial sector and Greece’s, the ruble has suffered from receding appetite for riskier assets. Data on Wednesday showed a $5 billion upward revision of Russia’s current-account surplus in the first quarter, while the purchasing managers’ index for June rose to 48.7 versus an estimate of 48. Levels under […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russian, Ukrainian gas talks collapse

Natural gas talks between Russia and Ukraine collapse in Vienna after Kiev balks on price offer. File Photo by UPI/Ivan Vakolenko VIENNA, July 1 (UPI) — European leaders said they’d get to work on proposing new strategies after natural gas talks between Russia and Ukraine collapsed in Vienna. European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic met in Vienna with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Demchyshyn and Andriy Kobolev, the chief executive officer at Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz. The energy relationship between Ukraine and Russia has been strained at least since 2006, when Ukrainian debt issues prompted Russian energy company Gazprom to cut gas supplies through Ukraine. The European economy gets about a quarter of its natural gas from Russia, though most of that runs through the Soviet-era pipeline network in Ukraine. The European Commission has acted as a mediator to bilateral talks that began in March […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Norway: New reserves found in North Sea

Norway confirms minor discovery made by Statoil in frontier territory in the North Sea. Photo courtesy of Statoil. OSLO, Norway, July 1 (UPI) — The Norwegian government confirmed Wednesday oil and gas reserves were discovered in a North Sea area not known previously to contain hydrocarbons. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the nation’s energy regulator, said reserves were discovered in appraisal and wildcat, one drilled in an untapped area, near the existing Gina Krog field in the North Sea. The NPD said the objective of the well was to prove and delineate the potential for commercial volumes of oil and natural gas. For the discovery as a whole, the regulator said it estimated the size of the discovery at between 35 million and 70 million cubic feet of oil equivalent, which would be an average 9.3 million barrels if the entire discovery existed as oil. There was no comment on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Gives up Overnight Gains on U.S. Inventory, China Data

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures fell sharply in Asian trade Wednesday, giving up overnight gains on bearish U.S. oil supply data and soft manufacturing numbers from China. Investors are also keeping an eye on the Greece debt crisis–after it defaulted on its payment to the International Monetary Fund–and the Iranian nuclear deal after the deadline for talks were extended. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $58.78 a barrel at 0353 GMT, down $0.69 in the Globex electronic session. August Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.52 to $63.07 a barrel. U.S. oil prices ended 24.9% higher in the second quarter ended June 30, its largest on-quarter percentage gain since the second quarter of 2009. Nymex oil futures however lost 1.4% in June. Similarly, Brent crude gained 15.4% in the second quarter, its largest on-quarter percentage gain since […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil holds below three-week lows as Greek enters second day of bank shutdown

TOKYO Oil futures hovered below three-week lows on Tuesday as investors waited for developments in Greece following a bank shutdown, keeping them away from riskier assets and putting Brent crude on course for a second month of declines. Brent crude futures were down 3 cents at $61.98 a barrel at 0624 GMT, after falling to $62.01 on Monday, their weakest finish since June 5. The contract is heading for its second straight monthly decline and is down almost 5.5 percent in June. U.S. crude dropped 14 cents to $58.19, having closed down $1.30 at $58.33 a barrel, its lowest settlement since June 8. It is set for its first monthly decline in three and has fallen about 3.5 percent this month. "Greece is still the word," said Ben Le Brun, market analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney. "That story doesn’t look like stopping anytime soon." Tens of thousands of Greeks […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Natural Gas Reverses Losses on Hotter Weather Forecast

By Timothy Puko and Nicole Friedman Natural-gas futures erased their morning losses Tuesday to trade higher after a midday weather forecast showed hotter temperatures than previously expected. Natural gas for August delivery recently traded up 1.2 cent, or 0.4%, to $2.817 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up from as low as $2.752/mmBtu earlier in the session. Forecasts for colder-than-normal weather in the next two weeks have weighed on natural-gas prices. Cool weather in the summer reduces demand for gas-powered electricity to run air-conditioning units. The most widely watched U.S. government forecast had been calling for a "cooler trough of air" extending from Ontario to the Southeast U.S. in the next two weeks, but a midday update now shows that trough moving further east, said Aaron Calder, analyst at Gelber & Associates in Houston. The new forecast "looks very warm," he said, though he […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Remember All That Oil in Storage? Here It Comes

Refineries around the world are using more crude oil. To get the cheapest supplies around, they don’t have to look any further than their own storage tanks. When a global glut of crude oil sent prices plunging to near-six-year lows in the first quarter of the year, refineries started stocking up. The market gave them an incentive to do so: Oil prices for later in 2015 were higher than immediate prices, making refiners and traders eager to buy crude for cheap and store it to use or sell in the future. The strategy worked. As more and more oil entered storage , pushing U.S. inventories to the highest level in more than 80 years and prompting some companies to stash oil on ships in the ocean, the amount of crude immediately available to buyers fell. Add in a cold winter that spurred demand, and prices rallied. But with the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Prices Gain in Second Quarter

A derrick hand with Raven Drilling in the Bakken Shale formation outside Watford City, N.D…. U.S. oil prices rose on Tuesday, posting a 25% quarterly gain, after Iran and six world powers extended the deadline for nuclear talks until July 7. Prices posted their largest single-quarter percentage gain since 2009 on expectations of a drop in U.S. production and growing demand after slumping to near-six-year lows earlier in the year. So far, however, U.S. oil output hasn’t slowed, and prices have stabilized around $60 a barrel in recent weeks as traders looked for direction. The U.S. benchmark fell 1.4% this month. The Iranian talks, aimed at blocking the country’s path to a nuclear weapon in exchange for lifting international sanctions, could eventually allow Iran to increase its oil exports. A failure to reach a deal would be supportive for oil prices, because it would keep hundreds of thousands of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

OPEC oil output hits three-year high in June on Iraq: Reuters survey

LONDON OPEC oil supply in June has climbed to a three-year high due to record or near-record output from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, a Reuters survey found, underlining the focus of the group’s top exporters on market share. The boost from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries puts output further above its target of 30 million barrels per day (bpd) and comes despite outages in Libya and Nigeria that curbed supplies. OPEC supply has risen in June to 31.60 million bpd from a revised 31.30 million bpd in May, according to the survey, based on shipping data and information from sources at oil companies, OPEC and consultants. The group has raised output by more than 1.3 million bpd since it decided in November 2014 to defend market share rather than prices. A final deal between world powers and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear work could add to supplies. "If […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran Faces Slow Road Back to Oil Market Even With Nuclear Deal

As Iran nears a deal to ease oil sanctions after almost two years of talks, selling more crude remains a long way off. The nation’s goal of increasing exports 50 percent as soon as restrictions are lifted won’t be fulfilled, say Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Societe Generale SA. That would require an extra 500,000 barrels of daily output, which the banks say will take six to 12 months as OPEC’s fourth-biggest producer complies with terms of a deal and revives aging wells. The impact on prices will be limited, the banks predict. “They’ve got to meet the requirements of any agreement, and that’s going to take time,” Jeff Currie, head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs, said by e-mail from New York on Monday. “When you shut these fields in to that significant of a degree, your ability to bring back production to previous […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Israeli gas exports could start up in 2-3 years

A framework for Israel’s gas sector, released Tuesday, would allow neighboring countries to receive offshore gas within 2-3 years by allowing exports from Tamar prior to the Leviathan field coming on line in 2019. Egypt and Jordan need gas and it was in Israel’s strategic interest to supply them, energy and water minister Yuval Steinitz told reporters. Last year the Tamar consortium — Delek Drilling, Noble Energy, Avner Oil and Gas, Isramco and Alon Gas Exploration — signed a letter of intent with Spain’s Union Fenosa for the sale of 4.5 Bcm annually for 15 years for its SEGAS LNG plant at Damietta, Egypt. Israeli energy industry sources said talks have resumed in recent weeks about signing a final agreement with Union Fenosa. One of the key elements of the framework, designed to end an impasse that has held up development of the huge field, is to foster competition […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Divide on Iran Nuclear Deal: Hard-Liners vs. ‘Invisible People’

Photo A small group of hard-liners gathered at the base of Tehran’s Freedom Tower to urge a nuclear deal with few compromises. Credit Newsha Tavakolian for The New York Times TEHRAN — In the little shade provided by Tehran’s Freedom Tower, a group of about 200 Iranian hard-liners, some with hats made of folded newspapers to protect them against the sun’s rays, sat in the searing heat Tuesday on blue plastic chairs next to blaring loudspeakers. Speakers railed against the devil, a.k.a. the United States, and its “oppressive” actions, drawing the usual chants of “Death to America” from the participants. They called for a “good nuclear deal” in the negotiations this week in Vienna, meaning one with few, or preferably no, Iranian compromises. In the distance traffic rolled by. Even during the fasting month of Ramadan, Tehran and its 12 million inhabitants are constantly on the move, on their […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran Back at Vienna Nuclear Talks as Khamenei Shows Support

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejoined nuclear talks, accompanied by the president’s brother and backed by the nation’s supreme leader, as the push for an accord with world powers entered its final stage. “I am here to get a final deal and I think we can,” Zarif told reporters on Tuesday in Vienna while sitting beside U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry inside the Palais Coburg, where the majority of the negotiations are taking place. In a show of support, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei posted a picture on Twitter of Zarif and Iran’s envoys to the talks dressed in white scientists’ coats. “I recognize our negotiators as trustworthy, committed, brave and faithful,” Khamenei said in an accompanying statement. Iran, holder of the world’s No. 4 oil and No. 2 natural gas reserves, is seeking the lifting of trade and financial sanctions that have hobbled its economy. For the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Momentum Builds for Iran Deal as Negotiators Allow Another Week

Momentum built toward a historic nuclear deal, with Iran and negotiators giving themselves until July 7 to draft the text of a final agreement. Following a two-hour meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Vienna, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said only “procedural” issues needed to be addressed. The U.S. and Europe formally extended the terms of their interim agreement with Iran in order win time to settle on a deal. “The situation is moving in the right direction,” Lavrov told journalists at the Palais Coburg where talks convened for a fourth day. “We have every reason to believe that the result is within reach.” For Iran, holder of the world’s fourth-biggest oil and second-biggest natural-gas reserves, an agreement would mean the lifting of trade and financial sanctions that have hobbled its economy. For the U.S. and Persian Gulf nations wary of Iran’s influence, it would restrict […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S., Iran presidents issue warnings as nuclear talks extended

VIENNA Iran and world powers gave themselves an extra week to reach a nuclear accord, extending a deadline due to expire on Tuesday, while U.S. President Barack Obama said there would be no deal if all pathways to an Iranian nuclear weapon were not cut off. With talks in the final stretch, Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani also spoke out, saying his country would resume suspended atomic work if the West breaks its promises. Iran and six world powers are working towards an accord that would see Tehran halt sensitive nuclear work for at least a decade in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, potentially the biggest breakthrough in decades of hostility between Washington and Tehran. "Ultimately this is going to be up to the Iranians" to meet the requirements set out by the international community, Obama said during a news conference in Washington. Obama’s remarks were likely to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

OPEC Crude Production Surges as Iraq Pumps at Record Pace

Iraqi crude production climbed to a record this month, helping send OPEC output to the highest level since August 2012. Output by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries climbed 744,000 barrels to 32.134 million a day this month, according to a Bloomberg survey of oil companies, producers and analysts. Last month’s total was revised 189,000 barrels lower to 31.39 million a day, because of changes to the Saudi, Iraqi, Algerian and Nigerian estimates. OPEC has been boosting supply as it seeks to force higher-cost producers to cut output. The 12-member group agreed on June 5 to retain its collective output target of 30 million barrels a day, a level that it’s exceeded for 13 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “The unrelenting increase in OPEC supply is going to put a lot of pressure on the market,” John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The Latest: Militant attacks in Egypt’s Sinai kill 30 troops

CAIRO (AP) — The latest news on the near-simultaneous militant attacks in Egypt’s restive northern Sinai Peninsula that have killed at least 30 soldiers (all times local): 11:30 a.m. Egyptian security and military officials say a heavy battle is taking place in the northern Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, where militants are besieging the town’s main police station. The fighting is part of a wave of coordinated militant attacks launched on Wednesday morning in restive Sinai, just two days after the country’s state prosecutor was assassinated in Cairo. The officials say that as part of the attacks, a suicide car bombing destroyed one military checkpoint while another was first hit by mortar shells and rocket propelled grenades, then assaulted by militants. — 10:35 a.m. Egypt’s military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir, says fighting is still underway in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula, where militants unleashed a wave of attacks […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Spent N3.8 Trillion Illegally in Three Years – NEC

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) spent nearly half of the money it earned in three years and remitted the other half to the federation account, it was revealed yesterday. The corporation earned N8.1trn from crude oil sales from 2012 to 2015, withheld N3.8trn and paid only N4.3 trillion to the national treasury. Officials of the corporation revealed these facts themselves while briefing members of the National Economic Council yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. They also said that former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spent $2.1bn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) without the approval of NEC. The governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, disclosed these while briefing State House journalists on the outcome of the four-hour meeting. President Muhammadu Buhari had inaugurated the National Economic Council chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Oshiomhole said the NNPC and the office of the Accountant-General […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: Revealed – “In Three Years, NNPC Generated N8.1 Trillion, Gave Nigeria N4.3 Trillion, Pocketed the Balance”

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, generated about N8.1trillion between 2012 and May 2015, but paid only N4.3trillion to the federation account, Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, said Monday, citing new details from the federal economic council meeting. The balance of the oil money — about N3.8trillion — was withheld and spent by the NNPC unilaterally without approval or National Assembly appropriation, the governor told journalists. Also, the governor confirmed at the meeting that from November 2014, about $2.1billion was withdrawn from the excess crude account without the approval of the National Economic Council, NEC. Mr. Oshiomhole, who, alongside the governors of Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and Zamfara governor, Abdulazeez Yari, briefed journalists, said following the discovery, the NEC has set up a four-member committee to comb the books of the NNPC to confirm its remittances and how the excess crude account was utilised. President Muhammadu Buhari dissolved […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Asian imports of Iran oil hit highest this year as nuclear talks drag

TOKYO Asian imports of Iranian crude rose to the highest level this year in May, although buyers may have to curb any further increases if negotiators up against a deadline fail to reach a final deal on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. A deal between Iran and six world powers would resolve a 12-year standoff over the Islamic nation’s nuclear work in exchange for relief from sanctions, which could eventually send millions of barrels flooding into an already saturated market. Iran has as much as 40 million barrels of oil stored in tankers and aims to increase output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) within a month of sanctions being lifted and up to 1 million bpd within six or seven months. Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China reached a tentative framework for a nuclear pact on April 2 but several issues remain unresolved. They have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China starts work on Russian gas pipeline

China starts work on natural gas pipeline extending to Russia, touting the low-carbon benefits of switching away from coal. File Photo by UPI/Hamid Forotan/ISNA BEIJING, June 30 (UPI) — Construction on the Chinese side of a natural gas pipeline linking to Russia began in western Heilongjiang province, a Chinese energy company said Tuesday. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli gave the ceremonial order to start construction on the pipeline during a video conference with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev , the China National Petroleum Corp. said. Russian energy company Gazprom has a 30-year sales agreement with CNPC that calls for 1.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year through the pipeline. With a European economy looking to break the Russian grip on the region’s energy sector, the Kremlin has shifted focus on building successful trade relations with Asia-Pacific economies. Gazprom in early 2015 received a AAA rating , the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China June factory, services surveys fuel hopes economy leveling out, no quick rebound seen

BEIJING Activity in China’s factory sector expanded slightly in June though not as much as expected, while growth in the services sector sped up, official surveys showed, offering some signs that the world’s second-largest economy may be starting to slowly level out after a raft of support measures. Beijing has rolled out a flurry of steps since last year, including interest rate cuts and more infrastructure spending, but analysts remain wary about the outlook given the still-weak property market, erratic global demand for China’s exports and fears of a collapse in its wild stock market. The government is due to release second-quarter gross domestic product data on July 15 and many economists expect growth to dip below 7 percent, which would be the weakest performance since the global financial crisis. "In general, the softness in the manufacturing sector remains, requiring more policy recalibration", Liu Li-Gang and Zhou Hao at […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. Supreme Court fires warning shot across EPA’s bow: Kemp

LONDON In a rare defeat for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered it on Monday to reconsider whether the EPA’s regulations on mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants are appropriate and necessary. While the EPA considered the costs and benefits of various regulatory options later in the rule-writing process, the court faulted it for not considering compliance costs at the beginning to determine whether regulation was appropriate in the first place. The ruling is unusual because so far the federal courts, including the high court, have been deferential to the EPA’s attempts to write ambitious rules to curb pollution from power plants. While the courts have become increasingly aggressive in invalidating regulations issued by other federal agencies, the EPA’s air pollution regulations have mostly survived judicial scrutiny. Starting with “Massachusetts versus EPA” in 2007, the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the EPA’s authority […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

BP’s chief economist sees U.S. shale weathering oil surplus

BRUSSELS Shale output in the United States will prove resilient to low oil prices likely to be prolonged by the prospect of half a million barrels per day of Iranian crude making its way back to the market, BP’s chief economist said on Tuesday. Talks in Vienna between world powers trying to end sanctions on Tehran in return for limits on Iran’s most sensitive nuclear activities could bring a significant increase in Iranian oil exports. BP’s Spencer Dale, however, told Reuters that it would probably take time for any easing of sanctions to filter through to oil markets if an Iran deal is agreed. His "hunch" was that the outcome of the talks would be closer to U.S. demands that restrictions should be eased after a period of monitoring rather than the rapid change sought by Iran. U.S. and European Union sanctions ban their companies from buying Iranian oil. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Canada Surprise April Contraction Opens Door to 2nd Rate Cut

Canada’s economy shrank for the fourth straight month in April as oil and mining slumped and a rebound in manufacturing remained elusive, opening the door to a second interest-rate cut from the central bank this year. Output shrank 0.1 percent to an annualized C$1.65 trillion ($1.33 trillion) in the month, Statistics Canada said Tuesday, confounding economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent expansion in a Bloomberg survey. Oil and gas, mining and quarrying fell 2.6 percent in the month, the sixth consecutive decline as crude’s slide continued to hammer Canada’s resource-rich economy. The data failed to show the strength in non-energy exports and consumer spending the Bank of Canada was counting on to take over as drivers of growth after output shrank at an annualized 0.6 percent in the first quarter, and raises the pressure to cut interest rates again at the July 15 meeting. “They shouldn’t wait any longer, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

July 4th gas to be cheapest since at least 2010

U.S. holiday travelers will see some of the lowest gas prices in at least five years, according to motor club AAA. UPI/Bill Greenblatt WASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) — Though seasonally high, U.S. holiday goers are expected to pay the lowest price for gas during the July 4th weekend in at least five years, motor club AAA said. The average retail price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline for Tuesday was $2.77, down a fraction of a percent from the previous day. AAA said prices at the pump tend to drift lower in the days preceding the July 4th holiday, though this year prices are set to be the lowest for the holiday in at least five years. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports gasoline prices averaged $2.76 for the first week of July 2010 and $3.58 for the same week in 2011. AAA said the average price for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

SCOTUS says no to Gulf of Mexico spill appeals

U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear challenges filed by companies protesting charges stemming from Deepwater Horizon tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. UPI/U.S. Coast Guard WASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) — The Supreme Court refused to hear two separate cases filed by BP and Anadarko Petroleum challenging fines related to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The nation’s highest court let stand a decision from a circuit court of appeals in New Orleans, which in June 2014 said the companies are liable for penalties under the Clean Water Act. The cases filed against the federal government by BP and Anadarko were Nos. 14-1217 and 14-1167, respectively. Anadarko held a minority stake in the Macondo well beneath the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Carl Barbier, the judge overseeing the case in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana, ruled BP […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

North Dakota refinery completed

North Dakota leaders tout economic benefits of new oil refinery processing Bakken crude. Photo by Oskari Porkka/Shutterstock BISMARCK, N.D., June 30 (UPI) — The completion of a new refinery in North Dakota will help bring jobs to the state while ensuring U.S. energy security, Gov. Jack Dalrymple said. MDU Resources Group and Calumet Specialty Products Partners, which has headquarters in Indiana, announced the completion of the Dakota Prairie refinery, characterized by the state as the first environmentally friendly refinery build in the country in nearly 40 years. "The Dakota Prairie refinery is another example of the great progress we’re making in North Dakota to create good jobs, diversify our economy and to help meet the energy needs of our state and the nation," Dalrymple said in a statement. North Dakota’s economy is leading others in the nation and its unemployment rate has hovered below the national average rate of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple