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Greece Requests Three-Year Bailout in First Step Toward Meeting Creditors’ Demand

BRUSSELS—Greece took a first step toward addressing demands that eurozone leaders say it must meet to stay in the euro, as pressure grew on both sides to reach a deal and avert the country’s imminent financial meltdown. The government in Athens formally asked for a three-year bailout from the eurozone’s rescue fund on Wednesday and pledged to start implementing some economic-policy overhauls by early next week, according to a copy of the request seen by The Wall Street Journal. But whether European leaders accept the application for more emergency loans at a crisis summit on Sunday still depends on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras making a drastic turnaround on pension cuts, tax increases and other austerity measures after five months of often-acrimonious negotiations. Eurozone officials expect the request for more aid to be followed up by a full list of detailed policy overhauls and budget cuts that go beyond those […]

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Fear Grows in Greece as Decisive Hour Nears

People in Athens line up on Wednesday to withdraw money from an ATM cash dispenser. Greece requested a new three-year bailout from its skeptical eurozone creditors and pledged some economic overhauls on Wednesday, but the euphoria some Greeks felt after Sunday’s “no” vote on the last deal was fading fast. Whether European leaders accept the Greek government’s application for more emergency loans at a crisis summit Sunday still depends on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras making a drastic turnaround on pension cuts, tax increases and other austerity measures after five months of often-acrimonious negotiations. “The actual examination can only begin once the full package has been put on the table,” said a spokesman for German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who has pushed a hard line on Greece and made clear that Germany is prepared for a potential Greek exit from the eurozone. His comments echo those of German Chancellor Angela […]

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Greece Requests a 3-Year Loan but Is Vague on Its Financial Plans

ATHENS — Greece , running out of money and under a tight deadline from European leaders, requested a three-year loan on Wednesday from the eurozone’s bailout fund as the country and its creditors began what could be a last effort to avert a historic rupture. But in making a formal request for new aid that it needs to avoid further defaults on its debts, Greece did not provide any details of what it would do in return to show that it is serious about strengthening the government’s finances, other than alluding generally to a willingness to make quick changes to its tax and pension systems. The government said it would provide those specifics on Thursday. Nor did it publicly describe the size of the loan it sought. Some economists estimate that Greece will need 50 billion euros (about $55 billion), or possibly more. Eurozone leaders rebuked the Greek prime […]

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Oil Turns Negative as Market Sentiment Sours Further

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures turned negative in Asian trade Wednesday, erasing some early gains, as market sentiment soured further with another decline in China’s equity markets. Oil prices have fallen into bearish territory, after being stuck in a narrow trading range for several weeks, and are now trading at nearly half their level since a year ago. The return of a downward trajectory for oil has dashed any hopes oil producing and oil services companies had of a recovery when prices had found support in the April-June quarter. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $51.98 a barrel at 0348 GMT, down $0.35 in the Globex electronic session. August Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.28 to $56.57 a barrel. A "perfect storm of events has hit oil markets" but it is mostly just a sentiment-driven move […]

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Oil prices fall as China share crisis worsens, traders hedge for further drops

A pump jack is seen at sunrise near Bakersfield, California October 14, 2014. Oil futures fell again on Wednesday as worries over the Greek debt crisis and China’s stock market turmoil outweighed an expected U.S. inventory drop, with traders anticipating further drops. China’s stocks tanked further on Wednesday in a deepening crisis in which China’s Securities Finance Corp said it would provide liquidity to ease "panic" as over 500 Chinese-listed firms suspended trading. Front-month Brent crude futures were 38 cents lower at $56.47 a barrel at 0452 GMT, and are down over 6 percent so far this week to levels last seen in April. U.S. crude was down 35 cents at $51.98, down more than 8 percent for the week. "A perfect storm of events has hit oil markets," Morgan Stanley said. The bank said "turmoil in China and Greece may put recent robust demand growth at risk," although […]

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Oil under $60 beyond 2016 suggests market rethinking shale

A man fills up his car at a petrol station in Rome January 6, 2015. The almost 10 percent nosedive in headline oil prices this week has many hallmarks of a shocking but short-lived slump, triggered by a confluence of external events and exacerbated by safety-seeking investors and momentum-chasing traders. By Tuesday afternoon, the crowded race to the exit was winding down, with prices recovering from three-month lows as traders reassessed the factors they blamed for the worst slide in four months: Greece’s debt woes; China’s stock market meltdown; talks with Iran over its nuclear program; a stronger dollar; a rise in the number of U.S. oil rigs; a breach of key technical triggers. Yet a deeper look at the market suggests an important and more lasting rethink may now be afoot: longer-term oil prices, normally less volatile and reactive than immediate delivery, have suffered an almost equally violent […]

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EIA Slightly Raises 2015 And 2016 Oil Production Forecasts

NEW YORK, July 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Tuesday modestly raised its 2015 and 2016 U.S. crude oil production forecasts while lowering its price outlook. In its short term energy outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its 2015 U.S. crude oil production growth forecast to 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 720,000 bpd. The EIA forecast 2016 production will fall by 150,000 bpd, slightly less than its previous forecast of a 160,000 bpd decline. The energy agency also lowered its forecasts for U.S. and global crude oil prices for 2016. The average 2016 price for West Texas Intermediate crude , the U.S. benchmark, was forecast at $62.04 per barrel, a 5.4 percent drop from the previous monthly EIA forecast. The global benchmark Brent was forecast to average $67.04 per barrel, a 4.9 percent drop from the previous monthly EIA forecast. (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by […]

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US EIA predicts natural gas output growth to resume in July despite declines

Work on a pipeline capacity expansion project slowed natural gas production in the Marcellus shale play in recent months, but output is expected to kick back into high gear in July and keep pace with a projected 5.7% increase in production from last year, the US Energy Information Administration said Tuesday in its monthly outlook. EIA, in its July Short-Term Energy Outlook, forecast gas marketed production at 78.65 Bcf/d for the second quarter and 79.28 Bcf/d for Q3, down 130 MMcf/d and 100 MMcf/d, respectively, from the agency’s June estimate. EIA said in the report that Northeast production dipped in May and June because of maintenance and construction in the Marcellus producing area, contributing to a 1.2 Bcf/d drop in average output between April and June. It noted that Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line has restricted capacity on parts of the Leidy Line that delivers gas from the Marcellus to […]

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Survey: OPEC keeps plugging away

Platts survey finds oil production from OPEC increased in June, the fourth straight month of gains in an already oversupplied market. Photo by sakhorn/Shutterstock HOUSTON, July 7 (UPI) — Output from Saudi Arabia and Iraq helped lead to the fourth straight monthly increase from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a survey found. A survey by energy reporting service Platts finds OPEC production in June reached 31.3 million barrels per day, a 5.5 percent increase from May and the fourth straight month of gains from the 12-member group. Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC , produced an average 10.3 million bpd in June, about 1 million barrels more than the United States. The increase in production from U.S. shale basins is keeping markets weighted on the supply side. Saudi Arabia has said it would keep its output higher despite the glut in an effort to stay competitive […]

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Short-Term Energy Outlook

Highlights North Sea Brent crude oil prices averaged $61/barrel (b) in June, a $3/b decrease from May. Crude oil prices fell by about $4/b on July 6 in the aftermath of the "no" vote in Greece on the economic program, as well as lingering concerns about lower economic growth in China, higher oil exports from Iran, and continuing growth in global petroleum and other liquids inventories. A percent price change of this extent on a single day is unusual, but despite daily price volatility, monthly Brent crude oil prices have averaged between $55/b and $65/b per month since falling to $48/b in January. EIA forecasts that Brent crude oil prices will average $60/b in 2015 and $67/b in 2016. Forecast West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices in both 2015 and 2016 average $5/b less than the Brent price. The current values of futures and options contracts for December […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple