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Oil prices fall on oversupply concerns, weaker dollar support

Oil pumps are seen at a MAX oil station in Yangon April 21, 2014. Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Wednesday as concerns over global oversupply outweighed the impact of a likely larger than expected draw in U.S. crude stocks and a weakening dollar. Asian investors focused on OPEC production figures that showed members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries produced around 3 million barrels of oil per day more than daily demand in the second quarter, a Reuters survey showed. "Glut is the word," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at Sydney’s CMC Markets. OPEC members pumped 31.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter against demand of 28.26 million bpd, the Reuters data showed. Both Brent and U.S. crude came off session lows on Tuesday after data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. commercial crude stocks fell by 1.9 […]

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Oil prices fall to near six-month lows, rattled by China

A customer prepares to fill the tank of her car at a fuel station in Sint Pieters Leeuw December 5, 2014. Oil prices fell for a fifth straight session on Tuesday to their lowest in almost six months, as a rout in Chinese equities cast further doubt over the outlook for crude demand in the world’s top commodities consumer. China’s already-volatile benchmark stock index, with a combined market capitalization of $4.6 trillion, has lost 10 percent in the last two days of trade. Most household debt is linked to real estate rather than the stock market, but with Chinese economic growth struggling to stick at 7 percent, analysts say demand for crude may not be enough to help mop up a global supply glut. "Typically, equity markets do have a high correlation to quarterly GDP growth," Deutsche Bank strategist Michael Lewis said. "Naturally, there is some risk that this […]

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Head of North Oil Company removed

Then-NOC Director General Sameer al-Taie (background) joins then-Oil Minister Abdel Karim Luaibi (second from right) and Kirkuk province Gov. Najmaldin Karim (right) in welcoming BP CEO Bob Dudley (left) before a meeting on Nov. 6, 2013. (MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images) Sameer al-Taie, the director general of the North Oil Company (NOC), has been removed from his position.Oil Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi issued the decision on July 27, which was relayed in a ministerial order from Hassib Mohammed Hadi al-Sadr, the director general of the Oil Ministry’s Administrative Department. Iraq Oil Report reviewed a copy of the order and confirmed its authenticity with two senior NOC officials."The following has been decided," the order said. "First: end the appoint… 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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Turkey: Pipeline Attack Halts Natural Gas Flow From Iran

A Turkish pipeline transporting natural gas from Iran was attacked by saboteurs late on July 27, stopping the flow, Turkey’s energy minister said, Anadolu Agency reported July 28. The attack reportedly occurred in the eastern Agri province, some 15 kilometers (roughly 9 miles) from the Iranian border. There has yet to be a claim of responsibility, Reuters reported, though the attack bore the hallmark of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been targeted in a series of Turkish airstrikes over the past few days . The pipeline carries around 10 billion cubic meters of gas between the two countries each year. Officials with Botas, the firm operating the pipeline, said repairs are underway but that it is unclear when natural gas flows would resume.

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Iran’s new oil contract plans still ‘not clear’: BP’s Dudley

BP will look for upstream opportunities in Iran once sanctions on the oil producing country are lifted, but is unclear what Tehran’s intentions are for its new oil contracts, BP’s chief executive Bob Dudley said Tuesday. Dudley added he was wary of rushing into Iranian projects until the situation with the sanctions regime was clear. "If the sanctions are relaxed in a way that allows us to go work there, obviously we would explore opportunities in Iran. We are not actively in that phase," Dudley told reporters. "The agreements as laid out are quite complicated and actually no one really knows all the details yet. As a company that works all over the globe it would be natural for us" to work in Iran, he said. Article continues below… The Platts Global Energy Awards is a competitive awards program honoring excellence and accomplishments in the global energy industry. The […]

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Pemex Reports 11th Straight Loss as Accidents Cripple Output

Petroleos Mexicanos posted its 11th consecutive quarterly loss as a series of accidents combined with a collapse in oil prices to batter the state-run producer’s earnings. The company’s net loss widened to 84.6 billion pesos ($5.2 billion) in the second quarter from 53 billion pesos a year earlier, Pemex, as the Mexico City-based producer in known, said in a statement Thursday. Sales slid 24 percent to 308.9 billion pesos as output fell to the lowest level in 24 years. Pemex’s earnings were crimped after U.S. benchmark oil prices fell an average 44 percent from 2014 and production slid following three offshore accidents in as many months. Production averaged 2.23 million barrels a day in the quarter, a 9.8 percent decrease from a year earlier, and has declined for 10 straight years since reaching 3.3 million in 2004. “We continue to face the effects of the accident at Abkatun along […]

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Norwegian company surveying offshore Mexican reserves

Norwegian energy company Dolphin Geophysical starts survey of Mexican waters as the nation works to overhaul its oil sector. Map courtesy of Dolphin Geophysical OSLO, Norway, July 28 (UPI) — A Norwegian energy company said it was surveying Mexican waters for the reserve potential in anticipation of a "new era" in the nation’s oil sector. Dolphin Geophysical said Tuesday it started a seismic survey campaign off the western Mexican coast, saying the campaign coordinates with the nation’s recent sector reforms. "Dolphin is very pleased to begin the acquisition of its first survey of this new era in Mexican petroleum exploration," Andy Phipps, regional president for the company, said in a statement. The Mexican government recently auctioned off rights to an estimated 2,600 square miles with reserve estimates of around 686 million barrels of oil equivalent, most of which exists as light crude oil. The auction drew interest from mid-sized […]

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World’s Top 3 Shipbuilders Post Record Loss on Deep-Sea Failures

Construction work in the dry dock at the Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg The world’s three biggest shipbuilders posted a combined 4.8 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in operating losses in the second quarter, paying the price for a failed foray into deep-sea oil rigs. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. — South Korea’s Big Three shipbuilders — all reported losses Wednesday that were far worse than analysts had estimated. The root cause: a venture into offshore oil rigs starting around 2010 to avoid direct competition with Chinese shipbuilders, who had the advantage of cheap labor to make low-profit tankers. Mounting losses at vessel makers are the latest example of difficulties for the global shipbuilding industry after a glut of vessels and low freight rates spelled trouble for Chinese shipyards in recent years, prompting […]

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Chevron to lay off 1,500 workers amidst oil price slump

A Chevron gas station sign is seen in Del Mar, California, April 25, 2013. Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company, said on Tuesday it would lay off 1,500 employees, about 2 percent of its global work force, as it trims costs to offset declining crude prices. Nearly all of the layoffs will be in Texas, where the company has expanded in recent years to develop land in the Permian shale formation, and California, where Chevron is headquartered. Fifty international employees will be laid off and roughly 600 contractor positions will be canceled, the company said in a statement. Of the 1,500 jobs being eliminated, 270 are currently empty and will not be filled, Chevron said. Chevron had previously labeled the Permian as one of its premium assets. Oil prices have plunged by about 55 percent in the past year due to oversupply concerns both in the United States […]

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