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Oil edges up towards $47, weaker Asian demand outlook weighs

A customer fills the tank of her car at a fuel station in Sint Pieters Leeuw, Belgium December 5, 2014. Oil edged higher towards $47 a barrel on Tuesday, supported by the prospect of lower U.S. inventories and production although concern about weaker Asian demand kept prices in check. While analysts expect reports this week to show no change in U.S. crude stocks overall, an estimate from market intelligence company Genscape that they fell by 1.8 million barrels at Cushing – U.S. crude’s delivery point – lent oil some support. Brent crude LCOc1 was up 26 cents at $46.63 a barrel, after declining in the previous two sessions. U.S. crude CLc1 was trading 38 cents higher at $44.38 at 0849 GMT. "Genscape is forecasting a large stock draw in Cushing," said Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix. "The supply and demand numbers suggest that the low oil prices are starting […]

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Worries Rise Over Global Trade Slump

A sharp drop in global trade growth this year is underscoring a disturbing legacy of the financial crisis: Exports and imports of goods are lagging far behind the pace during past expansions, threatening future productivity and living standards. For the third year in a row, the rate of growth in global trade is set to trail the already sluggish expansion of the world economy, according to data from the World Trade Organization and projections from leading economists. Before the recent slump, the last year trade underperformed during an economic expansion was 1983. “We have seen this burst of globalization, and now we’re at a point of consolidation, maybe retrenchment,” said WTO chief economist Robert Koopman. “It’s almost like the timing belt on the global growth engine is a bit off or the cylinders are not firing as they should.” Since rebounding sharply in 2010 after the financial crisis, trade […]

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Asian shares tread water as Fed meeting looms

A man holding an umbrella walks past an electronic board displaying graphs showing recent movements of the Nikkei share average outside a brokerage in Tokyo September 8, 2015. Asian shares and the dollar inched higher on Tuesday but caution reigned after Wall Street skidded as investors awaited this week’s U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 percent, after Wall Street logged losses, with U.S. trading volume at its lowest in a month as markets awaited the Fed outcome. Japan’s Nikkei stock index .N225 rose 0.6 percent as investors awaited the outcome of the Bank of Japan’s two-day policy meeting later this session, as well as BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s post-meeting speech. A few investors were betting that Japan’s central bank would muster additional easing measures. But the majority believe that the BOJ will simply warn of heightening global risks while […]

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Iraq Seen Raising Southern Oil Exports Amid War, Pay Dispute

Iraq plans to increase exports of Basrah crude by 26 percent next month, as the country continues to raise output amid fighting with militants and a payment dispute with the northern Kurdish region, according to a loading program obtained by Bloomberg News. The Middle Eastern country plans to export a combined 81 cargoes of Basrah Light and Basrah Heavy grade crudes totaling 114 million barrels in October, according to the program. That’s an increase from the 90.5 million barrels planned for shipment in September. Loading programs are planned schedules for shipments during a given month. The October program would mean a record for exports if Iraq made all the shipments planned for the month. However, loading programs are subject to change, and the country’s actual exports can vary from the plan. Total exports in June were 3.19 million barrels a day, Oil Ministry data show, falling short of the […]

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Iraq Warns Oil Companies of Spending Cuts

Iraq’s oil ministry has issued a stark warning to the international oil companies running its energy sector that it will slash spending in 2016 as the country feels the full effect of low crude prices and the fight against Islamic State . A Sept. 6 letter from an oil ministry official is fresh evidence that Iraq is struggling to maintain a swift expansion of its energy sector that has made it the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’s second-largest producer with 4 million a barrels a day or more this summer. “Because of the drop in our oil-sales revenues, the Iraqi government has sharply reduced the funds available to the Ministry of Oil,” the official, Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, wrote. “This will…reduce the funds available for the reimbursement of petroleum costs to our contractors.” Mr. Ameedi also wrote that the oil ministry didn’t expect lower funding to “reduce production from […]

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Iraq Asks Oil Companies to Cut Spending After Drop in Prices

Iraq asked oil companies to reduce their 2016 spending plans in the country by Sept. 30, citing lower oil prices and government revenue. The reduced budgets shouldn’t affect 2015 production, Abdul Mahdy Al-Ameedi, director of licensing at Iraq’s oil ministry, said by phone Tuesday, citing a letter that the ministry sent to companies. Iraq is now producing more than 3 million barrels a day, he said. “We’ve asked them in a letter we sent them to take into consideration the drop in oil prices and the low revenues of the government that may not cover their investments,” al-Ameedi said. “There was a stipulation that this investment reduction must not affect oil output from the fields that was in the 2015 schedule.” OPEC’s second-largest crude producer is facing a slowdown in investment due to lower oil prices while fighting a costly war on Islamist militants who seized a swathe of […]

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Syria peak oil weakened government’s finances ahead of Arab Spring in 2011

While the attention of the world is on the refugee crisis we need to look at the causes of this mass exodus. Fig 1: Refugees walking on Hungarian motorway towards Austria in Sep 2015 In May 2013 the Guardian had an article “Peak oil, climate change and pipeline geopolitics driving Syrian conflict” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/may/13/1 In March 2015, a group of researchers led by climatologist Colin Kelley (University of California) published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences with the title “Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought” “Between 2006 and 2009, the people of Syria suffered during the most severe drought that country has experienced since the beginning of its instrumental record. As water became scarce, crops failed and cattle died on a huge scale. As many as 1.5 million Syrians, out of a population of just over 20 million, […]

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Saudi copes with oil drop by selling FX

Look out world—China’s not the only central bank in town selling its currency reserves to cope with a tumultuous global economy. With crude prices having shed more than half their value over the past year, oil producing economies are feeling the sting of cheaper oil. More importantly, Saudi Arabia—OPEC’s largest member and the world’s top oil producer—bears watching as oil stays below $50 and a global glut depresses oil prices, analysts say. Even before China surprised markets by announcing a record drawdown of its foreign currency denominated assets, Saudi Arabia had already begun selling its reserves to plug a hole in its budget and support its flagging currency, the riyal. In February and March, the world’s largest oil exporter saw net foreign assets drop by more than $30 billion, the biggest two- month drop on record. These asset sales are important because Saudi holds one of the world’s largest […]

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OPEC says the world will want more of its oil next year

The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is pictured at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, August 21, 2015. OPEC on Monday predicted higher demand for its crude oil next year, sticking to its view that a strategy of letting prices fall will tame the U.S. shale boom and cut a global surplus. The monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries also said a weaker outlook for China would contribute to slower global oil demand growth next year. "U.S. oil production has shown signs of slowing," OPEC said in the report. "This could contribute to a reduction in the imbalance of oil market fundamentals, however, it remains to be seen to what extent this can be achieved in the months to come." OPEC said it expected demand for its crude next year to average 30.31 million barrels per day (bpd), up 190,000 bpd […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple