Saudi Arabia Starts Production Cuts Ahead Of OPEC+ Deal
OPEC’s top producer and the world’s top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has already started cutting its oil production ahead of the official start of the new OPEC+ pact on May Continue Reading
US extends Iraq’s sanctions waiver for Iranian power imports by another 30 days
Iraq can import Iranian electricity without the risk of sanctions for another 30 days, the US State Department said Sunday in extending a key waiver, despite some predictions that the Continue Reading
Trump Could Use ‘Nuclear Option’ To Make Saudi Arabia Pay For Oil War
President Donald Trump is considering all options available to him to make the Saudis pay for the oil price war as the crash that followed has done significant damage to Continue Reading
Oil Slump, Coronavirus Create a Perfect Storm for Nigeria’s Economy
The crash in oil prices and the economic fallout from the coronavirus together pose what could be an existential threat for Africa’s largest economy and biggest crude producer. Nigeria, a Continue Reading
Oil Majors May Be Forced To Cut Crude Output In Nigeria
Africa’s largest oil producer, OPEC member Nigeria, has yet to figure out how and from where to cut production as part of the OPEC+ deal, and this has led to Continue Reading
Venezuela appoints alleged drug trafficker El Aissami as oil minister
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday appointed his economy vice president, Tareck El Aissami, who has been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges, as oil minister, amid Continue Reading
Is Brazil the next big hot spot as other nations ease up?
Brazil is emerging as potentially the next big hot spot for the coronavirus amid President Jair Bolsonaro’s insistence that it is just a “little flu” and that there is no Continue Reading
Pemex Pulls Staff From Offshore Oil Platforms Over Coronavirus
Mexico’s state-held oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) said on Sunday that it had started to reduce the number of oil workers at its offshore oil platforms to reduce the risk Continue Reading
Tough Sanctions Force Halliburton To Suspend Most Operations In Venezuela
Halliburton will suspend most of its operations in Venezuela, the company said, after Washington tightened the noose around Caracas by banning U.S. oil companies operating in the country from drilling Continue Reading
China construction projects resume in sign of economic reopening
Chinese manufacturers of construction machinery have raised prices as sales take off, in an early sign of how economic activity is resuming after weeks of shutdown during the coronavirus epidemic. Some Continue Reading
Japan seen facing 13 mil barrels of crude surplus over demand in June
At least one refiner considering delaying June loading term cargoes Domestic sales dropping 20% from COVID-19 Refiners at dilemma despite low oil price Japan could see roughly 13 million barrels Continue Reading
South Korea Has Run Out Of Oil Storage
South Korea, the country with the fourth-largest commercial storage capacity in Asia, has just run out of room to store more oil, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Continue Reading
China’s Mar crude imports from top supplier Saudi Arabia down 1.6% on year
Saudi Arabia remained China’s top crude oil supplier in March, despite arrivals slipping 1.6% year on year to 1.7 million b/d or 7.21 million mt, the latest data from General Continue Reading
U.S. Could Be Weeks From Meat Shortages With Shutdowns Spreading
Plant shutdowns are leaving the U.S. dangerously close to meat shortages as coronavirus outbreaks spread to suppliers across the nation and the Americas. Almost a third of U.S. pork capacity Continue Reading
Oil traders book expensive U.S. vessels to store gasoline, ship fuel overseas in sign of desperation
Oil traders are hiring expensive U.S. vessels, normally only used for domestic shipments, to store gasoline or ship fuel overseas, five shipping sources said, in a sign of the energy Continue Reading
BP revises $5.6 billion Alaska deal after oil price crash
BP said on Monday it had amended financial terms of the $5.6 billion sale of its Alaska business to privately held Hilcorp Energy Co following the recent slump in oil Continue Reading
Low Oil Prices May Kill Off The Next Nuclear Boom Before It Begins
After a decade-long bear market, uranium has suddenly turned into a raging bull in an otherwise dismal market for commodities. Uranium prices have surged 35 percent over the past 30 Continue Reading
Canadian Drillers May Shut-In More Than 1.3 Million Bpd In Second Quarter
In light of recent guidance revisions and the wider collapse in drilling and completion activity in Western Canada, Rystad Energy now expects total 2020 Canadian upstream spending to fall below Continue Reading
Coronavirus, crude price wars combine to bring first large Chapter 11 filing
Whiting Petroleum, a major oil and gas producer in the Bakken Shale and Denver-Julesburg Basin, announced Monday it had filed a Chapter 11 plan, as the decimated global demand for Continue Reading
BP hikes debt, keeps dividend as coronavirus hammers profits
BP’s ( BP.L ) first-quarter profit tumbled by two thirds and its debt climbed to its highest in at least five years as the coronavirus crisis hammered oil demand, but Continue Reading
Oil Slides Back Below $15 on Glut While Producers Start Cuts
Oil dropped back below $15 a barrel as swelling global crude stockpiles made it more difficult for leading producers to balance the market by curbing output. Futures in New York slid 16%, Continue Reading
Crude futures dip in Asia trade as supply cuts unlikely to outweigh demand loss
Crude oil futures were lower in mid-morning trade in Asia Monday as focus remained on oversupply concerns, with recent supply cuts widely considered unlikely to balance the unprecedented demand destruction Continue Reading
Markets Diverge in Assessing the Economic Freeze
Stocks continue to rise despite an unprecedented freeze in global economic activity and an oil-price crash, a divergence that makes some investors skeptical the gains can continue. The S&P 500 Continue Reading
Today’s Logistics Report: Building Bigger Ships; Falling Freight Rail; Amazon Eyes on Sellers
U.S. freight railroads are hunkering down to wait for better days, whenever those come. CSX Corp. and Union Pacific Corp. have taken hundreds of locomotives offline in recent weeks, reduced Continue Reading
What’s Next for Global Oil Prices?: The Industry May Shut Down
Negative oil prices, ships dawdling at sea with unwanted cargoes, and traders getting creative about where to stash oil. The next chapter in the oil crisis is now inevitable: great swathes of the Continue Reading
The Future of Oil Demand Is Being Reshaped by Virus Lockdowns
Richie Merzian is still thinking about oil a lot in his professional capacity, but these days he’s using much less of it. The Australian energy and climate change researcher used to Continue Reading
Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know It?
The new coronavirus is shaping up to be an enormous stress test for globalization. As critical supply chains break down, and nations hoard medical supplies and rush to limit travel, Continue Reading
When oil became waste: a week of turmoil for crude, and more pain to come
The magnitude of how damaged the energy industry is coming into full view on April 20 when the benchmark price of U.S. oil futures CLc1, which had never dropped below Continue Reading
Big Oil’s Dilemma: Cut Dividends Or Cut Operations
The oil majors are facing a financial vice like they never have before. With oil prices hovering around $20 per barrel and no end in sight for the global pandemic, Continue Reading
Global Supply Chain Risks: World Shifts Into Survival Mode
When the timeline of the pandemic of 2020 is complete, March 24 will stand out as a day to remember for everyone from sports fans to anthropologists to cola drinkers. Japan Continue Reading
Oil Slump May No Longer Be a Curse for Renewable Energy
Low oil prices are usually a curse for green energy, but this time might be different. The collapse of the crude market has seen prices fall below zero for the first Continue Reading
Iran Reaches Production Milestone At World’s Largest Gas Field
Reaching natural gas production of one billion cubic metres per day (Bcm/d) has been one of the three core hydrocarbons resource strategies of Iran since the Islamic Republic began to Continue Reading
U.S. grants Iraq another 30-day sanctions waiver
Renewal enables Iraq to continue Iranian energy imports, but short window reflects ongoing strain in relations with Washington. Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi meets with U.S. Secretary of State Continue Reading
Could Low Oil Prices Spark A New War In The Middle East?
It may seem that the worst-case scenario has already come to pass, as United States crude prices plunged far below zero on Monday, with the West Texas Intermediate crude benchmark Continue Reading
East Africa: Tullow Oil Exit From Region Almost Complete
A police vehicle escorts trucks loaded with crude oil from Ngamia 8 oil fields in Turkana County (file photo). Tullow Oil’s exit from East Africa is gathering steam after the Continue Reading
Bangladesh restarts some garment factories, India debates an easing of restrictions
More than 500 garment factories in Bangladesh that supply to global brands reopened on Monday after a month-long shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, while in India calls Continue Reading
5 Reasons Why Mexico’s Oil Industry Is Destined For Disaster
Mexico has somewhat inadvertently found itself at the heart of the oil industry’s most burning issues of 2020 – just when it seemed that Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United States Continue Reading
Bank of China Clients Said to Have $1 Billion Losses on Oil Bet
Bank of China Ltd.’s estimate for the carnage to retail investors from the collapse in a product linked to U.S. crude oil futures surged 11-fold to more than 7 billion Continue Reading
Singapore Coastline Packed With Ships Full of Oil No One Wants
A narrow waterway off Singapore has become even more congested as oil-laden tankers wait out a slump in global fuel consumption that’s crimped demand and boosted the use of ships Continue Reading
How the Virus Can Stall China’s Electric Vehicle Plan
Before the coronavirus outbreak, 2020 was to be a crucial year for automakers selling electric vehicles in China, with several industry titans opening new factories and rolling out new models. Continue Reading
China’s dams exacerbated extreme drought in lower Mekong
The Dachaoshan dam in China’s Yunnan Province is one of the 11 dams that Beijing built along the tributaries of the Mekong river, a source of food and livelihood for Continue Reading
China Markets: Q2 Rebound Already Losing Steam
China’s nascent rebound from the historic contraction in the first quarter is already losing pace in April, amid signs of a global recession and still weak domestic demand. While March Continue Reading
Falling oil prices breathe new life into an old idea: Nationalize the industry
Oil prices entered a stunning free-fall this week as the industry ran low on places to store the petroleum it can’t sell but keeps pumping amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Continue Reading
Oklahoma asks Trump to declare coronavirus an ‘act of God’ to help oil producers
Oklahoma’s governor has called on U.S. President Donald Trump to declare the coronavirus pandemic an “act of God,” a step to help oil-producing states contend with a crude glut that Continue Reading
U.S. economy faces historic shock, with 16% joblessness possible: Trump adviser
The shuttering of the U.S. economy due to the coronavirus pandemic is a shock of historic proportions that likely will push the national unemployment rate to 16% or higher this Continue Reading
The Shale Suffering Has Only Just Begun
A few weeks before the summer driving season begins, U.S. gasoline consumption has plummeted to levels last seen in the late 1960s, due to the lockdowns to contain the spreading Continue Reading
What Will Economy Be Like After Coronavirus?: Growth Prospects
China’s nascent rebound from the historic contraction in the first quarter is already losing pace in April, amid signs of a global recession and still weak domestic demand. While March Continue Reading
Goldman Sees Global Oil Testing Storage Capacity in 3-4 Weeks
The global oil market is on track to test storage capacity limits in as little as three weeks, requiring the shut-in of nearly 20% of global production, according to Goldman Sachs Continue Reading
FIRST SHALE OIL DOMINO TO FALL: More to Follow
In a stunning news release, Continental Resources, the largest shale producer in the Bakken, is shutting in most of its production in the region. That is one hell of a Continue Reading
Russia at risk of spike in coronavirus cases during May holidays: official
Russia could experience a spike in cases of the new coronavirus if people flout lockdown measures during public holidays scheduled for early May, a top health official said on Sunday. Continue Reading