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World on the brink of oil war as Opec bickers over price

Oil tankers dropped anchor off the coast of Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman Photo: Alamy A secretive group of the world’s most powerful oil ministers will soon gather in Vienna to take arguably one of the most important decisions that could affect the still fragile world economy: whether to cut production of crude to defend prices at $100 per barrel, or keep open the spigots as winter looms among the biggest energy-consuming nations? A sudden slump in the price of crude has exposed deep divisions within the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) ahead of its final scheduled meeting of the year next month to decide on how much oil to pump. Some members, led by Iran, have called for immediate action to stem the drop in oil prices, while the Arab sheikhdoms of the Gulf have so far argued that it could be another three months before […]

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OPEC Output-Target Cut Not Agreed Yet, U.A.E. Oil Minister Says

OPEC nations have yet to decide to cut their collective oil-production target, the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister said, days after the group’s chief suggested its 12 members may lower the ceiling in 2015. “It’s not a one-man decision,” Suhail Al Mazrouei told reporters today in Abu Dhabi . “It’s a decision by all the ministers when we meet.” The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, supplier of about 40 percent of the world’s oil, will review its target of 30 million barrels a day when it meets next on Nov. 27 at its Vienna headquarters. The group may reduce its official daily limit by 500,000 barrels to 29.5 million next year, OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said Sept. 16. OPEC’s monthly report on Sept. 10 showed demand for its oil will decline to 29.2 million barrels a day in 2015 from 29.5 million this year. Brent crude , a global […]

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OPEC Output-Target Cut Not Agreed Yet, U.A.E. Oil Minister Says

OPEC nations have yet to decide to cut their collective oil-production target, the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister said, days after the group’s chief suggested its 12 members may lower the ceiling in 2015. “It’s not a one-man decision,” Suhail Al Mazrouei told reporters today in Abu Dhabi . “It’s a decision by all the ministers when we meet.” The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, supplier of about 40 percent of the world’s oil, will review its target of 30 million barrels a day when it meets next on Nov. 27 at its Vienna headquarters. The group may reduce its official daily limit by 500,000 barrels to 29.5 million next year, OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said Sept. 16. OPEC’s monthly report on Sept. 10 showed demand for its oil will decline to 29.2 million barrels a day in 2015 from 29.5 million this year. Brent crude , a global […]

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OPEC Secretary-General Says Group May Pump Less Oil in 2015

OPEC, the group supplying about 40 percent of the world’s oil, may cut production next year, its Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ daily output target could fall by 500,000 barrels to 29.5 million barrels in 2015, El-Badri said at OPEC’s secretariat in Vienna after talks with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak today. The group’s monthly report on Sept. 10 showed demand for its oil will drop to 29.2 million barrels a day in 2015 from 29.5 million this year. Saudi Arabia cut its crude supply by 408,000 barrels a day in August, the biggest reduction since the end of 2012, a submission made by the country to OPEC shows. Brent crude is trading below $99 a barrel and is close to the lowest in more than two years. U.S. crude supplies are surging while those from Libya are rebounding and a conflict in Iraq […]

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IEA expects oil demand to slow

PARIS, Sept. 11 (UPI) — The International Energy Agency said Thursday it cut its forecast for oil demand growth because of an economic slowdown in Europe and China. IEA published its monthly oil market report for September, saying it trimmed oil demand growth for 2014 to 900,000 barrels of oil per day and 2015 to 1.2 million bpd. IEA said in the report the assessment was made "because of a pronounced slowdown in demand growth in the second quarter of this year and a weaker outlook for Europe and China." The World Bank in June said the Chinese economy was slowing down in part because of a "structural transformation." Data from the European Union show economies are barely growing , if at all. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its oil market report it cut its demand expectations by the most in three years because North American […]

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IEA: Oil prices down on abundant supplies, slow demand growth

HOUSTON, Sept. 11 09/11/2014 Amid plentiful oil supply and weakening global economic and oil demand growth, oil prices have been easing, with front-month Brent futures slipping below $100/bbl in September for the first time in more than a year, according to the most recent Oil Market Report from the International Energy Agency . “Rising Libyan exports, an overhang of West African barrels—resulting from slower US imports—and sluggish demand from refiners in Europe and Asia took their toll on spot crude prices, deflating global benchmarks,” IEA said. West Texas Intermediate showed the biggest month‐on‐month loss due in part to unplanned refinery outages that forced a temporary slowdown in run rates while US output surged. ICE Brent futures were last trading at $98/bbl. NYMEX WTI was around $91.40/bbl.   Demand Global oil demand in the second quarter showed clear signs of weakening, as growth eased back to a near two-and-a-half year […]

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OPEC MOMR Update, August Production Numbers

OPEC 12 Saudi Arabia OPEC Secondary Sources OPEC Direct Communication Saudi Says DENE MOORE, THE CANADIAN PRESS, Published September 7, 2014 – 2:53pm VANCOUVER — It was a story about rock snot. And if there’s a person you want to talk to about the pervasive algae also known by the less-offensive, more scientific name of Didymo, it’s Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientist Max Bothwell. Bothwell is, other scientists will tell you, the rock snot man. He wrote the book. Or in this case, co-authored a published article in a renowned scientific journal. But a request from The Canadian Press to speak to Bothwell when the article was published in May failed to produce an interview. What it did produce was 110 pages of emails to and from 16 different federal government communications operatives, according to documents obtained using access to information legislation. Many hours after the request was made […]

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IEA Cuts 2015 Oil Demand Forecasts

The International Energy Agency cut its forecast for the rise in oil demand this year calling the recent slowdown "nothing short of remarkable." Agence France-Presse/Getty Images The International Energy Agency Thursday trimmed its forecast for the rise in oil demand this year for the third month in a row , calling the recent slowdown in demand "nothing short of remarkable." In its closely watched monthly oil market report, the Paris-based energy watchdog said it expects global oil demand to grow by 0.9 million barrels a day in 2014, a decrease of 65,000 barrels a day compared with last month’s forecast and down by 300,000 barrels a day since July. According to the IEA, oil demand growth in the second quarter was at its lowest in 2½ years, dented by economic weakness in Europe and China , a trend the agency expects will continue to weigh on demand. "While demand […]

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OPEC Cuts Demand Outlook by Most in 3 Years on U.S. Shale

OPEC reduced forecasts for the amount of crude it will need to supply by the most in at least three years as surging North American shale output reduces reliance on the group’s supplies. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expects it will need to pump an average of 29.2 million barrels a day of crude next year, 200,000 a day less than it forecast a month ago. The group boosted estimates for supplies from countries outside OPEC by the same amount. The change implies that OPEC’s 12 members would need to cut output by about 1.1 million barrels a day from the 30.3 million they produced in August. Brent crude futures declined below $100 a barrel on Sept. 8 for the first time in 14 months amid constrained global consumption, swelling U.S. output and speculation that threats to supply in Iraq , Libya and Russia are fading. U.S. crude […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple