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OPEC can't act alone, minister says

Maintaining stable global oil market conditions isn’t something the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can do alone, a top delegate said Wednesday. OPEC members met Wednesday in Vienna for a regular conference. Acting Libyan Oil Minister Omar Ali El Shakmak, serving as conference chairman, told delegates market stability was the top focus of member states. The acting minister said the cartel expects world oil demand to increase by 1.1 million barrels per day and keeping markets satiated required a global effort. Market stability, he said, benefits all market players. "To achieve this, though, OPEC cannot stand alone," he said in his address . "It will need the support and contribution of many stakeholders, who must do their part." The 12 OPEC members combine to produce about 40 percent of the world’s crude oil and their exports represent about 60 percent of the international market. An increase in oil production […]

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OPEC Majority at Ease With Oil Markets Before Meeting

OPEC nations representing 94 percent of the group’s output said they were at ease with supply and demand in global oil markets before a meeting in Vienna today to decide on a collective production limit. Oil ministers from Angola , Ecuador , Kuwait and Venezuela all said they anticipated that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would roll over its existing ceiling of 30 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia, Libya, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates said supply and demand are well matched. Iraq ’s minister said there were indications the limit would be retained, while his Iranian counterpart also expected no change. The 10 nations accounted for about 28.2 million barrels a day of output in May, while the group’s combined production amounted to about 30 million barrels, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Ministers from Algeria and Qatar declined to comment on the oil market or OPEC’s […]

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Venezuela: OPEC to keep present output target

VIENNA (AP) — OPEC oil ministers are heading into a meeting with apparent agreement to keep unchanged their output target of 30 million barrels a day. Venezuelan oil minister Rafael Ramirez says there is "consensus" to keep the status quo. He spoke to reporters Wednesday as the ministers of the 12-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries began their mid-year session on how much crude to pump in the coming months. The decision was expected. The International Energy Agency, oil consultant to major consuming countries, sees short-term demand rising. But many OPEC members are at their production capacity limits, and there are other problems. Iran’s exports are crimped by sanctions, for instance, while domestic turmoil is crippling Libyan output. But OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia has the ability to make up for any shortage.

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World Needs Record Saudi Oil Supply as OPEC Convenes

OPEC ministers say they will almost certainly leave their oil-production ceiling unchanged when the group meets this week. What really matters for markets is whether Saudi Arabia will respond to global supply shortfalls by pumping a record amount of crude. Just six months ago, energy analysts predicted output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would climb too high and Saudi Arabia needed to cut to make room for other suppliers. They changed their minds after production from Libya , Iran and Iraq failed to rebound as anticipated, and industrialized nations’ stockpiles fell to the lowest for the time of year since 2008. Saudi Arabia may need to pump a record 11 million barrels a day by December to cover the other member nations, says Energy Aspects Ltd., a consultant. “Now it’s not whether the Saudis will make room, but whether they’ll keep it going and maintain enough spare […]

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OPEC Struggles to Cope With Libyan Oil Shortfall

The oil terminal of Marsa al-Hariga in eastern Libya, a part of the country where rebel actions have cut off shipments of crude for much of this year. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images LONDON—Six months ago, one of OPEC’s concerns was whether a U.S. shale boom might upend crude markets by providing too much oil. Today, the group of some of the world’s largest producers has a more short-term worry: How to compensate for lost Libyan crude at a time of rising demand and tensions between Russia and the West. "That’s the big question: Who will fill the gap left by Libya?" said one delegate within the group, which meets in Vienna later this week to discuss its output. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries—which produces one out of every three barrels of oil consumed daily in the world—are facing calls by some to boost output to help […]

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Venezuela Oil Minister Says Expects OPEC to Roll Over Production Ceiling

VIENNA–The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is expected to leave its oil-production ceiling unchanged when it meets in Vienna later this week, Venezuela’s oil minister Rafael Ramirez said Monday as he arrived in the Austrian capital. The oil-producers’ cartel meets twice a year to discuss its members’ output and adjust its production according to its view of supply and demand in the market. It has maintained its current production ceiling of 30 million barrels a day since 2011. However, analysts expect demand for OPEC’s oil to be higher in the second half of this year, with the International Energy Agency predicting it will average 30.7 million barrels a day. Write to Sarah Kent at [email protected]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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World Needs Record Saudi Oil Supply as OPEC Convenes

OPEC ministers say they will almost certainly leave their oil-production ceiling unchanged when the group meets this week. What really matters for markets is whether Saudi Arabia will respond to global supply shortfalls by pumping a record amount of crude. Just six months ago, energy analysts predicted output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would climb too high and Saudi Arabia needed to cut to make room for other suppliers. They changed their minds after production from Libya , Iran and Iraq failed to rebound as anticipated, and industrialized nations’ stockpiles fell to the lowest for the time of year since 2008. Saudi Arabia may need to pump a record 11 million barrels a day by December to cover the other member nations, says Energy Aspects Ltd., a consultant. “Now it’s not whether the Saudis will make room, but whether they’ll keep it going and maintain enough spare […]

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IEA Says the Party’s Over

The International Energy Agency has just released a new special report called “ World Energy Investment Outlook ” that should send policy makers screaming and running for the exits—if they are willing to read between the lines and view the report in the context of current financial and geopolitical trends. This is how the press agency UPI begins its summary :  It will require $48 trillion in investments through 2035 to meet the world’s growing energy needs, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday from Paris. IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said in a statement the reliability and sustainability of future energy supplies depends on a high level of investment. “But this won’t materialize unless there are credible policy frameworks in place as well as stable access to long-term sources of finance,” she said. “Neither of these conditions should be taken for granted.” Here’s a bit of context […]

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IEA: $48 trillion needed to satisfy global energy demand

It will require $48 trillion in investments through 2035 to meet the world’s growing energy needs, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday from Paris. IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said in a statement the reliability and sustainability of future energy supplies depends on a high level of investment. "But this won’t materialize unless there are credible policy frameworks in place as well as stable access to long-term sources of finance," she said. "Neither of these conditions should be taken for granted." She said there was a real risk that any investments in global energy could be misdirected because the environmental impacts of various resources may not be reflected in the overall costs. The IEA’s report says around 15 percent of annual investments target renewable energy resources, while the bulk of spending, more than $1 trillion, is directed at fossil fuels. More than half of […]

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IEA Expects World to Rely More on Middle East Oil

A top energy watchdog said the world will need more Middle Eastern oil in the next decade, as the current U.S. boom wanes. But the International Energy Agency warned that Persian Gulf producers may still fail to fill the gap, risking higher oil prices. In its first update to the agency’s energy investment outlook in more than a decade, the IEA—which represents some of the world’s largest consumer nations—said it sees "growth in oil demand [becoming] steadily more reliant on investment in the Middle East." Surging American production from tight oil—extracted from shale formations in places like Texas and North Dakota—has led the agency and other oil-market analysts to predict the U.S. could leapfrog the world’s largest oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia, by 2020. That has triggered debate in Washington about easing a long-standing ban on most crude exports from American shores. It has also engendered hope of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple