Oilfield services firm Halliburton on Monday was cutting about 350 employees in Oklahoma, according to a filing with the state, amid a deepening oil bust from the spread of coronavirus and a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Staff cuts could begin this week at its Duncan, Oklahoma facility, the filing said, and will be permanent. The facility is expected to remain open. Energy companies have slashed spending since oil prices this year crashed more than 60%, taking prices below $30 [Read more]

Oil prices slipped on Monday, after Saudi Arabia and Russia delayed a meeting to discuss output cuts that could partly alleviate oversupply in global markets as the coronavirus pandemic pummels demand. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.45, or 5.02%, to $27.36 a barrel, after earlier touching a low of $25.28. Brent crude slipped close to $30 a barrel in early trade and was at $33.45, down $1.39, or 4%. Late last week, prices surged, with U.S. and Brent contracts posting their [Read more]

Saudi Arabia and Russia are close to a deal on oil output cuts to reduce a global glut, a top Russian oil negotiator said on Monday, but details such as how to share out production curbs remained unclear ahead of talks planned for later this week. A supply deal between OPEC, Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, that had propped up oil prices for three years collapsed in March, while the coronavirus hammered demand. Riyadh and Moscow blamed each other for the failure and [Read more]

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would impose tariffs on crude imports if he has to "protect" U.S. energy workers from the oil price crash that has been exacerbated by a war between Russia and Saudi Arabia over market share. "If I have to do tariffs on oil coming from outside or if I have to do something to protect our ... tens of thousands of energy workers and our great companies that produce all these jobs, I'll do whatever I have to do," Trump told reporters in a briefing [Read more]

The Canadian province of Alberta, which produces most of the country's oil, will take part in Monday's OPEC+ conference call aimed at reducing a global glut of crude, Premier Jason Kenney said on Friday. Energy Minister Sonya Savage will participate in the call, Kenney said. OPEC has scheduled the emergency meeting, led by Saudi Arabia, where cuts equal to 10% of world supply - about 10 million barrels per day - could be agreed. A Saudi-Russian price war that started last month has [Read more]

Canadian heavy crude's discount widened slightly versus the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil on Friday, as storage levels filled and OPEC and its allies debated coordinated production cuts to stem the market rout caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for May delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $16.25 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc, wider than Thursday's settle of $16 under. OPEC and allies are working on a [Read more]

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia was ready for deep oil production cuts with the United States and OPEC, but firmly put the blame for the collapse in oil prices on OPEC's de facto leader Saudi Arabia. Putin, speaking in a televised video conference with Russian government officials and domestic oil producers, proposed to cut combined oil production by around 10 million barrels per day, or around 10% of global output. Oil prices hit an 18-year low following the failure of the [Read more]

U.S. energy companies reduced the number of active oil rigs for a third week in a row in their biggest weekly cut in five years as they slashed spending on new drilling due to a coronavirus-related slump in economic activity and fuel demand. Drillers cut 62 oil rigs in the week to April 3, the biggest weekly drop since March 2015, bringing the total count down to 562, the lowest since March 2017, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday. The oil [Read more]

The OPEC+ crude oil exporter group is debating cutting global supply by 10 million barrels per day (bpd), an OPEC source said on Friday, adding that any further cuts must include producers from outside the alliance. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had brokered a deal that could result in Russia and Saudi Arabia cutting output by 10 million to 15 million bpd, representing 10-15% of global supply. Trump said he made no offer to cut U.S. output. The source added that OPEC+ is [Read more]

The Canadian province of Alberta, home to the world's third-largest oil reserves, is open to joining any potential global pact to reduce a glut of crude production, Premier Jason Kenney told Reuters on Thursday. "We would certainly look at it, but really it's the Saudis and the Russians here who are the problem, not Canada," Kenney said in an interview. Alberta has limited its oil production since January 2019. "If we see an effort at a global reduction in production, we would be open to [Read more]