Oil futures slipped 1% on Friday, with prices on both sides of the Atlantic heading for their biggest weekly drops since June, as lacklustre demand and ample fuel supplies offset support from a weaker dollar. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was at $40.80 a barrel, down 51 cents and set for its first weekly drop in five weeks. Brent crude fell 44 cents to $43.63 a barrel. The volume of crude arriving in China, the world's largest crude importer, is set to slow in September after rising [Read more]
Heavy discount hits narrowest level since mid-July
Canadian heavy crude's discount versus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) narrowed on Thursday the most since mid-July, with production halted from a major oil sands site due to a pipeline leak. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for October delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $8.95 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc. It settled the previous day at $9.35 under. The differential moved as narrow as $7.50. An outage on part of the Polaris diluent pipeline is the [Read more]
U.S. natgas futures rebound on warmer weather view
U.S. natural gas futures rose on Thursday as the weather forecasts turned slightly warmer, and as a federal report that was mostly in line with estimates still showed a below-normal storage build. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said U.S. utilities injected 35 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage in the week ended Aug. 28. That was in line with analysts estimates in a Reuters poll of an injection of 34 billion cubic feet (bcf), and compared with an increase of 77 [Read more]
Canadian oil firms: Better days ahead, says Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs says favourable environment for growth exists for Canadian oil firms even though they are currently out of favour with investors Adds group is currently facing ire of investors due to environmental concerns, pipeline constraints, leverage levels and poor returns on capital However, still sees conducive environment for stock picking with "healthy" intra-sector share price performance likely ahead Believes Canadian oil firms offer higher levels of free cash flow generation, [Read more]
Oil prices at one-month low on demand worries
Oil prices extended losses on Thursday, falling by more than 2% to their lowest point since early August, as worries about weaker U.S. gasoline demand and a sluggish economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic dented sentiment. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 58 cents, or 1.32%, at $41.00 a barrel. Brent crude fell 63 cents, or 1.37%, to $43.76 a barrel by 1118 GMT. Both benchmarks fell more than 2% on Wednesday. U.S. gasoline demand last week fell to [Read more]
Heavy discount narrows as pipeline leak cuts off supplies
Canadian heavy crude's discount versus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) narrowed on Wednesday, after a pipeline leak in Alberta disrupted oil shipments. Imperial Oil Ltd said it had shut all production at its 220,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Kearl oil sands site in Canada due to an outage of part of the Polaris diluent pipeline following the spill. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for October delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $9.40 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada [Read more]
Imperial shuts Kearl oil sands operations after pipeline outage
Imperial Oil Ltd on Wednesday said it had shut all production at its 220,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Kearl oil sands site in Canada due to an outage of part of the Polaris diluent pipeline following a leak. Timing to restart production is unknown, the company said in a release. Imperial is majority owned by U.S. major Exxon Mobil Corp . The pipeline supplies ultralight oil from Edmonton, Alberta to oil sands sites to be blended with bitumen for transport. Inter Pipeline , which owns [Read more]
Enbridge restores offshore pipelines after hurricane shutdown
Two natural gas pipelines that connect offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico production platforms resumed operation on Tuesday, Enbridge Inc said, after hurricane-related shutdowns last week. Energy companies continued to restart offshore operations after completing damage assessments following Hurricane Laura, which tore through the Gulf of Mexico with up to 150 mile per hour (240 kmh) winds. Oil and gas producers have returned crews to 228 of 310 evacuated offshore facilities, the U.S. Interior [Read more]
Heavy discount narrows, monthly trading cycle begins
Canadian heavy crude's discount versus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) narrowed on Tuesday, the first day of the monthly trading cycle. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for October delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $9.85 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc. It settled the previous day at $10.60 under. Heavy oil prices are strong due to reduced output in Venezuela and Mexico, and shut-ins in Canada, a Canadian industry source said. Road repair season, during [Read more]
Storm damages continue to hamper U.S. Gulf of Mexico energy operations
Catastrophic damage to power lines and communications outages on Monday weighed on U.S. Gulf Coast refineries' post-Hurricane Laura assessments and on offshore oil and gas production. Energy companies continued to inspect and restart offshore operations while onshore repairs were hampered by power outages. In Lake Charles, Louisiana, near where the storm made landfall early Thursday, Citgo Petroleum and Phillips 66 said reviews to their refineries could take days and neither could estimate [Read more]