Crude prices extended declines on Monday, dropping below $60 for the first time in nearly three months as the death toll from China's coronavirus rose and more businesses were forced to shut down, stoking expectations of slowing oil demand. U.S. crude was down by 94 cents, or 1.75%, at $53.28. Brent crude fell by $1.14 a barrel, or 1.88%, to $59.50. Global stock exchanges also fell as investors grew increasingly anxious about the widening crisis. Demand spiked for safe-haven assets, [Read more]
U.S. drillers add oil rigs for second week in a row
U.S. energy firms added oil rigs for a second consecutive week, raising doubts over producers' plans to continue reducing spending on new drilling for a second year in a row in 2020. Companies added three oil rigs in the week to Jan. 24, bringing the total count to 676, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday. In the same week a year ago, there were 862 active rigs. The oil rig count, an early indicator of future output, dropped in 2019 after [Read more]
Oil falls 2% as specter of China virus threatens fuel demand
Oil prices fell 2% on Friday on concern that the spread of a virus from China could lower fuel demand if it stunts economic growth, but losses were limited by a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended down $1.15, or 2%, at $54.59 a barrel. Brent crude futures fell $1.17, or 1.9%, to settle at $61.00 a barrel. Two Chinese cities were put in lockdown on Thursday as health authorities around the world scrambled to prevent a global pandemic. The [Read more]
Oil market shrugs off Libya crisis amid ample global supply
Oil prices fell on Tuesday on expectations that a well-supplied global market, including supplies from record U.S. production, would be able to absorb disruptions that have cut Libya’s crude production to a trickle. U.S. crude fell $1.16, or 2.05%, to $58.88 per barrel. Brent futures dropped $1.28, or 2.01% to $61.36 a barrel. Libya’s barrels “although plentiful when around, have not been a reliable count,” said Brayton Tom, senior risk manager for INTL FCStone’s energy team. “At the [Read more]
North American oil company bankruptcies jump in 2019
The number of oil company bankruptcies rose 50% in 2019 over the previous year, as a slide in prices continued to shake producers in the United States and Canada, Dallas law firm Haynes and Boone said in a report released on Wednesday. U.S. and Canadian oil and natural gas exploration and production company bankruptcies totaled 42 in 2019, up from 28 in 2018, the law firm said. "Following a steep drop in oil prices in the fourth quarter of 2018, there was a sharp increase in the number of [Read more]
Oil declines as market surplus forecast counters Libya worries
Oil prices eased on Wednesday, extending declines as the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast a market surplus in the first half, helping ease concerns about disruptions that have slashed Libya's crude output. Brent crude was down 24 cents, or 0.4%, at $64.35 a barrel at 0309 GMT, after dropping 0.3% on Tuesday. U.S. oil fell 29 cents, or 0.5%, to $58.09 a barrel, having declined 0.3% the day before. The head of the IEA, Fatih Birol, said on Tuesday he expects the market to be in [Read more]
Teck oil sands project splits Canada’s indigenous people, poses challenge for Trudeau
A proposed Canadian oil sands mine has split the country's indigenous people, compounding the challenges facing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government as it decides whether to approve the project. Teck Resources Ltd would build the C$20.6 billion ($15.76 billion) Frontier mine 110 kilometres (68 miles) north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, capable of eventually producing 260,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The mine, which would be one of the largest in Alberta's oil sands, requires federal [Read more]
U.S. natgas futures drop to 3-year lows on milder weather forecasts
U.S. natural gas futures fell to a fresh three-year low below $2 on Tuesday on forecasts for milder winter weather through early February than previously expected. Low gas prices are a boon to consumers who pay less to heat homes and businesses, but are painful for energy companies - like EQT Corp , the nation's biggest gas producer - forced to cut costs and reduce drilling activity to the lowest level in years. Front-month gas futures for February delivery on the New York Mercantile [Read more]
Union head arrested in lockout at Canada’s Co-op Refinery
Police on Monday arrested the leader of Canada's largest private sector union and six others who joined workers blockading the Co-op Refinery in Regina, Saskatchewan, raising tensions in a six-week old industrial dispute. Federated Cooperatives Ltd (FCL), which owns and operates the refinery, locked out 800 workers on Dec. 5 in a dispute over pensions, but has kept western Canada's third-largest oil refinery operating with replacement workers and managers. The arrests came after Unifor, [Read more]
Oil prices ease as supply risk concerns fade
Oil prices eased on Tuesday as investors appeared to shrug off earlier supply concerns following a force majeure declared by Libya on two major oilfields amid a military blockade. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 27 cents, or 0.48%, at $58.36 a barrel. Brent crude was trading down 36 cents, or 0.55%, at $64.78 per barre after rising to their highest in more than a week on Monday. "Every time we get a big geopolitical event, the market spikes up but everybody looks at that [Read more]