Oil prices recovered on Tuesday, erasing overnight losses, as investors moved into risk assets and away from the safe-haven U.S. dollar which tumbled to multi-year lows. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 52 cents, or 1.22%, to $43.32 a barrel. Brent crude futures climbed 49 cents, or 1.1%, to $45.77 a barrel. Both benchmark contracts fell around 1% on Monday on worries about oil oversupply, with global demand stuck below pre-COVID levels. The dollar was last [Read more]
U.S. court rejects bid to halt Kinder Morgan gas pipeline
A nearly-complete $2.3 billion pipeline to carry natural gas from West Texas shale fields to the U.S. Gulf Coast can move ahead, a U.S. judge in Austin, Texas, ruled on Friday, rejecting an environmental group’s effort to halt the project. Sierra Club in April challenged federal approval of the 428-mile (689 km) Kinder Morgan Inc pipeline, alleging regulators’ reviews under a streamlined process were faulty. The line’s path crosses areas with two endangered species and some 400 wetlands, [Read more]
Oil prices edge up on stimulus support despite ample supplies
Oil prices nudged up on Monday, with Brent futures set to post a fifth straight monthly gain, as global stimulus measures underpin prices even as demand struggles to return to pre-COVID levels in a well supplied market. Brent crude futures for November climbed 27 cents, or 0.6%, to $46.08 a barrel by 0038 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $43.11 a barrel, up 14 cents, or 0.3%. Brent is set to close out August with a fifth successive monthly price rise, having peaked at [Read more]
U.S. drilling rig count steady, posts first monthly increase since Dec
U.S. energy firms kept the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating unchanged this week, resulting in the first monthly increase since December as higher crude prices prompt some producers to start drilling again. In August, the oil and gas rig count rose by three to 254, according to data on Friday from energy services firm Baker Hughes Co . The rig count fell to a record low of 244 during the week of Aug. 14. U.S. oil rigs fell three to 180 in the week to Aug. 28, while gas rigs [Read more]
Equinor to cut jobs in U.S., Canada and UK following oil price fall
Norwegian oil and gas firm Equinor is set to cut jobs significantly in the United States, Canada and Britain to adjust to a fall in oil prices, a company spokesman said on Wednesday. The group plans to cut employee numbers in those countries by about 20% and contractor numbers by around half to ensure profitability at lower oil prices, the spokesman told Reuters, adding that the targets were communicated internally on Tuesday. Equinor will also not drill any new unconventional wells this [Read more]
Oil prices rise on U.S. output cuts, China trade deal hopes
Brent crude oil prices rose on Wednesday, lifted by U.S. producers shutting most of their offshore output in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Hurricane Laura and optimism over China-U.S. trade talks. But gains were capped amid renewed concern over the coronavirus pandemic, which has squeezed fuel demand, after reports from Europe and Asia of patients being re-infected with COVID-19, raising concerns about future immunity. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude added 14 cents, or 0.33%, to $43.52 a [Read more]
Oil prices rise on storm-driven output cuts, COVID-19 weighs
Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday, supported by production cuts in the U.S. Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Laura was forecast to become a major hurricane, while rising coronavirus cases in Asia and Europe capped gains. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 98 cents, or 2.15%, at $43.29 a barrel. Brent crude oil futures added 90 cents, or 2%, to $45.92 a barrel. "A jump last week in the U.S. rig count and mixed data on COVID-19 infections are having a muted negative effect on oil this [Read more]
Producers shut-in 82% of Gulf of Mexico oil output due to storms
Oil and gas producers have shut-in 1.5 million barrels per day of oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, or roughly 82% of its total output, ahead of back-to-back tropical storms this week, according to figures released on Monday from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Some 1,542 million cubic feet per day of natural gas production was shut-in as well, accounting for almost 57% of total output. Firms began shutting in production on Friday in preparation for Tropical [Read more]
Oil edges up as storms take aim at Gulf of Mexico
Crude oil prices nudged higher on Monday as storms bore down on the Gulf of Mexico, shutting more than half the region's oil production, although gains were capped by ongoing concerns about demand from coronavirus lockdowns. Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura tore through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, forcing energy companies to pull workers from offshore platforms and shut down oil production. Oil producers had shut 58% of the Gulf's offshore oil production and 45% of [Read more]
Energy firms shut 58% of Gulf of Mexico oil output due to twin storm threat
Energy firms shut 57.6%, or 1.07 million barrels per day (bpd), of offshore crude oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico because of the twin threat from Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura, the U.S. government said on Sunday. Also, 44.6%, or 1,205 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), of natural gas output was shut ahead of the storms, the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said. Workers have been evacuated from 114 production platforms out of the 643 [Read more]