Oil rose on Tuesday amid hopes that the world's biggest producers of crude will agree to curtail production as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the global economy, even as analysts cautioned the cuts may do little to boost demand. U.S. crude was up by 20 cents, or 0.80%, at $26.48 a barrel, having dropped nearly 8% in the previous session. Brent crude was up by 54 cents, or 1.56%, at $33.83 a barrel after falling more than 3% on Monday. The world's main oil producers including Saudi [Read more]
Big OPEC+ oil output cuts depend on U.S., others joining
Saudi Arabia, Russia and allied oil producers will only agree to deep cuts to their crude output at talks this week if the United States and several others join in with curbs to help prop up prices that have been hammered by the coronavirus crisis. Global oil demand has dropped by as much as 30%, or about 30 million barrels per day (bpd), as measures to prevent the virus spreading have slashed demand for jet fuel, gasoline and diesel. On top of sliding demand, Saudi Arabia and Russia have [Read more]
Trump says OPEC has not asked him for a U.S. oil production cut
President Donald Trump said on Monday that OPEC had not pressed him to ask U.S. oil producers to reduce their output to support global prices, which have been hard-hit by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump said U.S. oil production had already fallen, anyway. "I think it's happening automatically but nobody's asked me that question yet so we'll see what happens," the president told a press briefing Monday afternoon. Major oil producers including Saudi Arabia and [Read more]
Heavy discount widens as talks on global oil cut delayed
Canadian heavy crude's discount widened versus the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil on Monday, as top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia delayed discussions aimed at reducing global oversupply and crude production in Alberta tested storage limits. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for May delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $17.80 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc, wider than Friday's settle of $16.80 under. "The biggest driver (for the [Read more]
Enbridge running Mainline with unused space as Canada cuts oil output
Pipeline company Enbridge Inc is running North America's biggest oil pipeline network, the Mainline, with unused capacity as Canadian producers cut output due to the spread of coronavirus and low prices, a senior executive said. "Right now we're going to see as much production turned down as possible in western Canada," said Vern Yu, Enbridge's executive vice-president of liquids pipelines, in an interview on Monday. He declined to say how much space the Mainline had, but Alberta Premier [Read more]
Oilfield firm Halliburton cuts more U.S. jobs as oil bust deepens
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 drops on oversupply worries as Saudi Arabia, Russia delay meeting
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]
Russia and Saudi ‘very close’ to oil deal, Moscow envoy says
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]
Trump threatens tariffs on oil imports to “protect” U.S. energy workers
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]
Alberta to join OPEC+ call ‘with open mind’
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]