The discount on Canadian heavy crude narrowed on Friday to trade at less than $11 a barrel:* Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for August delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, last traded at $10.65 per barrel below West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil, according to Net Energy Exchange. On Thursday, WCS for August delivery settled at $11.15 a barrel below WTI crude futures.* Heavy crude differentials have narrowed throughout the week, with traders citing lower western Canadian inventories as a [Read more]
U.S. oil companies put up $16.5 mln to build West Texas charter schools
Twenty top U.S. energy companies agreed to contribute $16.5 million to open new schools in West Texas, where an influx of oil and gas workers have strained schools, roads and other civic services.This is the first initiative by the Permian Strategic Partnership, a consortium of shale producers which has pledged to raise $100 million to address civic strains, a spokesman for the group said. The companies all operate in the Permian Basin, the top U.S. shale field. Another $22 million will be [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for second week in a row -Baker Hughes
U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating for a second week in a row as drillers follow through on plans to cut spending this year.Drillers cut four oil rigs in the week to July 12, bringing the total count down to 784, the lowest since February 2018, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. That compares with 863 rigs operating during the same week a year ago.The rig count, an early indicator of [Read more]
Mexico’s formula to execute annual oil hedge is ready -official
Mexico has finished calibrating the formula used as a basis for its massive oil hedging program, a finance ministry official said on Friday, clearing a major obstacle for the hedge, the world's largest and most secretive Wall Street oil trade.Mexico buys as much as $1 billion worth of financial derivatives in order to protect its oil-sales revenue for the coming year against price volatility, in a highly anticipated financial trade that can make or break an investment bank's deal [Read more]
Oil hovers near 6-wk highs amid Gulf of Mexico storm, Middle East tensions
Oil prices hovered near six-week highs on Friday as U.S. oil producers in the Gulf of Mexico cut more than half their output in the face of a tropical storm and as tensions continued to simmer in the Middle East. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 42 cents, or 0.7%, at $60.62 a barrel. The U.S. benchmark marked its highest level since May 23 in the previous session at $60.94. Brent crude futures were up 53 cents, or 0.8%, at $67.05 per barrel by 0606 GMT. The [Read more]
IEA sees oil market oversupplied in 2019 on U.S. production
Surging U.S. oil output will outpace sluggish global demand and lead to a large stocks build around the world in the next nine months, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.The forecasts appear to predict the need for producer club OPEC and its allies to reduce production to balance the market despite extending their existing pact, forecasting a fall in demand for OPEC crude to only 28 million barrels per day (bpd) in early 2020."Market tightness is not an issue for the time [Read more]
U.S. natgas futures rise on output cuts for Tropical Storm Barry
U.S. natural gas futures rose on Friday as the market focused more on a drop in output caused by Tropical Storm Barry and forecasts for more demand next week than previously expected than a decline in the amount of gas flowing to liquefied natural gas export terminals. Front-month gas futures for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange were up 3.8 cents, or 1.6%, to $2.454 per million British thermal units at 8:55 a.m. EDT (1255 GMT). The U.S. National Hurricane Center [Read more]
U.S. natgas futures fall on cooler midday forecast, big storage build
U.S. natural gas futures fell on Thursday, a day after hitting a five-week high, as midday forecasts called for less hot weather over the next two weeks than previously expected.The forecast, combined with a bigger-than-expected storage build and reduced gas flow to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, offset a big output decline caused by energy firms temporarily halting production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Barry.The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said [Read more]
Oil steadies on dim OPEC demand outlook, pares gains from Gulf of Mexico storm
Oil prices steadied on Thursday as OPEC forecast slower demand for its crude next year, with crude futures easing from their highest in more than a month after U.S. producers cut nearly a third of their output in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of what could be one of the first major storms of the Atlantic hurricane.Brent crude futures fell 23 cents to $66.78 a barrel by 12:59 p.m. EDT (1659 GMT). During the session, they hit their highest since May 30 at $67.65 a barrel.U.S. West Texas Intermediate [Read more]
Intensifying storm shuts U.S. coastal refinery, adding to energy production losses
Threatened flooding from a tropical storm in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that cut nearly a third of the region's oil production has forced the shutdown of a coastal refinery, pushing oil and gasoline prices higher on Thursday.Phillips 66 said it expected to complete the closing of its 253,600-barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance, Louisiana, refinery on Thursday after local authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation of the area.Pipeline operator Enbridge evacuated staff from three offshore [Read more]