U.S. natural gas futures eased as production rose to a record high and forecasts for lower than previously expected heating demand next week. Front-month gas futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 3.2 cents, or 1.4%, to $2.288 per million British thermal units at 8:40 a.m. EDT (1240 GMT). Speculators last week cut their long positions on the NYMEX to their lowest since January 2009 after stockpiles returned to normal levels for the first time in over [Read more]
Thunberg rally in Canada’s energy heartland runs into oil and gas counter-protest
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg joined thousands of protesters marching in Canada's energy heartland Alberta on Friday, as a smaller counter-rally led by a truck convoy of oil and gas workers also converged on the provincial capital Edmonton. A crowd of several thousand led by indigenous drummers with students, young people and families marched slowly from a downtown intersection towards the Alberta legislature building. Many held banners and signs with slogans including "be a better [Read more]
U.S. drillers add oil rigs for second week in a row
U.S. energy firms this week increased the number of oil rigs operating for a second week in a row for the first time since June even as producers follow through on plans to reduce spending on new drilling this year. Companies added 1 oil rigs in the week to Oct. 18, bringing the total count to 713, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. In the same week a year ago, there were 873 active rigs. The oil rig count, an early [Read more]
Canadian East Coast LNG export plans progress with Pieridae’s Shell deal
Pieridae Energy moved closer to building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal on Canada's East Coast after taking ownership of fields from Royal Dutch Shell which will feed gas into the plant, the company said. The Goldboro LNG terminal would be the first on Canada's East Coast and compete with the growing number of plants on the U.S. Gulf Coast, hoping its shorter distance to Europe and further west will help sell its LNG by cutting shipping costs. Pieridae said in a statement [Read more]
Oil ticks up as rising crude stocks are offset by products demand
Oil prices rose slightly on Friday as concern over an economic slowdown in China, the world’s biggest oil consumer, was countered by bullish signals from both the Chinese and U.S. refining sectors. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures edged up by 58 cents to $54.51. Both contracts were on track for weekly declines of less than 1%. Erasing earlier losses, global benchmark Brent crude oil futures rose 24 cents to $60.15 a barrel. In the third quarter, China’s economic growth [Read more]
U.S. becomes net exporter of crude and fuel for 2nd week in a row for first time on record
The United States became a net exporter of crude and petroleum products for a second week in a row for the first time on record last week, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Thursday. The U.S. exported about 31,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and petroleum products on a net basis last week after exporting a net 30,000 bpd a week earlier, the data showed. Meanwhile, refinery utilization rates in the U.S. East Coast slid to 59.8%, the lowest level since November [Read more]
TC Energy to cut Oct volumes on Keystone oil pipeline after force majeure
TC Energy Corp will cut crude volumes flowing through the Keystone oil pipeline for the rest of October after declaring force majeure due to a snowstorm in Manitoba over the weekend, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The company is expected to cut volumes entering the Keystone pipeline from Canada by about 20% for the rest of this month, two of the sources said. TC Energy did not immediately comment on the volumes. The timeline for a return to full operations is [Read more]
Oil prices fall on signs of large U.S. stock build
Oil prices eased on Thursday after industry data showed a larger-than-expected build-up in stocks in the United States, although losses were limited by comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on a U.S.-China trade deal. U.S. crude oil futures were down 48 cents, or 0.9%, at $52.88 after earlier dropping more than 1% to a session low of $52.76 earlier. Global benchmark Brent crude oil futures was down by 47 cents, or 0.8%, at $58.95 a barrel. U.S. crude inventories soared by [Read more]
TC Energy declares force majeure on Keystone oil pipeline deliveries
TC Energy Corp has declared force majeure on shipments on its 590,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Keystone oil pipeline after a snow storm hit Manitoba over the weekend, disrupting operations, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Force majeure is a declaration that unforeseeable circumstances prevented a party from fulfilling a contract. The storm over the weekend knocked out power to about 3-4 pump stations in Manitoba, affecting pipeline flows, three sources said. TC Energy [Read more]
Heavy discount narrows as trade cycle finishes
The discount on Canadian heavy crude narrowed versus U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude on Wednesday as the monthly trade cycle wrapped up. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for November delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $16.15 per barrel below WTI, according to Net Energy Exchange. On Tuesday November WCS settled at $16.35 a barrel below WTI. Light synthetic crude from the oil sands strengthened to trade at $1.60 per barrel over WTI, having settled at $1 [Read more]