Oil prices fell more than 2% on Wednesday after official data showed a rise in U.S. crude inventories, adding to worries about an oversupplied market as weak economic readings in the United States depressed global financial markets. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 98 cents, or 1.8%, to settle $52.64 a barrel. Brent crude futures settled down $1.20, or 2%, at $57.69 a barrel. Wall Street’s main indexes tumbled more than 2% as data suggested fallout from the [Read more]
Enbridge asked to add potential oil spill analysis for Line 3 pipeline project
Enbridge Inc needs to add an analysis of potential oil spills into Lake Superior watershed and submit a revised environmental impact statement (EIS) to proceed with its Line 3 pipeline replacement project, a Minnesota regulator said on Tuesday. The order from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission comes as the company struggles with delays amid ongoing disputes with regulators. Enbridge has 60 days to submit its revised EIS. The commission was ordered to revise Enbridge's EIS for the [Read more]
U.S. shale oil boom ends as lower prices take toll
U.S. oil production growth is decelerating gradually in response to lower prices, which should reduce predicted over-supply in 2020 and force the global oil market back towards balance.Domestic crude production fell 276,000 barrels per day to 11.806 million bpd in July, according to data published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Monday.The month-on-month reduction was entirely attributable to the Gulf of Mexico, where output fell 332,000 bpd, because many offshore platforms were [Read more]
Canada’s GDP flat in July as oil and gas extraction contracts
Canada's economy was unexpectedly unchanged in July, following four months of growth, as the country's mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sectors contracted, Statistics Canada data showed on Tuesday.Analysts in a Reuters poll had predicted an increase of 0.1% in July following a 0.2% increase in June. Overall, 12 of the 20 industrial sectors monitored expanded on the month, while eight declined, the national statistics agency said. Tuesday's data comes as Canada is in [Read more]
Oil price drops on Mideast tension, global downturn
Oil prices are likely to remain steady this year as supply shocks from Saudi Arabia fail to lift prices in a market grappling with flagging demand, a Reuters survey showed on Monday, as warnings of a global economic deceleration mount. The survey of 53 economists and analysts forecast Brent crude would average $65.19 a barrel in 2019, little changed from $65.02 forecast last month. This was however, slightly higher than the $64.76 average for the global benchmark so far this year. U.S. [Read more]
Canada orders Enbridge to halt bidding on key pipeline due to ‘perception of abuse’
The Canada Energy Regulator on Friday stopped Enbridge Inc from auctioning the right to send crude oil through its Mainline pipeline system, citing concerns about the "perception of abuse of Enbridge's market power." The nearly 3 million barrel-per-day Mainline is North America's largest pipeline system and carries the bulk of Canadian crude exports to the United States. Enbridge wants to switch to long-term contracts, instead of monthly agreements, a move that angered Canadian producers [Read more]
Canada’s heavy oil exports to Asia from U.S. surge
Shipments of Canadian crude from the U.S. Gulf Coast since May have more than doubled all of 2018's exports as Asian refiners scramble for heavy sour oil, according to vessel-tracking data, traders and industry sources. Following U.S. sanctions on Venezuela in late January, Asian refiners have sought new heavy oil supplies in a hunt that has benefited Canadian oil exporters since this summer. Thirty-two cargoes with a combined 16 million barrels of Canadian crude loaded in the U.S. Gulf [Read more]
Oil prices fall as supply risk premium fades, demand outlook drags
Oil prices fell on Friday, erasing more of the gains realised after the Sept. 14 attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, as the rapid return of production capacity from the world's top exporter squashed risk premiums. Prices were also pressured by worries of weak global economic growth and its effect on oil demand. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 67 cents, or 1.2%, to $55.84 a barrel. Brent crude futures fell 32 cents, or 0.5%, from the previous session's [Read more]
Alberta government eases oil curtailment limits
The government of Canada's main oil-producing province Alberta on Thursday eased oil curtailments for November and December, allowing producers to increase output to 3.80 million barrels per day and 3.81 million barrels per day respectively. Alberta has had oil curtailments in place since the start of the year to ease congestion on export pipelines and help support prices. The policy was announced by the province's previous government late in 2018 after a glut of crude built up in storage, [Read more]
Canadian company ships solid oil sands bitumen to Chinese refinery
A Canadian company has loaded a test cargo of solid bitumen onto a vessel destined for a refinery in China, the latest effort by the energy industry to avoid congested export pipelines and find new ways to export more oil sands crude. Calgary, Alberta-based Melius Energy loaded 130 barrels of neat bitumen, similar in consistency to a hockey puck, onto a 20-foot shipping container in Edmonton, Alberta, and transported it by rail to the Port of Prince Rupert in northern British Columbia. The [Read more]