Husky Energy Inc on Friday said its Superior, Wisconsin, refinery is making steady progress in its plans to return to full operations, with the rebuild activity expected to begin in the fall of 2019, pending regulatory approvals.Demolition work is underway at the 38,000-barrel-per-ay (bpd) refinery, with a target of resuming operations in 2021, the company said.The Superior refinery was projected to reopen in late 2020 following $400 million in repairs from an April 2018 explosion and fire. [Read more]
Natgas futures slip, but log first monthly gain in nine
U.S. natural gas futures fell on Friday on technical selling and forecasts pointing to lower demand, but prices posted their first monthly gain since November as above-normal temperatures boosted gas use for cooling. On its second day as the front-month, gas futures for October delivery fell 1.1 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $2.285 per million British thermal units. The contract gained about 6% this week, the most since January. On Thursday it hit its highest in a month, at $2.310. For the [Read more]
Oil prices fall but set for weekly gain as trade row rhetoric eases
Oil prices gave back some of their recent gains on Friday, but were still headed for the biggest weekly increase since early July, boosted by an easing of China-U.S. trade rhetoric, a decline in U.S stockpiles and a looming hurricane in Florida. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 fell 77 cents, or 1.36%, to $55.94 a barrel. The contract is set for a gain of over 3% this week. Worries about a slowdown in economic growth and the impact on oil demand due to the trade [Read more]
Analysts slash oil price forecasts due to fears over economy, trade
Analysts have slashed their oil price forecasts to the lowest in more than 16 months, citing softening global demand as an economic slowdown looms and uncertainty prevails on the U.S.-China trade front, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. The 2019 outlook for West Texas Intermediate crude futures was cut to the lowest since January 2018, at $57.90 per barrel, below last month's $59.29 forecast. WTI has averaged $57.13 this year. The survey of 51 economists and analysts forecast Brent crude [Read more]
U.S. crude stocks drop 10 million barrels as imports slow: EIA
U.S. crude oil inventories fell sharply last week to their lowest since October last year as imports slowed, while gasoline and distillate stockpiles also declined, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Crude inventories fell 10 million barrels in the week to Aug. 23, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 2.1 million barrels. At 427.8 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were at the five year average for this time of year. The decline was broadly [Read more]
Canada’s largest oil producer joins opposition to Enbridge pipeline plan
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd , the country's biggest oil producer, has joined a number of other firms asking Canada's energy regulator to intervene in Enbridge Inc's plan to overhaul shipping contracts on its Mainline pipeline network.Canadian Natural's letter to the National Energy Board (NEB), filed late on Monday, calls on the regulator to delay Enbridge's proposal to switch to long-term, fixed-volume contracts on 90% of the Mainline. Suncor Energy , MEG [Read more]
Oil rises as U.S.-China trade comments calm markets
Oil prices rose on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump predicted a trade deal with China after positive comments by Beijing, calming nerves after a round of tit-for-tat tariff hikes had sent markets reeling. U.S. crude was up by 30 cents or 0.6% at $53.94 a barrel, having dropped 1% on Monday for a fourth day of declines. Brent crude was up by 25 cents, or 0.4%, at $58.95 a barrel by 0214 GMT, after also falling 1% in the previous session, dropping for a third day in a [Read more]
Suncor and Shell urge Canadian regulator to review contentious Enbridge pipeline plan
Two major oil companies have asked Canada's energy regulator to urgently review Enbridge Inc's proposal to switch to fixed contracts on its Mainline pipeline system, arguing the changes would be an abuse of Enbridge's market power. Suncor Energy , Canada's second-largest oil producer, and Shell Canada Ltd, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell wrote to the National Energy Board on Friday opposing Enbridge's plans. They join MEG Energy and the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada [Read more]
Oil inches higher after U.S. crude stocks drawdown, economic worries weigh
Oil prices edged higher on Thursday after a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, but lingering concerns over the global economy and a build-up in U.S. refined product stocks kept a lid on gains. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 10 cents, or 0.2%, to $55.78 per barrel. Brent crude futures climbed for a fifth consecutive session on Thursday, rising 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $60.36 a barrel by 0242 GMT on Thursday. U.S. crude inventories fell more than expected last week as [Read more]
Alberta’s smaller oil producers eye output boost after curbs lifted
Small and mid-sized Alberta oil producers are looking to increase drilling as early as this autumn after the Canadian province exempted a dozen of them from government-mandated oil production cuts, boosting the struggling industry. On Tuesday, the new United Conservative Party government extended curtailments through 2020, citing a delay to Enbridge Inc's Line 3 replacement that could swell inventories again unless the limits remained in place. It also doubled an exemption threshold in the [Read more]