MIDLAND, Texas (Reuters) - In West Texas, rising oil prices are fueling a sharp economic upswing, lifting employment and pay to records, driving up spending at hotels, restaurants, and car dealerships, and raising the cost of housing and other essentials. This parched patch of land, under which lie the largest oil-producing rock formations in the United States, is used to growth binges as well as the busts that always follow. After a two-year crash, the price of crude began to recover in [Read more]
U.S. crude output jumps to record 10.26 million barrels per day in February: EIA
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil production jumped 260,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 10.26 million bpd in February, the highest on record, the Energy Information Administration said in a monthly report on Monday. Production in Texas rose by 106,000 bpd to above 4 million bpd, also a record high based on the data going back to 2005. The Permian basin, which stretches across West Texas and eastern New Mexico, is the largest U.S. oilfield. Output from North Dakota declined marginally to [Read more]
Oil prices climb after Netanyahu announcement; stocks fall
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had lied about pursuing nuclear weapons after signing a 2015 deal with global powers, while U.S. stocks fell with declines in healthcare shares. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futureswere up 47 cents on the day to settle at $68.57. Netanyahu said Iran had continued to preserve and expand its nuclear weapons knowledge after the deal. U.S. President Donald Trump has until May 12 to decide [Read more]
U.S. oil rig count rises five this week, 28 this month
The U.S. oil drilling rig count rose for the fourth week in a row and ended the month sharply higher as producers plan to boost output as they reap profits from crude trading near three-year highs. Drillers added five oil rigs in the week to April 27, bringing the total count to 825, the highest level since March 2015, General Electric Co’s Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. For the month, drillers added 28 oil rigs in April after cutting two [Read more]
BC LNG plant selects contractor, edges closer to reality
A proposed $40 billion liquefied natural gas export terminal on British Columbia’s coast edged closer to reality on Friday, as the company behind the project said it had chosen a contractor to lead project construction once financing is in place. A JGC Corp and Fluor Corp joint venture has been selected to do the final engineering, procurement and construction for the LNG Canada terminal, with a final investment decision on the build still expected later this year, LNG Canada said. LNG [Read more]
U.S. energy shares outperform as companies begin to report
NEW YORK (Reuters) - After losing ground and underperforming the broad market in 2017, U.S. energy shares are climbing fast with oil prices and gaining attention from investors who think the trend may hold. Oil prices are near their highest since late 2014 thanks to strong demand and supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia. This will support energy earnings growth, investors and strategists say, particularly for [Read more]
Mission accomplished for OPEC as oil moves from slump to boom: Kemp
LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - The slump that characterised the oil market between the middle of 2014 and the middle of 2016 has been replaced by what looks like the beginning of a boom. Benchmark Brent prices have already risen by more than $45 per barrel or 170 percent from their cyclical trough in early 2016. Front-month futures prices, at almost $75 per barrel, are now trading close to the inflation-adjusted average for the last price cycle, which started in 1998 and finished in [Read more]
Irving attempt to restart Saint John FCC fails, unit shut -source
Irving Oil's attempt to restart the70,000-barrels-per-day gasoline-making unit at its Saint John,New Brunswick, refinery failed, according to a source familiarwith the refinery's operations.Irving's gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) wasdown as of Saturday, the source said. Irving had begunrestarting the unit after unexpectedly shutting it on Apr. 16. Irving actively bought in New York Harbor on Monday, sourcessaid. On the East Coast, F2 RBOB gained 0.25 centa [Read more]
Trump’s revenge: U.S. oil floods Europe, hurting OPEC and Russia
MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - As OPEC’s efforts to balance the oil market bear fruit, U.S. producers are reaping the benefits - and flooding Europe with a record amount of crude. Russia paired with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries last year in cutting oil output jointly by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), a deal they say has largely rebalanced the market and one that has helped elevate benchmark Brent prices LCOc1 close to four-year highs. Now, the relatively high prices [Read more]
Facing shipping constraints, Canada moving oil one truckload at a time
At an Alberta oil loading terminal, a convoy of big rigs are gearing up to haul Canadian crude oil hundreds of miles through bone dry fields across the U.S. border into Montana, where the oil will be transferred to pipelines and rail cars headed south and west. Trucks loaded with crude are an increasingly common sight at the border. Production has risen in the world's fifth largest producer but full pipelines and a rail car shortage have made it difficult for drillers to ship oil out of [Read more]