U.S. crude stockpiles fell more than expected last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories rose, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Crude inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels in the last week, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 2.7 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 1.35 million barrels, EIA said. Refinery crude runs fell by 171,000 barrels per day, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates [Read more]
Oil prices gain, U.S. crude trails Brent after inventory data
Oil prices rose on Wednesday after steep falls in the previous session, although U.S. crude trailed gains for international benchmark Brent following data showing U.S. crude inventories fell less than expected. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up by 12 cents, or 0.2%, at $57.68 by 0636 GMT, having fallen 3.3% on Tuesday. Brent crude futures were up 26 cents, or 0.4%, at $64.60. They ended down 3.2% in the previous session. Crude inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels in [Read more]
U.S. natgas futures rise on lower output, higher cooling demand forecasts
U.S. natural gas futures edged higher on Wednesday after plunging more than 4% in the prior session as forecasts for less production and slightly higher cooling demand over the next two weeks offset a decline in expected liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. Front-month gas futures for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange were up 3.1 cents, or 1.3%, to $2.337 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 8:45 a.m. EDT (1245 GMT). On Tuesday, the market fell by its biggest daily [Read more]
Heavy discount edges wider as monthly trade cycle ends
The differential on Canadian heavy crude widened slightly on Tuesday as the monthly trading window drew to a close: Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for August delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $9.50 per barrel below West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil, according to Net Energy Exchange. On Monday, WCS for August delivery settled at $9.15 a barrel below WTI crude futures. The benchmark heavy discount remained in sight of the narrowest differential in three months that [Read more]
North Dakota natgas output slips from monthly record high, flaring eases
Natural gas production in North Dakota slipped to 2.822 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in May from a record high of 2.833 bcfd in April, while the amount of gas flared during the month declined, according to the North Dakota Industrial Commission: Producers in the state burned off or flared 0.532 bcfd in May, down a bit from April. They captured a record high 2.290 bcfd in May, up from the prior all-time high of 2.288 bcfd in April, the commission said in a report on Tuesday. One [Read more]
FortisBC signs Canada’s first long-term contract to supply LNG for China
FortisBC has signed Canada's first long-term supply agreement to produce liquefied natural gas for export to China, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.Under the two-year agreement with China's Top Speed Energy Corp, 53,000 tonnes of LNG will be shipped from the Tilbury facility in British Columbia to China by summer 2021, said Douglas Stout, vice president of market development and external relations for privately-owned FortisBC.The agreement is the first of its kind to secure [Read more]
Oil steadies as U.S. supply concerns ease but Iran tensions loom
Oil prices steadied on Tuesday as a resumption of production in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Barry and a boom in U.S. supply from shale oil countered tensions in the Middle East. Uncertainty about China’s economic prospects also pressured prices after data on Monday showed that growth in the country slowed to 6.2% from a year earlier, the weakest pace in at least 27 years. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell by 8 cents to $59.50 a barrel. The U.S. benchmark hit a session high [Read more]
U.S. natgas futures fall on forecasts of less hot weather, rising output
U.S. natural gas futures on Tuesday fell more than 3% to their lowest in over a week on forecasts for less hot weather over the next two weeks than previously forecast and a slow return of production from the Gulf of Mexico after Tropical Storm Barry. Front-month gas futures for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 7.6 cents, or 3.2%, to $2.332 per million British thermal units at 8:23 a.m. EDT (1223 GMT), their lowest since July 5. With the weather expected to [Read more]
Heavy crude discount shrinks
The differential on Canadian heavy crude narrowed on Monday to trade at the tightest discount since April:* Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for August delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $9.15 per barrel below West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil, according to Net Energy Exchange. On Friday, WCS for August delivery settled at $10.85 a barrel below WTI crude futures.* One Calgary-based industry source described the sharply narrower differential as "insane" and said the [Read more]
U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil, gas producers begin restarting after Barry
U.S. oil companies on Monday began restoring some of the more than nearly 74% production shut at U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms ahead of Hurricane Barry, the U.S. offshore drilling regulator said.There was 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil production off line in the U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, about 80,000 barrels less than on Sunday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Workers also were returning to the more than 280 [Read more]