Alberta is offering temporary flexibility to some oil producers on mandated production cuts, as the Western Canadian province reviews their claims that curtailment levels are unfairly high for some and pose technical and safety concerns for certain projects.The oil-rich province took the unusual step this month of mandating temporary production cuts amounting to 325,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 8.7 percent, starting in January to deal with a glut in storage and sagging prices. A shortage of [Read more]
U.S. drillers add oil rigs for first week in three
U.S. energy firms added oil rigs for the first time in the past three weeks despite sharp declines in crude futures prices to their lowest since the summer of 2017. Drillers added 10 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 21, bringing the total count to 883, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. . This was the biggest weekly gain in rig numbers since early November. More than half the total U.S. oil rigs are in the Permian Basin, the [Read more]
Political stumbles, savvy activists knock Canada’s oil sector to its knees
A decade ago, Canada's oil sector was growing so fast it was predicted to become a global energy superpower, but a series of political missteps and formidable environmental activism has created a dysfunctional system requiring OPEC-style government intervention to move its oil to market. Canada produces 4.9 million barrels per day (bpd), more than any country other than the United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia, but the world's fourth largest producer has had to nationalize a pipeline and [Read more]
ExxonMobil shelves Canada LNG export project
U.S. oil major ExxonMobil has withdrawn its WCC liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Canada from an environmental assessment, it said on Thursday, effectively signalling that the project has been shelved.The so-called WCC LNG export project in Canada's British Columbia was expected to produce around 15 million tonnes per year of LNG, with plans for further expansion up to 30 million tonnes per year.Legislation in British Columbia requires large projects to obtain an [Read more]
Canada’s Husky gets regulatory approvals to buy MEG Energy
Canadian oil and gas producer Husky Energy Inc said on Tuesday it has received regulatory approvals to buy rival MEG Energy Corp , but MEG has yet to agree on the deal.In October, Husky made an unsolicited formal offer to buy MEG Energy in a deal valued at C$6.4 billion, in an effort to integrate assets and offset the deep price discounts on Canadian crude.MEG had rejected Husky's offer. The company could not be reached immediately for comment.Husky's offer is open for MEG to [Read more]
Oil drops 4 percent on oversupply, equities sell-off
Oil prices fell 4 percent on Tuesday, dropping for a third consecutive session as reports of swelling inventories and forecasts of record U.S. and Russian output combined with a sharp sell-off in global stock markets. U.S. crude oil dropped $2.04, or 4.1 percent, to a low of $47.84, its weakest since September 2017, before recovering to around $48.40 by 1115 GMT. North Sea Brent crude lost $2.41, or 4.0 percent, to a low of $57.20, a 14-month low, and last traded around $58.06, down [Read more]
Suncor says Alberta oil site continues to produce after minor fire on Dec. 9
* Suncor Energy on Friday said its oil sands upgrader facility in northern Alberta, Canada "continued to produce" following a minor fire on Dec. 9.* The fire was quickly extinguished and did not result in any injuries, a company spokeswoman said in an e-mailed statement, adding the incident was a "minor operational upset."* Suncor did not comment on current production rates at the 350,000-barrel-per-day mining and upgrading site. (Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for second week in a row
U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for a second week in a row this week, prolonging a move by drillers over the past month to reduce the number of active rigs after crude prices collapsed in October and November. Drillers cut 4 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 14, bringing the total count down to 873, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. The U.S. rig count, an early indicator of future output, is higher than a year ago when 747 rigs [Read more]
IEA sees global oil supply tightening more quickly in 2019
The global oil market could move into deficit sooner than expected thanks to OPEC's output agreement with Russia and to Canada's decision to cut supply, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.The Paris-based IEA kept its 2019 forecast for global oil demand growth at 1.4 million barrels per day, unchanged from its projection last month, and said it expected growth of 1.3 million bpd this year.Uncertainty over the global economy stemming from U.S.-China trade tensions could [Read more]
Heavy crude differential narrows further to strongest in over a year
The Canadian heavy oil differential narrowed further against the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark on Tuesday, climbing to the strongest level in more than a year, after Alberta said it would require producers to curtail output to clear a glut: * Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for January delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, was last seen at about $11.75 a barrel below WTI crude futures , narrower than Monday's level at about $12.25 a barrel discount, according to traders. [Read more]