NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices soared more than 3 percent on Monday, with Brent hitting its highest in more than two years, after major producers said the global market was on its way to rebalancing, while Turkey threatened to cut oil flows from Iraq’s Kurdistan region toward its ports. The November Brent crude futures contract settled up$2.16, or 3.8 percent, at $59.02 a barrel, its highest since July, 2015. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery rose $1.56, or 3 percent, [Read more]
Hedge fund positions in oil look stretched
LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Hedge funds have become strongly bullish on the outlook for all parts of the petroleum complex, amid signs global crude stocks are declining and fuels will be short supply after hurricane-related refinery outages. But with so many fund managers already betting heavily on a further rise prices, the market has become lopsided and the risk of a sharp reversal has increased significantly. Hedge funds and other money managers raised their combined net long position in [Read more]
Oil hits eight-month high as producers say market rebalancing
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices hit eight-month highs on Monday after major producers said the global market was on its way toward rebalancing, while Turkey threatened to cut oil flows from Iraq’s Kurdistan region toward its ports. The November Brent crude futures contract was up 89 cents at $57.75 a barrel by 1204 GMT, its highest since January 3. U.S. crude for November delivery was up 53 cents at $51.28 a barrel, close to recent four-month highs. Turkey has said it could cut off a pipeline [Read more]
Total in no hurry to sell oil sands assets – CEO
Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Monday that the company was not in a hurry to "diversify" (sell) high break-even assets such as oil sands. Pouyanne told analysts during a call that the company would wait until oil prices rise before selling the assets. "We will see what we will do with this project in the coming years but... my priority is value over volumes and oil sands are among the high breakeven projects in the portfolio," Pouyanne said. "I don't want to lose value, so my view [Read more]
Cenovus reaches agreement to sell Suffield assets for $512 mln
Cenovus Energy Inc - * Cenovus reaches agreement to sell Suffield assets for more than half a billion dollars * Cenovus Energy - To sell Suffield crude oil and natural gas operations in southern Alberta to International Petroleum Corp for cash proceeds of $512 million * Cenovus Energy - Net proceeds from the Suffield sale will be applied to reduce company's $3.6 billion asset-sale bridge facility Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for third week in a row: Baker Hughes
U.S. energy firms cut the number of oil rigs operating for a third week in a row as a 14-month drilling recovery stalled as companies pared back on spending plans when crude prices were softer. Drillers cut five oil rigs in the week to September 22, bringing the total count down to 744, the least since June, General Electric Co’s Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. That put the rig count on track for a second month of losses in a row and also its [Read more]
Oil prices steady ahead of OPEC meeting on supply cut extension
Oil prices held steady in early Asian trade on Friday as the market waited to see whether major oil producers would extend supply cuts beyond March at a meeting in Vienna later in the day. International benchmark Brent crude futures were at $56.40 a barrel at 0046 GMT, down 3 cents, or 0.05 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 7 cents, or 0.14 percent, at $50.62 per barrel. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and [Read more]
Oil settles flat as unease builds ahead of OPEC meeting
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled nearly flat on Thursday, the eve of a meeting of major oil-producing countries in Vienna to discuss whether they will extend production limits that have helped reduce the global crude glut. Ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers meet on Friday. They will discuss a possible extension of 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of supply cuts to support prices and will consider monitoring exports to assess [Read more]
Oil prices slip ahead of OPEC meeting
Oil prices slipped on Thursday, giving up some recent gains before a meeting of oil producers that could extend production limits aimed at clearing a glut in supplies that has depressed the market for more than three years. Ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers meet in Vienna on Friday and are due to consider extending output cuts that began in January. OPEC and its allies have agreed to reduce output by about 1.8 million barrels per [Read more]
Energy contract lawsuits expected to jump in Harvey’s wake
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Lawyers expect a spate of force majeure contract lawsuits after Hurricane Harvey tore through Southeast Texas and parts of Louisiana last month, paralyzing a fifth of U.S. fuel output and pushing some oil production offline. Hurricanes and other natural disasters can affect the energy industry’s ability to honor contracts related to oil and natural gas production, transport and oilfield services. Force majeure is a legal declaration that means the operator cannot fulfill a [Read more]