NEW YORK (Reuters) - Brent oil prices held near five-month highs on Friday, and were on track for the biggest weekly gain since late July, on forecasts for rising demand and the gradual restart of U.S. oil refineries. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries this week forecast higher demand for its oil in 2018 and pointed to signs of a tighter global market, indicating its deal with non-OPEC states to cut output is helping tackle a glut. That was followed by a report from the [Read more]
U.S. drillers cut most oil rigs since January -Baker Hughes
U.S. energy firms cut the most oil rigs in a week since January as a 14-month drilling recovery stalled due to weak crude prices. Drillers cut seven oil rigs in the week to Sept. 15, bringing the total count down to 749, the least since June, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. Drillers have not added any rigs since the week of Aug. 11. The rig count, an early indicator of future output, is still higher than the 416 [Read more]
Oil near five-month high in most bullish week since July
Brent oil prices held steady near five-month highs, and were on track for the highest weekly rise since the end of July on higher demand forecasts and the restart of oil-hungry refineries in the United States. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries this week forecast higher demand for its oil in 2018 and pointed to signs of a tighter global market, indicating its deal with non-OPEC states to cut output is helping tackle a glut. That was followed by a report by the International [Read more]
Alberta and North Dakota light, sweet crude surge on Harvey after-effects
Light, sweet crude out of Canada and North Dakota surged to their highest levels in over four years on Thursday, as Midwest and East Coast refiners bid heavily for those grades after Hurricane Harvey upended energy markets in the U.S. Gulf. Widespread flooding following the giant storm forced several U.S. Gulf Coast refiners to shut, idling a quarter of nationwide refining capacity. Many of those refiners are only now rumbling back into operation. The shutdowns had a twofold effect for [Read more]
Oil jumps to five-month high on forecasts that glut will recede
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday, with Brent briefly touching a five-month high, a day after the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast the market would continue to tighten as fuel demand increased. Brent crude futures were up 56 cents, or 1 percent, at $55.72 a barrel by 12:16 p.m. EDT (1616 GMT). The session high for the global benchmark was $55.99, its highest since April 13. The contract remained in technically overbought territory for a second day in a row. U.S. West [Read more]
China’s CNOOC ends feasibility study for Western Canadian LNG terminal
China's CNOOC Ltd said on Thursday it will end the feasibility study for its (LNG) export terminal on British Columbia's coast due to low global commodity prices, in the latest setback for Canada's energy industry. Nexen Energy, a unit of CNOOC, said in a statement the current macro-economic environment does not currently support developing a large LNG business. The project, a joint venture with Japan's Inpex Corp , would have had the capacity to export 24 million tonnes [Read more]
CNOOC’s Nexen ends LNG feasibility study in western Canada
CNOOC Ltd's Nexen Energy and Inpex Corp will end the feasibility study for the Aurora liquefied natural gas project in Canada's British Columbia province, the former company said in a statement on Thursday. "Aurora LNG has determined that the current macro-economic environment does not currently support the partners' vision of developing a large LNG business," the company said. (Reporting by Ethan Lou; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) [Read more]
Oil rises on stronger demand, supply restrictions
Oil prices rose on Thursday, building on recent gains after forecasts for stronger oil demand by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Brent crude was up 40 cents at $55.56 a barrel by 1100 GMT, having risen by 89 cents, or 1.6 percent, on Wednesday. U.S. light crude was up 40 cents at $49.70 after a 2.2 percent gain in the previous session. Brent has now climbed by more than $10 a barrel over the past three months and is close to where it was at the beginning of the year, trading between [Read more]
Oil rises as IEA forecast overshadows U.S. crude build
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said a global surplus of crude was starting to shrink, even though U.S. data showed another big increase in domestic inventories due to Hurricane Harvey. U.S. gasoline prices fell despite a record drawdown in fuel inventories. Analysts expect supply to increase as refineries return online after Harvey shut nearly a quarter of U.S. capacity. Demand is expected to slip due to the effects of [Read more]
U.S. crude inventories jump, gasoline stocks drop most on record: EIA
U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose sharply last week and gasoline inventories fell the most on record as refineries continued to be hampered by damage from Hurricane Harvey, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Refineries operated at the lowest level in nine years after Harvey, which hit the Gulf Coast on Aug. 25, shuttered plants on the Texas Coast as well as oil production operations and ports. Crude oil production that was shuttered in the wake of Harvey have began to return [Read more]