Oil held steady above $63 a barrel on Thursday, supported by falling inventories of crude and threats of an attack on Nigeria’s petroleum industry, although a reported rise in U.S. fuel supplies weighed. Crude is within sight of its highest since December 2014, supported by supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and concern that unrest in producer nations such as Nigeria could further curb output. Militant group Niger Delta Avengers threatened to attack [Read more]
OPEC sees more oil supply from rivals, countering its cuts and Venezuelan woes
OPEC has raised its forecast for oil supply from non-member countries in 2018 as higher prices encourage U.S. shale drillers to pump more, offsetting an OPEC-led deal to clear a supply glut and a deepening plunge in Venezuelan production. In a monthly report on Thursday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said outside producers would boost supply by 1.15 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, up from 990,000 bpd expected previously. “Higher oil prices are bringing [Read more]
Oil producer Obsidian Energy hits back at activist FrontFour Capital
Canadian oil sands producer Obsidian Energy Ltd said on Wednesday it could not add major shareholder FrontFour Capital's candidate to its board, despite "extensive" negotiations. Obsidian's response came after FrontFour, the producer's second-biggest shareholder with a 5.7 percent stake, said it had tried over the last three months to come to an agreement with Obsidian over the addition of one mutually agreed upon independent nominee. "We have been unable to [Read more]
Husky ordered to halt SeaRose operation after iceberg close call
Canadian regulators on Wednesday ordered Husky Energy to suspend operations on its 27,000-barrel-per-day SeaRose floating production vessel off the coast of eastern Canada after an iceberg came too close to the facility in March 2017. The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) made its decision after an investigation found Husky did not follow its own Ice Management Plan when an iceberg came within 0.25 nautical mile of the floating production, storage and [Read more]
Oil edges back from early gains, but prices still supported
Oil prices weakened following early gains on Wednesday, but remained underpinned by tightening supply and strong global demand. Tighter fundamentals have lifted both crude futures benchmarks about 13 percent above levels in early December, helped by production curbs by OPEC and Russia, as well as by healthy demand growth. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $63.63 a barrel, down 10 cents on the day and down from an earlier high of $63.96. WTI hit $64.89 on Tuesday, [Read more]
Kuwait oil minister says so far no plan to exit oil cuts
Kuwait’s oil minister Bakhit al-Rashidi said on Wednesday there is no plan or intention so far to exit from a production-cutting agreement among OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers. “The production-reduction agreement will remain for a long time and there is no thinking right now to exit it,” Rashidi told a news conference in Kuwait City. He said a Jan. 21 committee meeting of some OPEC and non-OPEC ministers in Oman would focus on reviewing adherence to the cuts, adding that compliance in [Read more]
Canada judge tells jury in deadly oil derailment trial to press on
A Canadian judge on Tuesday told jurors to continue deliberations, despite their difficulty in reaching a verdict in the joint trial of three former rail employees in the 2013 Lac Megantic train derailment that killed 47 in Quebec, local media said. The jury had earlier told the judge it was at an impasse, said Charles Shearson, a lawyer for one of the three defendants. In July 2013, the downtown section of the town of Lac Megantic was destroyed following the derailment of a Montreal Maine & [Read more]
Norway awards record 75 oil exploration licenses
Norway has awarded a record 75 offshore oil exploration licences, to Statoil , Aker BP Shell , Total and ConocoPhillips among others, the energy ministry said on Tuesday. The licenses comprised 45 in the North Sea, 22 in the Norwegian Sea and eight in the Barents Sea and were awarded in a so-called annual predefined areas (APA) licensing round, introduced by Norway in 2003 to encourage exploration and development of discoveries near existing infrastructure. "The number of [Read more]
Goldman Sachs sees likelihood crude prices will exceed forecasts
Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday that crude oil prices are likely to exceed its forecasts for the coming months due to rising demand and strong compliance to a production cuts. The investment bank sees Brent and West Texas Intermediate average price forecasts at $62 and $57.5 per barrel for 2018, respectively. Brent crude prices consolidated recent gains at around $70 a barrel on Tuesday, a level not seen since 2014’s dramatic oil market slump. Oil has been pushed higher by an effort led [Read more]
U.S. oil industry set to break record, upend global trade
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Surging shale production is poised to push U.S. oil output to more than 10 million barrels per day - toppling a record set in 1970 and crossing a threshold few could have imagined even a decade ago. And this new record, expected within days, likely won’t last long. The U.S. government forecasts that the nation’s production will climb to 11 million barrels a day by late 2019, a level that would rival Russia, the world’s top producer. The economic and political impacts of [Read more]