Goldman Sachs on Tuesday said it expects further moderation in the still-elevated geopolitical risk premium of $5-10 per barrel for crude oil in the coming months, and maintained its range-bound view, with a $90 per barrel ceiling on Brent. Oil prices slipped on Tuesday, a day after touching their lowest levels in more than three weeks following a perceived de-escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict as Iran played down a reported Israeli attack on its soil. The moderately bearish [Read more]
Venezuela to accelerate cryptocurrency shift as oil sanctions return
Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA plans to increase digital currency usage in its crude and fuel exports as the U.S. reimposes oil sanctions on the country, three people familiar with the plan said. The U.S. Treasury Department last week gave PDVSA's customers and providers until May 31 to wind down transactions under a general license it did not renew due to a lack of electoral reforms. The move will make it more difficult for the country to increase oil output and exports as companies [Read more]
US oil and gas M&A hits quarterly record after blockbuster 2023
U.S. oil and gas deals hit a record $51 billion in the first quarter, a continuation of last year's fierce merger pace centered in the top U.S. shale field, data provider Enverus said on Tuesday. Energy companies have rushed to expand oil and gas drilling inventories, especially in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, where producer break-even costs are about $64 a barrel. Oil prices averaged about $77 a barrel last quarter and this week traded near $83 per barrel. Most of the [Read more]
Mitsui says no decision yet on ADNOC LNG project tie-up after Nikkei report
Japan's Mitsui & Co said on Tuesday nothing has been decided on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the United Arab Emirates, after the Nikkei reported it was teaming up with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on it. The Nikkei reported ADNOC would have a stake of around 60% and Mitsui 10% of the $7 billion LNG project at Ruwais, adding Mitsui's investment is estimated to be several tens of billions of yen. Other oil majors Shell, BP and Total Energies are also expected to [Read more]
Canada’s TC Energy says NGTL pipeline system resumes normal operations after fire
TC Energy's NGTL gas pipeline system in the western Canadian province of Alberta has resumed normal operations after a rupture last week prompted the company to reduce pressure on a segment of the line, TC said in a statement on Monday. The cause of the rupture, which sparked a wildfire in a remote part of Yellowhead County, is still under investigation. "We have stood down our Yellowhead County incident emergency response and transitioned to the repair and restoration phase," a TC Energy [Read more]
US natgas prices up over 2% on rising feedgas to Freeport LNG
U.S. natural gas futures rose more than 2% on Monday, as an increase in feedgas to the Freeport LNG export plant and a drop in output outweighed lower demand forecasts for next week and a mild weather outlook. Front-month gas futures for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 3.9 cents, or 2.2%, to settle at $1.791 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). On a daily basis, LNG feedgas was on track to rise to a two-week high at 12.8 bcfd, as the amount of gas flowing to [Read more]
Investors push Equinor to align strategy with global climate goal
Investors have filed a resolution at Norwegian oil company Equinor, majority owned by the government, to bring its strategy and capital spending into line with the Paris Agreement on climate. The move is the latest in the current annual general meeting season after several oil and gas companies scaled back climate ambitions in the face of an energy crisis and high prices. Among those to change tack include Britain's Shell, while U.S.-based ExxonMobil is suing investors who asked it to cut [Read more]
As shale oil gains slow, deepwater port struggles for customers
As U.S. shale oil boomed last decade, an oil pipeline company pitched an ambitious multi-billion-dollar export port off the Texas coast to ship domestic crude to buyers in Europe and Asia. In April, Enterprise Products Partners' SPOT became the first project to receive a license from the U.S. maritime regulator for a deepwater port that could load two supertankers, each of which can carry up to 2 million barrels of oil at a time. But multi-year regulatory delays, a loss of commercial [Read more]
Oil prices retreat as Iran-Israel tensions ease
Oil prices fell on Monday, dragged down by a renewed focus on market fundamentals as Israel and Iran played down the risks of an escalation of hostilities in the Middle East after Israel's apparently small strike on Iran. Brent futures fell 67 cents, or 0.77%, to $86.62 a barrel by 0415 GMT. The front-month U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude contract for May, which expires on Monday, fell 63 cents, or 0.76%, to $82.51 a barrel, while the more active June contract dropped 64 cents to [Read more]
China’s imports of Russian oil near record high in March
Russia remained China's top oil supplier in March, data showed on Saturday, as refiners snapped up stranded Sokol shipments. China's imports from Russia, including supplies via pipelines and sea-borne shipments, jumped 12.5% on the year to 10.81 million metric tons, or 2.55 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. That was quite close to the previous monthly record of 2.56 million bpd in June 2023. Seven Russian tankers [Read more]