Iran has begun talks with Japanese companies under a U.S. sanctions waiver allowing it to resume oil sales, though prospective buyers are seeking a longer waiver and reassurances about ship safety, three Iranian and Western sources said. The waiver, part of 60-day peace talks between Tehran and Washington, was issued on June 22 and expires August 21. Three Japanese buyers were looking at possible crude oil purchases from Iran, their first since 2019, said two Iranian sources, who declined [Read more]
Iraq approves preliminary agreements to study strategic oil export pipeline projects
Iraq's cabinet approved Basra Oil Company signing "a heads of agreement", or preliminary agreement, and a non-disclosure agreement with a consortium including U.S. companies Capital TI and Chevron and Qatar's UCC to study strategic oil export pipeline projects, according to a cabinet statement. The consortium will prepare technical and financial feasibility studies comparing proposed routes including Basra-Haditha-Kirkuk-Ceyhan and Basra-Haditha-Baniyas. The cabinet said the agreements would [Read more]
Discount on Western Canada Select narrows
The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed on Friday. WCS for August delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $15.15 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared to $15.25 a barrel on Thursday. * The discount is now trading at levels similar to May, having unwound most of the tightening that took place in June. * Market players are pricing for more crude in the U.S. market as a result [Read more]
Gulf oil exports jump in June on record UAE flows
Gulf oil exports in June jumped more than 3 million barrels from May to exceed 10 million barrels per day as the U.S. military helped to keep oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, data showed, though exports remained 40% below pre-war levels. The United Arab Emirates led the recovery, allowing millions of barrels of crude stranded in the Gulf to reach international markets, enabling producers to raise output and lower oil prices to pre-conflict levels. Combined crude and condensate [Read more]
Brent oil curve weakens further as prompt supply glut swamps market
Brent crude for prompt delivery traded this week below contracts for delivery as far as six months into the future, the latest sign that increasing shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have caused a near-term glut. The first-month September Brent futures contract traded below each of the next five contract months on Friday, after it traded at a discount to the second month last week. The six-month Brent spread flipped to a discount for the first time this year on Wednesday, dropping to [Read more]
Iran war still trails the 1979 oil shock by total losses
By Alex Lawler LONDON, July 3 - The Iran war has created the largest oil supply shock ever in terms of daily production losses but the 1979 Iranian Revolution remains the biggest oil crisis by cumulative supply loss, according to Reuters calculations based on International Energy Agency, OPEC and U.S. Department of Energy data. The scale of the disruption from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has revived comparisons with the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the Iranian Revolution and the 1991 Gulf War, [Read more]
Iran’s $300 bln rebuild fund risks a familiar fate
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) By Afiq Fitri Alias LONDON, July 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United States is again trying to lure foreign capital into Iran. A key part of last month’s ceasefire signed between Washington and Tehran was a $300 billion “reconstruction fund” for the Islamic Republic. The details may differ from a similar push in the wake of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to limit Iranian nuclear [Read more]
Americans hit road for July 4 despite high gasoline prices
Americans are revving up for the Fourth of July holiday, undeterred by gasoline prices that remain elevated and well above historical levels. The easing of tensions between the U.S. and Iran has provided some relief at the pump, reducing fears that disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz could send fuel prices sharply higher. Despite recent declines, motorists are on track to pay the second-highest Independence Day pump prices on record this weekend. Price-tracking service [Read more]
US oil companies see big profit jump, gird for clash over pump prices with Trump
U.S. oil companies are set to report their strongest quarterly profits in years, courting a possible clash with President Donald Trump, who has been pressing his longtime ally Big Oil to bring down gasoline prices before midterm elections in November. After months of Americans complaining about pain at the pump, Exxon Mobil and Chevron are expected to report second-quarter earnings in the coming weeks that are more than triple first-quarter levels. Oil prices spiked after the U.S.-Israeli war on [Read more]
Canada, Alberta announce new west coast oil pipeline to boost exports
Canada announced plans to build a new oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific coast, which would give the world's fourth-largest oil producer greater capacity to export to Asia and ease its reliance on the United States. Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement in Calgary alongside Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, whose government said construction of the 1-million-barrel-per-day pipeline would begin as early as September 2027. The plan marks the culmination of months of political [Read more]