India's top refiner has issued its first tender to buy high-sulphur, or sour, crude from North America as it seeks to diversify imports, three trading sources said on Tuesday. The purchase comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States last week when President Donald Trump said the U.S looked forward to exporting more energy products to the world's third-biggest oil buyer. It is part of Trump's policy to assert power globally by boosting natural gas, coal and [Read more]
Canadian National Railway says oil spills after train derails in U.S.
Canadian National Railway Co said about 20,000 gallons of oil was released following a freight train derailment at Plainfield, the U.S. state of Illinois on Friday, according to a filing with state pollution regulators. The cause of the derailment was unknown, a filing with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency said on Saturday. Local media reports estimated the spill to be 45,000 gallons. The incident occurred when 20 cars of a Canadian National Railway Co freight train, carrying [Read more]
Oil prices dip ahead of U.S. holiday after 8 days of gains
Oil prices retreated in early Asian trade on Tuesday, halting a run of eight straight days of gains on signs that a relentless rise in U.S. crude production was running out of steam. Brent crude futures were at $49.43 per barrel at 0147 GMT, down 25 cents, or 0.5 percent from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading down 22 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $46.85 a barrel. The falls came after both benchmarks recovered around 12 percent from their recent [Read more]
Oil prices rise on first drop in U.S. drilling in months
Oil markets edged up on Monday, lifted by the first fall in U.S. drilling activity in months, although price gains were capped by reports of rising OPEC output last month even as the group has pledged to cut supply. Brent crude futures had climbed 13 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $48.90 per barrel by 0643 GMT, after jumping 5.2 percent last week in their first weekly gain in six weeks. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $46.21 per barrel, adding [Read more]
Oil prices edge up on first drop in U.S. drilling in months
Oil prices edged up on Monday, supported by the first fall in U.S. drilling activity in months, although rising output from OPEC despite a pledge to cut supplies capped gains. Brent crude futures added 6 cents or 0.1 percent to $48.83 per barrel by 0137 GMT, after jumping 5 percent last week for the first gain in six weeks. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $46.19 per barrel after a more than 7 percent gain last week from depressed levels. [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for first week since January – Baker Hughes
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs this week for the first time since January and the pace of additions slowed this quarter due to declines in crude prices despite an OPEC-led effort to cut production and end a multi-year supply glut. Analysts, however, noted the weekly decline in the rig count was likely just a brief pause in a drilling recovery expected to continue through at least 2019. Drillers cut two oil rigs in the week to June 30, bringing the total rig count down to 756, still more than double [Read more]
Canadian producer prices drop for first time in nine months
Canadian producer prices in May fell for the first time in nine months, dropping by 0.2 percent from April on lower prices for energy and petroleum products, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a 0.3 percent increase. Of the 21 commodity groups, prices rose in 17, dropped in three and were unchanged in one. Prices for energy and petroleum products fell by 3.5 percent, dragged down by declines in motor gasoline, fuel oils and diesel fuel. Excluding this [Read more]
British Columbia government toppled in non-confidence vote
VICTORIA, British Columbia (Reuters) - British Columbia's Liberal government was defeated on Thursday in a non-confidence vote, as expected, paving the way for the left-leaning New Democrats to rule the Western Canadian province for the first time in 16 years. Such a prospect has unnerved investors in Canada's third-most populous province, not least owners of oil and gas projects such as Kinder Morgan Inc's C$7.4 billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which the New Democratic Party (NDP) [Read more]
Canada says it wants single body to assess major energy projects
Canada wants a single federal authority to assess the potential impact of oil pipelines and mines, officials said on Thursday, a move that could help quell protests that have blocked a series of projects. Responsibility for examining the environmental impact of projects on federally-regulated land is shared between three separate entities, a system the Liberal government says the public does not trust. Plans released on Thursday mean the much-criticised national energy regulator would lose its [Read more]
Alberta hits $10.8 billion budget deficit in 2016-17
Canada's main crude-producing province Alberta ended the 2016-17 fiscal year with a $10.8 billion budget deficit, the government's annual report said on Thursday, as weak oil prices hurt the economy for a third consecutive year. That was C$263 million higher than forecast in the government's original 2016 budget. It reflects the impact of a huge wildfire in the Wood Buffalo region of the oil sands in May 2016 and payments related to the phase out of coal power in the province. The budget [Read more]