News

Sentiment in the crude oil market has shifted to expecting prices to decline, with the debate at the industry's biggest gathering in Asia more about timing than direction. The topic of presentations and conversations at the annual APPEC conference is always dominated by the outlook for prices, and this week's event was no different. What has shifted is market sentiment and the least-sighted animal this year was a bull in a sea of bearish participants. While there are many factors that [Read more]

The recent wave of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and export facilities could boost global refining profit margins – particularly those in the U.S. – just as the peak summer demand season fades. Ukrainian attacks have shut down facilities accounting for at least 17% of Russia's oil processing capacity, or 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), according to Reuters' calculations. Other targeted infrastructure includes the Ust-Luga Baltic Sea oil export terminal and the Druzhba [Read more]

Oil prices gained on Tuesday after OPEC+ decided to increase production by less than what market participants had anticipated, while concerns over tighter supply due to potential new sanctions on Russia continued to lend support. Brent crude gained 35 cents, or 0.53%, to $66.37 a barrel by 0335 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 32 cents, or 0.51%, to $62.58 a barrel. Eight members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, collectively known as [Read more]

The discount on Western Canada Select to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed on Monday. WCS for October delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $11.40 a barrel under the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $11.50 a barrel discount on Friday. * Monday's close was the narrowest discount for WCS since late July. Discounts widened in August due in part to the shutdown of BP's 440,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Whiting, Indiana, [Read more]