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U.S. energy firms cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a fourth month in a row to the lowest since October 2021, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by seven to 547 in the week to June 27. Baker Hughes said this week's decline puts the total rig count down 34 rigs, or 6% below this time last year. Baker Hughes said oil rigs fell by six to 432 this week, also [Read more]

The world's largest group of oil producers, OPEC+, is set to announce another big increase of 411,000 barrels per day in production for August as it looks to regain market share, four delegates from the group told Reuters. If the increase is agreed, it would bring the total rise in supply from OPEC+ to 1.78 million bpd so far this year, equivalent to over 1.5% of total global demand. The group has not yet increased production by the volumes agreed because some members are compensating for [Read more]

CALGARY - Alberta’s finance minister is set to deliver the final bottom line number today on last year’s provincial budget. Nate Horner’s new figure will close the books on the budget for the fiscal year that ended in March. That budget was last forecast to come in with a nearly $6-billion surplus. Alberta’s new budget year is now a few months old, but its expected bottom line number is deep in the red. This budget, introduced by Horner in February, predicts Alberta will register a [Read more]

Oil prices headed for their steepest weekly decline since March 2023 on Friday, as the absence of significant supply disruption from the Iran-Israel conflict saw any risk premium evaporate. Brent crude futures rose 35 cents, or 0.52%, to $68.08 a barrel by 0429 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 40 cents, or 0.61%, to $65.64. That put both contracts on course for a weekly fall of about 12%. The benchmarks are now back at the levels they were at before Isreal began the [Read more]

The U.S. will not complete scheduled deliveries of crude oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the end of the year due to maintenance, as much as seven months behind schedule, the Department of Energy said on Thursday. Former President Joe Biden's administration scheduled 15.8 million barrels of deliveries to the SPR from January through May. So far this year only 8.8 million of that has been delivered to the reserve. "Due to site maintenance, the SPR rescheduled crude oil secured [Read more]

Options markets suggest the probability of a disruption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz is just 4% following the Iran-Israel ceasefire, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note on Thursday. Fears that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities sent Brent crude futures to a high of $81.40 on Monday, but concerns eased in the wake of the truce declared the next day, sending crude back below $68. The sharp drop in the geopolitical risk premium [Read more]