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U.S. crude and fuel inventories posted surprise stock builds last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, as crude imports hit a six-week high and gasoline, distillate demand slipped. Crude inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels to 443.2 million barrels in the week ended May 16, the EIA said. Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected a 1.3 million-barrel draw. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 457,000 barrels. Net U.S. crude imports rose [Read more]

Iraq's oil minister said that the federal government has reservations about energy agreements signed by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, after Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani oversaw the signing of two deals with U.S. companies worth a combined $110 billion over their lifetimes. "Agreements and contracts like this should be signed by the federal government," Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters on Wednesday. The agreements involve the development of the Miran and [Read more]

Saudi Arabia's crude exports in March fell to 5.754 million barrels per day (bpd) from 6.547 million bpd in February, official data showed on Wednesday. The world's largest oil exporter's crude output for March was at 8.957 million bpd, up from 8.947 million bpd in February. Saudi refineries' crude throughput was at 2.944 million bpd in March, up 0.323 million bpd from February's 2.621 million bpd, the data showed. Direct crude burning increased by 100,000 bpd to 383,000 bpd in [Read more]

U.S. oil producer Continental Resources estimates there is a shale oil reserve of 6.1 billion barrels in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir Basin, the Turkish energy minister said. Continental Resources and Turkish national oil company TPAO signed a joint venture agreement in March to develop shale fields in the basin. "Turkey's current annual (crude) oil import amounts to 365 million barrels. So a 6.1 billion barrel reserve is a great figure," Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told [Read more]

Oil prices jumped more than 1% on Wednesday after reports Israel is preparing a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, raising fears that a conflict could upset supply availability in the key Middle East producing region. Brent futures for July rose 86 cents, or 1.32%, to $66.24 a barrel by 0003 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for July climbed 90 cents or 1.45% to $62.93. New intelligence obtained by the United States suggests that Israel is preparing to strike Iranian nuclear [Read more]

While rising U.S.-Iran tensions over Tehran's uranium enrichment jeopardize nuclear talks, three Iranian sources said on Tuesday that the clerical leadership lacks a clear fallback plan if efforts to resolve a decades-long dispute collapse. With negotiations faltering over clashing red lines, Iran may turn to China and Russia as a "Plan B", the sources said, but with Beijing's trade war with Washington and Moscow distracted with its war in Ukraine, Tehran’s backup plan appears shaky. "The plan [Read more]

Iraqi Kurdistan announced deals worth $110 billion over their lifetime with U.S. firms HKN Energy and WesternZagros on Tuesday, drawing swift opposition from Baghdad's oil ministry which deemed them "null and void". Prime Minister Masrour Barzani announced the deals in a speech in Washington, a day after they were flagged by an adviser on social media. "The regional government is fully committed to developing the energy sector, especially as our reforms represent a significant step towards [Read more]