President Donald Trump said on Monday that OPEC had not pressed him to ask U.S. oil producers to reduce their output to support global prices, which have been hard-hit by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump said U.S. oil production had already fallen, anyway. "I think it's happening automatically but nobody's asked me that question yet so we'll see what happens," the president told a press briefing Monday afternoon. Major oil producers including Saudi Arabia and [Read more]
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Heavy discount widens as talks on global oil cut delayed
Canadian heavy crude's discount widened versus the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil on Monday, as top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia delayed discussions aimed at reducing global oversupply and crude production in Alberta tested storage limits. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for May delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $17.80 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc, wider than Friday's settle of $16.80 under. "The biggest driver (for the [Read more]
Enbridge running Mainline with unused space as Canada cuts oil output
Pipeline company Enbridge Inc is running North America's biggest oil pipeline network, the Mainline, with unused capacity as Canadian producers cut output due to the spread of coronavirus and low prices, a senior executive said. "Right now we're going to see as much production turned down as possible in western Canada," said Vern Yu, Enbridge's executive vice-president of liquids pipelines, in an interview on Monday. He declined to say how much space the Mainline had, but Alberta Premier [Read more]
Oilfield firm Halliburton cuts more U.S. jobs as oil bust deepens
Oilfield services firm Halliburton on Monday was cutting about 350 employees in Oklahoma, according to a filing with the state, amid a deepening oil bust from the spread of coronavirus and a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Staff cuts could begin this week at its Duncan, Oklahoma facility, the filing said, and will be permanent. The facility is expected to remain open. Energy companies have slashed spending since oil prices this year crashed more than 60%, taking prices below $30 [Read more]
Oil drops on oversupply worries as Saudi Arabia, Russia delay meeting
Oil prices slipped on Monday, after Saudi Arabia and Russia delayed a meeting to discuss output cuts that could partly alleviate oversupply in global markets as the coronavirus pandemic pummels demand. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.45, or 5.02%, to $27.36 a barrel, after earlier touching a low of $25.28. Brent crude slipped close to $30 a barrel in early trade and was at $33.45, down $1.39, or 4%. Late last week, prices surged, with U.S. and Brent contracts posting their [Read more]
Russia and Saudi ‘very close’ to oil deal, Moscow envoy says
Saudi Arabia and Russia are close to a deal on oil output cuts to reduce a global glut, a top Russian oil negotiator said on Monday, but details such as how to share out production curbs remained unclear ahead of talks planned for later this week. A supply deal between OPEC, Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, that had propped up oil prices for three years collapsed in March, while the coronavirus hammered demand. Riyadh and Moscow blamed each other for the failure and [Read more]
Column: When all this is over, green oil is going to be a thing in Canada
The glee with which some climate-change activists have welcomed the paralyzing pause our economy is now going through is nothing short of unseemly. People say COVID-19 will change everything. No, it will change some things. But once the pause is over, we’re likely to return to basics as we’ve known them, especially in resource politics. Which means that in trying to restore production, Canada’s resource sector will continue to face opposition from activists. Nor of course will COVID-19 change [Read more]
Athabasca Oil to shut down Hangingstone SAGD oilsands project and cut staff
CALGARY - Athabasca Oil Corp. is suspending operations at its Hangingstone SAGD oilsands operation due to the drop in oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic. The company says it's also reducing its corporate staff by 15 per cent The shutting down of Hangingstone involves shutting in the well pairs and halting steam injection to the reservoir as well as ensuring that the processing facility and pipelines can be re-started in the future. Athabasca says the project has an operating [Read more]
Pembina Pipeline Corporation Announces New Credit Facility, Declares Dividends, Announces First Quarter 2020 Results Conference Call and Webcast and Provides Update on Virtual Annual General Meeting
CALGARY - Pembina Pipeline Corporation ("Pembina" or the "Company") (TSX: PPL; NYSE: PBA) announced today that it has entered into a new $800 million unsecured revolving credit facility. The Company further announced that its Board of Directors has declared a common share cash dividend for April 2020 of $0.21 per share and quarterly dividends for the Company's preferred shares. New Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility Pembina has entered into a new $800 million unsecured revolving credit [Read more]
Trump threatens tariffs on oil imports to “protect” U.S. energy workers
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would impose tariffs on crude imports if he has to "protect" U.S. energy workers from the oil price crash that has been exacerbated by a war between Russia and Saudi Arabia over market share. "If I have to do tariffs on oil coming from outside or if I have to do something to protect our ... tens of thousands of energy workers and our great companies that produce all these jobs, I'll do whatever I have to do," Trump told reporters in a briefing [Read more]