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The U.S. tight oil rig count about 25% of what is needed to maintain 2019 levels of tight and total oil production. As U.S. supply plunges, the over-supply paradigm of the last 5 years may finally change. The U.S. tight oil rig count is now 155 (Figure 1). About 600 rigs are needed to maintain tight oil production at 7 mmb/d and U.S. total output at 12 mmb/d. That means that tight oil will irreversibly fall to less than 5 mmb/d and U.S. to less than 8 mmb/d by mid-2021. ...

A series of huge write-downs among energy majors triggered by lower assumptions for future oil prices has put a spotlight on the sector’s scattered price outlooks. On Monday, Eni announced a 3.5 billion euro ($3.95 billion) impairment on the value of its assets after revising down its long-term oil price outlook. That followed Royal Dutch Shell’s $22 billion write-down last week and BP’s $17.5 billion hit in June. While break-even prices for new development projects typically lie below future oil price assumptions, these write-downs have raised questions about the risk ...

The US Energy Information Administration July 7 again lowered its estimates for natural gas marketed production for the rest of 2020, pointing to low gas and oil prices and production curtailments, but it anticipated a pickup in production toward the second half of 2021, as prices rebound. The agency, in its July Short-Term Energy Outlook, lowered by 830 MMcf/d to 94.15 Bcf/d its gas marketed production estimate for the US in the third quarter of 2020, and trimmed Q4 estimates as well by 390 MMcf/d to 92.16 Bcf/d. “EIA forecasts ...

Britain’s market watchdog is resisting calls for stricter rules on investment funds, putting the regulator at odds with the Bank of England which wants tighter controls to prevent them becoming a source of contagion in financial markets. The BoE has said these funds may need stronger controls after the turmoil triggered by the coronavirus pandemic exposed their potential threat to financial stability because unlike banks they do not hold reserves of capital. Britain’s commercial property funds, for example, had to stop investors asking for their money back on a daily ...

Global stocks wavered Wednesday, while mainland Chinese shares extended a winning streak for a seventh consecutive day. Futures tied to the S&P 500 ticked up 0.1%, signaling that equity markets will waver at the open after pulling back on worries that the pace of the economic recovery has slowed. The benchmark index fell 1.5% Tuesday, its biggest one-day decline since June 26. Chinese shares resumed their recent spurt, pushing the Shanghai Composite Index up 1.7%. The index has advanced 8% this week as small investors bet that a recovering economy ...

As the impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt across the world’s economies, supporting SMEs to maintain operations and employment is rightfully the focus of policymakers and industry-leading businesses. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to remain top of mind in the months to come to ensure the vibrancy, diversity, economic stability and creativity of all industries globally. However, today’s focus on the most immediate SME needs risks taking attention from longer-term issues that are also growing at a worrying pace. One concern, in particular, needs renewed interest and attention: ...

The EU must transition towards a climate-neutral economy without letting disparities between regions grow any further, say regional development MEPs. On Monday 6 July, the Regional Development Committee approved the establishment of the Just Transition Fund (JTF) with 27 votes in favour, 7 against and 8 abstentions. Allocation of financial resources MEPs request a significant increase in the budget allocated from the 2021-2027 financial framework (from EUR 11 270 459 000 in current prices to EUR 25 358 532 750 in 2018 prices, also referred to as the “principle amount”). ...

Some economic indicators suggest that Europe’s pandemic-induced recession may be milder than earlier feared, European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel told Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. “In recent weeks some confidence indicators have come in positive, which suggests that the recession could turn out somewhat milder than expected,” Schnabel was quoted on Tuesday as saying. “But overall we are in the range of our baseline scenario.” The ECB and the European Commission both expect the euro zone economy to shrink by 8.7% this year with a rebound predicted in the ...

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index inched down on Tuesday, snapping a 27-session winning streak, as capesize vessel rates fell for the second straight session and offset gains in panamax and supramax segments. The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, fell 7 points, or 0.4%, to 1,949. The Baltic capesize index lost 103 points, or 2.5%, to 3,968, hitting its lowest since June 22. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport cargoes of ...

German industrial production increased sharply in May as restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic eased, data from the federal statistics office Destatis showed Tuesday. Total industrial output–comprised of output in manufacturing, energy and construction–rose 7.8% in May from April in calendar-adjusted terms. Economists had forecast a 10% increase, according to a poll by The Wall Street Journal. Compared with May 2019, total industrial output fell 19.3% in calendar-adjusted terms. In April, German industrial output collapsed by an upwardly revised 17.5%, the largest decline since the beginning of ...

Shell together with Deloitte Netherlands and Deloitte UK today published joint research outlining industry perspectives on decarbonising the shipping sector. The “Decarbonising Shipping: All Hands on Deck” report sets out the views of senior shipping executives from across the sector and presents a roadmap of solutions to help the industry meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) ambition to reduce carbon emissions. “We know that shipping is one of the harder sectors to decarbonise, which is why we are working with our customers and the wider industry to identify possible solutions,’’ ...

European banks warned on Monday that the European Union and the UK must come to an agreement on post-Brexit financial access by the end of September if serious disruption is to be avoided, especially in light of the coronavirus crisis. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), a lobby group which represents major banks and other market players, said that the pandemic had the potential to disrupt the post-Brexit planning and preparedness of financial firms who may need to relocate their operations elsewhere once the UK leaves the bloc ...

Towage operator and part of Maersk, Svitzer A/S, is further strengthening its global leadership team with the appointment of Lars Even Rasmussen as new global Head of HR. 54-year old Lars Even Rasmussen comes with a background in Economics and 11 years of various senior positions within Maersk’s global HR organisation – most recently as Maersk Head of Organisation Development. CEO of Svitzer A/S, Kasper Friis Nilaus, is happy to welcome Lars Even Rasmussen on-board, saying: “Svitzer is a people company. The value we deliver to our customers comes out ...

Fresh floating storage inquiries for clean tankers in recent weeks reflect charterer appetite to take advantage of rock bottom clean tanker rates, though presumptions of potentially cheaper floating storage deals against onshore storage appear short-sighted. As clean tanker markets rationalize the expected lack of outgoing cargoes to come in the near term, many shipowners are now interested in tying up available tonnage for the traditionally weak summer season ahead. Since June 26, six LR2s have been placed on floating storage periods of 30-90 days for a rate of $20,000/day in ...

Qatari ports have delivered a stellar performance in the first half of this year, despite a challenging environment created by COVID-19 outbreak. During the first six months of this year, Hamad Port, Ruwais Port and Doha Port have registered 102 percent increase in general cargo handling compared to the same period in last year. During the first six months, 1,509 ships docked at Hamad Port, Doha Port and Ruwais Port, making it a busy period for Qatar’s maritime sector. The ports handled 727,716 tonnes of general cargo in the first ...