The International Energy Agency is closely monitoring developments in the Strait of Hormuz, including the recent seizure of a UK-flagged oil tanker, and stands ready to act if needed. The IEA considers that the right of free energy transit is critical to the global economy and must be maintained. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime transit route for world energy trade. About 20 million barrels of oil transit each day through the Strait, or about 20% of global supply. It is also the route for around a quarter ...

Goldman Sachs on Sunday lowered its year-on-year oil demand forecast for 2019 citing disappointing global economic activity, which was further weighed down by milder weather, fuel power demand destruction and historical downward revisions, suggesting lower oil demand growth in 2018. The bank revised down its 2019 oil demand growth forecast to 1.275 million barrels per day (mb/d), from 1.45 mb/d at the beginning of the year. However, this is still above the consensus estimates at about 1.05 mb/d for 2019, the Wall Street bank added. “All else constant, we estimate ...

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly estimates of natural gas storage capacity utilization published on July 12, 2019, exceed 50% in all regions for the second straight week. EIA updates estimates of underground storage capacity utilization by region each week in the Natural Gas Storage Dashboard. EIA created this metric to help analysts easily assess how full natural gas storage stocks are by region. The utilization estimate measures the weekly volume of working gas in a region compared with the amount of working gas capacity in a region. Underground ...

Russian oil output has recovered to around 11.05 million barrels per day (bpd) between July 1 and July 21 from the 10.79 mln bpd it fell to in early July, according to two sources and Reuters calculations. This is still below June’s average of 11.15 million bpd and lower than Russia has commited to reduce under a global deal. Russian oil production fell close to a three-year low in early July, as output was undermined by a row between Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft and the country’s biggest producer Rosneft. ...

The United States has sanctioned the China’s state-run energy company Zhuhai Zhengrong Co Ltd for allegedly violating restrictions imposed on Iran’s oil sector, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a speech on Monday. “We’ve said that we will sanction any sanctionable behavior, and we mean it,” Pompeo said in remarks in Florida. The move comes amid increased tensions between Iran and the West as well as between the United States and China, which have restarted major trade talks. Republican U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up its ...

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has restarted the Sharara oilfield and lifted force majeure on loadings of its crude oil from the Zawiya terminal, it said on Monday. The oilfield, the OPEC member’s largest, was shut on Friday evening after an unidentified group shut a valve on the pipeline linking it to Zawiya, 49 km (30.4 miles) west of Tripoli. Valve 13 was reopened on Sunday evening, the NOC said, adding production resumed in the early hours of Monday. The oilfield, which had a pre-civil war capacity of around 340,000 ...

Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd., an Australian-based developer of terminals to export its namesake fuel, plans to re-domicile in the U.S. and list its shares in New York as the company concentrates on projects in North America. Its board has approved a plan to swap shares currently traded in Sydney for ones that will be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, LNG Ltd. said in an emailed statement. The moves, which are expected to be completed by the year-end or in early 2020, have been in the works for about two ...

China National Offshore Oil Co (CNOOC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) on upstream exploration and development, oil refining and liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade, state-backed China News Agency reported on Monday. The MOU was signed on the sideline of a state visit by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. Under the agreement, companies will share the latest know-how in developing ultra-acidic natural gas fields, the report said, citing a statement from CNOOC Group. The two companies will consider enlisting CNOOC’s ...

U.S. natural gas prices are falling again. The intense and widespread heat that we have been seeing is now expected to subside. Forecasts over the next two weeks have trended considerably cooler. With prices so low, EIA has turned more bearish on gas prices, with its recent July STEO putting 2019 Henry Hub spot prices at $2.72 and $2.87 in 2020. “EIA: Summer natural gas prices on track to be the lowest since 1998.” Support and resistance now stand at $2.22 and $2.32, respectively Crazy low. . RSI has been ...

British wholesale gas for immediate delivery fell on Monday as low demand, in part due to high wind power generation, pushed the system into oversupply. * Within day gas fell 1.0 pence to 28 pence other therm by 0740 GMT. * Day-ahead gas was 0.2 pence higher at 29.00 pence per therm. * The system was oversupplied by 24.3 million cubic metres (mcm) with demand forecast at 132.0 mcm and supply seen at 156.3 mcm, National Grid data showed. * Peak wind generation is expected at 10.3 gigawatts out of ...

BP has agreed to form a 50:50 joint venture with Bunge – a leader in agriculture, food and ingredients – that will create a leading bioenergy company in one of the world’s largest fastgrowing markets for biofuels. BP will combine its Brazilian biofuels and biopower businesses with that of Bunge to create a world-scale, highly-efficient producer of sugarcane ethanol in Brazil, BP Bunge Bioenergia. BP’s interest in the new venture will grow its existing biofuels business by more than 50%. Ethanol produced from sugarcane is one of the most carbon-efficient ...

Benchmark Dubai crude futures rose in Asia early Monday as market participants mulled the possibility of an escalation in tensions after Iran detained two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. At 11:00 am Singapore time, September Dubai futures were at $60.85/b, up 68 cents/b from S&P Global Platts’ $60.17/b assessment at the close of trading in Asia on Friday. This was similar to the rise in ICE Brent futures over the same period. The September Brent futures contract rose to $63.37/b at 11:00 am Singapore time (0300 GMT), ...

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Monday, as investors worried about possible supply disruptions in the energy-rich Middle East after Iran’s seizure of a British tanker last week. Brent crude futures climbed $1 a barrel, or 1.6% to 63.47 a barrel by 12:28 p.m. EDT (1728 GMT). West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 56 cents, or 1%, at $56.19 a barrel. Capping gains, force majeure was lifted on loadings of crude at Libya’s Sharara oilfield, the country’s largest, whose closure since Friday had caused an output loss ...

The rise in new suppliers of oil and gas has reduced the ability of Iran to influence global oil markets, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Monday. The price of crude jumped on Monday following Iran’s seizure on Friday of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, but had pared initial, steep gains by 1427 GMT. “I am concerned about it,” Perry told a news conference in Jerusalem, referring to the price rise that followed the ship’s capture. “But we find ourselves in a completely different situation ...

Russia’s Surgutneftegaz has sold a cargo of ESPO Blend crude for September loading at the highest premium in nine months, two trade sources said on Monday. The cargo for loading on Sept. 8-14 was sold at $5.30-$5.40 a barrel above Dubai quotes, they said Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan; editing by Richard Pullin)