Russia and Saudi Arabia have a common position on the future of the oil output cut deal, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday, while Russia’s Lukoil said the deal should remain in place but needs to be altered. “We have a common position,” Novak said at an economic forum in St Petersburg, which Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih is also expected to attend. The Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other large oil producers, notably, Russia, have agreed to reduce output by 1.8 million barrels ...

Surprisingly it’s not a carbon price or policy that is likely to drive this loss, but innovation and developments in technology which are redesigning the world in which we live. The energy markets are facing a paradigm shift, like the telecoms market before the advent of the internet. This is according to the latest analysis from Aurora Energy Research, which evaluated the impact of widespread digitalization, greening of the economy and the shift in consumer preferences on global commodities markets. Building on the narrative presented in Professor Dieter Helm’s book ...

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday restrictions on oil production could be eased “softly” if OPEC and non-OPEC countries see the oil market balancing in June, the Interfax news agency reported. Novak said OPEC and non-OPEC countries currently plan to keep in place their deal to cut global oil output, the news agency reported. Separately, Novak said he planned to meet Khalid al-Falih, the energy minister of OPEC’s de facto leader Saudi Arabia, later in the day. Oil prices fell about 1 percent on Thursday, with expectations building ...

Cnooc Ltd., the Chinese oil company developing Uganda’s crude finds with Total SA and Tullow Oil Plc, said production at its Kingfisher field will probably start in 2021. Cnooc is likely to bring Kingfisher on stream three years after making a final investment decision, expected later in 2018, according to Likun Kuang, finance manager at Cnooc Uganda Ltd. The field is one of several in the Albertine Graben, an area estimated to hold 6.5 billion barrels of oil, where the government is targeting first production in 2020. Three years is ...

Over the next 12 to 18 months, a favorable economic climate and conducive regional regulatory environments will support “solid” operating results for major Latin American oil and gas companies, despite dissimilarities among them and the countries in which they operate, according to a new industry study. In a report for its clients published on Wednesday, May 23, ratings agency Moody’s deemed the outlook for the Latin American oil and gas industry to be “stable.” Capital spending, however, will remain subdued over the agency’s aforementioned outlook horizon, given companies’ heavy debt ...

Oil prices are rising and higher U.S. production can only be beneficial to us, the head of strategy at Russian pipemaker TMK told CNBC Thursday. “The sector we’re in is very dynamic now with the oil price at $70-plus for WTI (West Texas Intermediate), we’re seeing very strong drilling activity and the U.S. does not produce all the products it needs so that (means) a lot of imports,” Vladimir Shmatovich said at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). TMK’s head of strategy said higher oil prices and higher U.S. production ...

Oil prices fell about $1 on Thursday, with expectations building that reduced supplies from Venezuela and Iran could prompt OPEC to wind down output cuts in place since the start of 2017. Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell $1.01 to settle at $78.79 a barrel, a 1.27 percent loss. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell $1.13 to settle at $70.71 a barrel, a 1.57 percent loss. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries may decide in June to lift output to make up for reduced supply from crisis-hit ...

Oil declined for a third day in New York after Russia’s energy minister reiterated that OPEC and its partners will discuss phasing out supply curbs when they meet next month. West Texas Intermediate futures slipped 1.2 percent, extending their pullback from the three-year high reached on Tuesday. Russia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will discuss whether it’s appropriate to scale back output cuts, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in St. Petersburg, adding that Russia has a common position with Saudi Arabia that any decision will be guided by ...

US oil and gas producers plan to spend rising cash flow more prudently in the coming year than in the recent past, hoping that a disciplined approach will increase their appeal among investors. The US onshore oil sector has a long history of outspending cash flow to chase production growth. But many companies are now seeking to differentiate themselves by committing to stronger balance sheets and higher shareholder dividends. This strategy has become attractive as company share price gains have lagged the wider industry, despite higher oil prices. The world’s ...

The global oil benchmark flirted with the $80-a-barrel level again on Tuesday, underlining concerns that an unexpectedly strong crude rally could eventually begin to weigh on economic growth. The combination of renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran, potential sanctions on Venezuela, a rising geopolitical risk premium, strong demand and other factors have made talk of $100 crude sound less outlandish. Indeed, some analysts argue that the backdrop now leaves the market more open to potential price spikes. So what if oil did climb back to triple digits for the first time ...

The UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) on Wednesday awarded 123 licences to 61 companies to explore for and develop new fields in the North Sea, in the latest sign of confidence in the ageing basin that has enjoyed a revival in recent years. Companies ranging from Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Norway’s Equinor, to smaller independents including Siccar Point, Chrysaor and Premier Oil were awarded 229 blocks covering a total area of 26,659 square km, the OGA said in a statement. “The OGA expects this round to lead very ...

Oil prices fell on Thursday on expectations that OPEC members will step up production in the face of worries over supply from both Venezuela and Iran. A surprise build up in crude oil inventories in the United States also weighed on prices, driving the spread between Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) close to its widest in three years. <CL-LCO1=R> International benchmark Brent futures were down 37 cents, or 0.46 percent, at $79.43 per barrel at 0610 GMT. WTI crude futures were down 27 cents, or 0.38 percent, ...

U.S. Senate Democrats on Wednesday urged President Donald Trump to try to prod OPEC to take steps to lower oil prices and suggested that millions of Americans will see tax cut proceeds canceled out by higher fuel costs. Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer held a news conference at a Capitol Hill Exxon station to criticize Trump for not doing more to lower fuel costs and said that gasoline prices had jumped 25 percent since Trump took office in January 2017. Schumer said Trump’s decision to withdraw from the multinational Iran ...

Oil prices still have room to run after rallying to 3½-year highs, drilling pioneer Harold Hamm said. The Continental Resources chairman and CEO said benchmark U.S. crude prices could still rise by about $10 from current levels near $72 a barrel. “We’re not looking at $100 oil in the future, or probably $90 oil, but it certainly could be in the mid-$70s and low $80s,” he told CNBC in an interview on the sidelines of the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota. Continental, one of the so-called frackers ...

China’s independent oil refiners are once again using fuel oil to feed their plants as stricter tax enforcement and rising crude oil prices have squeezed their margins. These independent refiners, nicknamed teapots, buy nearly one-fifth of China’s crude imports and any reduction in their crude purchases would cap demand in what is now the world’s biggest oil importer. Two independent refiners based in the eastern province of Shandong, home to most of China’s teapots, have each bought an 80,000 tonne cargo of straight-run fuel oil (SRFO) cargo, together totalling about ...