Big swings in marine fuel prices and freight rates due to IMO 2020 and coronavirus have led to increased appetite for hedging, with financial instruments settled against S&P Global Platts physical 0.5% sulfur assessments at record highs, Intercontinental Exchange said. Since February 2019, open interest across marine fuel has grown to a record 274 million barrels equivalent on Feb. 23, with traded volumes up 114% year on year, ICE said. A change in International Maritime Organization regulations meant sulfur emissions from ships on the high seas were capped at 0.5% ...

The historical drop in global oil demand of 9.7 mb/d y-o-y in 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, prompted a shock to the established relationship between oil demand and global economic growth. While demand for all petroleum products declined sharply in 2020, the transportation sector, and aviation in particular, which amounts to around 50% of total oil demand, was disproportionately affected. Within the OECD, all three major regions – Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific – showed sharp declines in 2020, although at differing degrees. In the Americas, oil ...

The latest rally in oil prices seems to be impressive as the commodity just hit 13-month high. The upside is backed by decreasing crude production in the United States and Fed’s continued dovish stance, per a Reuters article. Going by the same article, Brent crude futures for April recently rose 0.3% to $67.23, whereas U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for April came in at $63.30 a barrel, up 0.1%. Notably, Brent also touched $67.44 and WTI reached $63.67, the highest since January 2020. The Fed, in its commitment to drive ...

U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for a seventh month in a row for the first time since May 2018, but the rate of growth in February slowed even as oil prices rose to their highest since 2019. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose five to 402 in the week to Feb. 26, its highest since May, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday. But with just 18 additions, the pace ...

The New York Stock Exchange on Friday decided to begin formal delisting of Chinese state oil giant CNOOC Ltd based on an executive order signed by former U.S. President Donald Trump in November last year. The Trump administration moved to prohibit U.S. investments in certain Chinese companies that Washington said were owned or controlled by the Chinese military in an effort to ramp up pressure on Beijing. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

The price of crude oil rose above $60 a barrel on Monday for the first time in over a year, fueled by the “Saudi surprise” cut in output. Brent, the global benchmark, touched $60.20, up more than 15 percent since the start of the year. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark that briefly fell into negative territory last April, leapt above $57 a barrel, also a 12-month high. Analysts raised their price targets for 2021, and gave most of the credit for the recent rise to Saudi Arabia’s decision in ...

U.S. crude oil output dropped 58,000 barrels per day to 11.063 million bpd in December, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a monthly repor. The move came as onshore oil production fell in Texas and North Dakota, the top oil-producing states, outpacing a slight rise in offshore output in the Gulf of Mexico. The agency also revised down crude production in November to 11.121 million bpd, 3,000 bpd less than previously reported. Crude output the United States, the world’s top producer, has dropped precipitously since the coronavirus pandemic put ...

The US oil and gas rig count stood steady at 461 in the week ending Feb. 24, rig data provider Enverus said, but Permian operators added rigs as recent severe weather loosened its grip on the region. The total number of rigs chasing primarily oil and those chasing gas were both steady week on week at 339 and 122, respectively, but rig counts were more volatile across the major named basins. In the Permian, operators added five rigs for a total of 210, putting the number of rigs active in ...

U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for a seventh month in a row for the first time since May 2018, but the rate of growth in February slowed even as oil prices rose to their highest since 2019. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose five to 402 in the week to Feb. 26, its highest since May, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday. But with just 18 additions, the pace ...

Nigeria is losing 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day because of theft and vandalism, the head of the state oil company said, underscoring how insecurity is causing vast financial losses for the West African country. With Brent Crude oil prices hovering around $66.70, the losses would amount to more than $13 million a day and more than $4.8 billion a year, at a time when Nigeria needs funds to tackle poverty, improve security and boost the economy, which shrank 1.92% in 2020 in part due to the pandemic. The ...

Oil prices will stage a steady recovery this year as vaccines reach more people and speed an economic revival, with further impetus coming from stimulus and output discipline by top crude producers, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. The survey of 55 participants forecast Brent crude would average $59.07 per barrel in 2021, up from last month’s $54.47 forecast. Brent has averaged around $58.80 so far this year. “Travel and leisure activity look set to catch up to buoyant manufacturing activity due to the mix of stimulus, confidence, vaccines, and ...

The shock winter storm in Texas that left millions without power and took dozens of lives also froze a major local commodity: the Lone Star State’s oil production, slashing some 4 million barrels per day from U.S. output. The consequence will be a boost in revenue and potentially increased exports among rival oil-producing nations, commodities experts say. Analysts estimate the total volume of oil lost to Texas’ production freeze at anywhere between 18 million and 40 million barrels and roughly one-fifth of U.S. refining capacity was shut in. And while ...

ICE exchange, home of Brent oil futures trading, has put pressure on pricing agency Platts to postpone its physical Brent market reform, saying the market needs more time to consult and adjust the value of derivatives in line with the changes. S&P Global Platts has this week decided to include U.S. crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland in its dated Brent oil price assessment, the first crude from outside the North Sea to be added to the global benchmark. More than half the world’s physical crude is priced off the ...

Norway launched a consultation on Thursday on a 2021 licensing round in mature areas in which it offered 84 new blocks for petroleum exploration, including 70 in the Arctic Barents Sea. The maps attached to a statement by the Petroleum and Energy Ministry showed new blocks offered southeast of Bear Island, roughly half way between the Arctic Svalbard Archipelago and mainland Europe. Four new blocks were offered in the North Sea and 10 in the Norwegian Sea, the statement said. “Predictable access to (a) new exploration area is crucial for ...

The price of oil is back above $60 a barrel on global markets, the impact of which is complicated by something that had not happened in this country in at least a half century. For the first time since the era of the Arab oil embargos in the 1970s, the value of U.S. oil exports relative to oil imports is more “balanced” than overall U.S. trade, according to my research. Here are the numbers: For every dollar of oil trade in 2020, almost 40 cents was a U.S. export, according ...