An alliance of countries that includes Russia is cutting oil production to end a global glut. One of the big winners: the nation’s own crude exporters. The supply cuts from the so-called OPEC+ nations, coupled with U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, have reduced the amount of medium- and heavy-grade sour crude on the market. While Russia is part of the output cuts effort, exports of its medium-sour Urals crude — the country’s biggest export grade — are set to soar this month to an almost two-year high. “The apparent ...

Rosneft (OTCMKTS:ROSN.ME), the state-owned Russian oil giant, has announced plans to actively pursue development of a vast production and transportation network throughout the Arctic. The declaration follows a meeting between its Chairman and CEO Igor Sechin, and President Vladimir Putin. However, the bombast begs the question: is the strategy economically viable, or a bid to bolster Russia’s global energy position regardless of cost? The plan from Rosneft’s perspective is simple: unlock the 1.5 billion tons of oil in Russia’s Far North by developing an “Arctic Cluster” of oil and gas ...

An oil terminal located on the remote Arctic coast of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug is at the center of a court battle between Russian oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft. The Varandey facility is owned by private company Lukoil and used primarily to export its oil from the nearby Nenets tundra. However, since 2016, state-owned Rosneft has controlled two other regional oil fields that also deliver their production to the terminal. The Trebs and Titov oil fields produce about 2 million tons of oil per year and are owned by Bashneft-Polyus, ...

Yamal’s authorities hope to attract up to 9 trillion rubles ($140 billion) to 2025 for development of the region’s northern area, Governor Dmitry Artyukhov told reporters. “The current tendency is that the production [of oil, gas and gas condensate] shifts to [the region’s] north – the territory, which lacks infrastructures,” he said. “If you look at the region’s southern part, where cities Novy Urengoi, Noyabrsk and Nadym are, it has necessary infrastructures.” “The new zone requires big investments,” he continued. “We expect up to 9 trillion rubles will come to ...

Argentina’s first national offshore licensing round was held yesterday, 16 April 2019, in Buenos Aires. Of the 38 blocks offered in an open bid round, 18 were licensed. The round attracted bids from 13 companies, with the winning bids totalling US$718.28 million. All Majors participated in the bidding, aside from Chevron. The acreage is located in the Austral Marine, Western Malvinas and Argentina basins. Commenting on the results, Horacio Cuenca, Research Director at Wood Mackenzie, said: “The Argentinian government designed very competitive terms for this round, acknowledging the frontier nature ...

Industry discourse suggests that the Permian Basin is powering U.S. shale oil and gas output. In fact, the hydrocarbon rich basin between western Texas and southeastern New Mexico is rarely out of energy market chatter these days. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Permian may experience the biggest boost in production levels in the entire country. It is forecast to climb by 42,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 4.136 million bpd in May. There is little reason to doubt that projection, according to Matt Johnson, National Account ...

Spain’s Repsol has suspended its swaps of refined products for crude with Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA, people familiar with the matter said, as U.S. officials weigh penalties for foreign firms doing business with Venezuela. The Spanish oil company has been swapping fuel and waiving payments due from a joint venture with PDVSA in exchange for crude, even as the United States rolled out new sanctions aimed at ousting Venezuela’s socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The arrangement made Repsol one of the OPEC-member nation’s main fuel suppliers, alongside Russia’s Rosneft and ...

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday said investors could expect to see more mergers and acquisitions in the energy and oil space in 2019. “Anadarko was the first big oil deal this year, but I bet it won’t be the last, ” the “Mad Money” host said. “That’s why I like Apache, I like Concho, Parsley, and especially Pioneer Nat, because this industry still needs much more consolidation. ” Chevron made a move on Friday to purchase the oil and gas driller in a cash-and-stock deal worth $33 billion. Cramer had ...

It’s funny how friendly someone gets when they’re trying to sell you something. Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is doing its best to make nice with one of its biggest customers. With the ink barely dry on the takeover of 70 percent of the country’s chemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and the issuance of its first-ever corporate bond, Aramco is looking to buy a stake in the world’s biggest oil refinery. Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. is seeking to sell as much as a quarter of its refining ...

Gulfport Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: GPOR) (“Gulfport” or the “Company”) provided an update for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. Key information includes the following: • Net production during the first quarter of 2019 averaged 1,263.6 MMcfe per day. • Realized natural gas price for the first quarter of 2019, before the impact of derivatives and including transportation costs, averaged $2.70 per Mcf, a $0.46 per Mcf differential to the average trade month NYMEX settled price. • Realized oil price for the first quarter of 2019, before the impact of derivatives ...

Oil futures edged up on Thursday as a drop in crude exports from OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, and a draw in U.S. drilling rigs and oil inventories supported prices. Brent crude futures settled at $71.97 a barrel, up 35 cents from their last close and near Wednesday’s five-month high of $72.27. Brent saw a weekly gain of 0.6 percent, marking the fourth consecutive weekly rise for the international benchmark. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at $64.00 a barrel, up 24.00 cents. U.S. futures gained just ...

Land-locked African producer South Sudan does not expect political upheaval in Sudan to impact its oil exports, all of which are transported via pipeline through its northern neighbor to the Red Sea, a South Sudanese oil ministry official told S&P Global Platts on Wednesday. The country, which gained its independence in 2011, also does not expect the terms of the 2012 oil agreement with Sudan to use its infrastructure to transport crude to change, although it is up for renewal by the end of this year, according to Awow Chuang, ...

Oil steadied below $64 a barrel in New York as ongoing threats to supply from political crises were offset by disappointing indicators on the global economy. West Texas Intermediate futures gained 12 cents, bringing their gain this week to 0.2 percent. A Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures private-sector activity in the euro area, unexpectedly slid in April, and German factory numbers came in lower than forecast. Still, an escalating crisis in OPEC nation Libya threatens to add to disruptions in Venezuela and Iran at the same time that other members ...

Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak, speaking about Moscow’s position on extending a global oil output deal, said on Wednesday it was too early to speak about preferable options. “We should do what is more expedient for us,” Novak said. The deal should be aimed at balancing the global oil market but should not be designed to achieve a certain oil price level, Novak said. In June, OPEC and its partners – including Russia – will decide whether to extend their agreement, which has reduced supply since January. Source: Reuters (Reporting ...

Oil prices continued their six-week rally last week, with Brent comfortably closing above $71 a barrel. This largely reflected the outlook for the supply-demand balance in the market. The alliance of OPEC and 10 friendly oil-producing nations led by Russia — known as OPEC+ — sufficiently balanced the market when it decided to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) at its meeting in Vienna in December. The action was needed at the time, because waivers to the Iran sanctions the US had earlier granted eight countries had ...