Oil prices fell 1% on Friday and were headed for a weekly loss as analysts projected a supply surplus next year despite an OPEC+ decision to delay output hikes and extend deep production cuts to the end of 2026. Brent crude futures were down 85 cents, or 1%, to $71.24 per barrel at 11:04 a.m. EST. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 92 cents, or 1%, to $67.38 per barrel. For the week, Brent was on track to fall by more than 2%, while WTI was on course ...

It was likely a fairly easy decision for OPEC+ to once again delay plans to increase oil output. The soft state of global demand is by itself sufficient reason to justify the decision at Thursday’s meeting of the group to defer winding back some of its production cuts until at least April. But weak demand growth may be the least of OPEC+’s worries as the oil market is about to be hit with the return of Donald Trump and all the uncertainty and contradictory policies that may bring. Trump’s return ...

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Friday the OPEC+ decision to push back the start of oil output rises by three months until April was based mainly on fundamentals. “There are so many things going on over the next two months but primarily the decision to delay bringing these barrels to the second quarter is tied to the issue that the first quarter is not a good quarter to bring in volumes as it is known to be a quarter for building stocks,” Prince Abdulaziz told CNBC ...

Crude oil and natural gas production in Argentina are both nearing record highs, driven by increasing output from the Vaca Muerta shale formation, which is offsetting declining output from conventional oil and natural gas fields. From January 2021 through September 2024, crude oil production in Argentina increased by 50%, and natural gas production rose by 27%, lifting output of both fuels near the records set in the early 2000s, according to data from the country’s energy ministry, the Secretaría de Energía de la República Argentina (SESCO). We estimate that the ...

Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban moved down on Friday as oil prices dipped with weak demand in focus after the OPEC+ group postponed planned supply increases and extended deep output cuts to the end of 2026. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies on Thursday pushed back the start of oil output rises by three months until April and extended the full unwinding of cuts by a year until the end of 2026. SINGAPORE CASH DEALS Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 11 cents ...

U.S. oil producer Chevron on Thursday said it will take up to $1.5 billion in fourth-quarter charges for restructuring, asset impairments and property sales costs. Much of the charges are for job cuts and relocations planned for the next two years, the company said in a statement. Chevron did not disclose how many jobs would be lost among its 45,000 workers. The cost cutting and asset sales come amid a year-long profit slide that required borrowing to cover shareholder payouts. The No. 2 U.S. oil producer earlier said it aimed ...

Oil prices dipped on Friday, with weak demand in focus after the OPEC+ group postponed planned supply increases and extended deep output cuts to the end of 2026. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $71.89 per barrel at 0910 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were down 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $68.16 per barrel. For the week, Brent was on track to fall 1.5%, while WTI was on course for a 0.2% gain. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its ...

Equinor UK Ltd, a subsidiary of Equinor ASA and Shell UK Limited, a subsidiary of Shell plc are to combine their UK offshore oil & gas assets and expertise to form a new company which will be the UK North Sea’s biggest independent producer. The incorporated joint venture (IJV) will be set up to sustain domestic oil and gas production and security of energy supply in the UK. On deal completion, the new independent producer will be jointly owned by Equinor (50%) and Shell (50%), two leading global energy companies ...

Russia is expected to produce 518-521 million metric tons (10.36-10.42 million barrels per day) of oil this year and roughly the same amount in 2025, Interfax new agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Thursday. He had forecast output of 515-521 million tons in September. Russia, which curbs supply as part of a deal with other OPEC+ producers, produced 529.6 million tons in 2023 including gas condensate. Novak also said Russia expects to raise its natural gas production in 2024-2025 thanks to higher exports to China, TASS ...

As trading activity in the Platts Market on Close assessment process ramped up in November, continuing the trend from October, 10 cargoes of WTI Midland traded in the assessment process, while three were delivered. S&P Global Commodity Insights continues to closely monitor performance on all these trades as part of its ongoing commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity and transparency. Post deal tracking has revealed full performance eventually reached on all trades tracked to date. Pricing and liquidity Price differentials for WTI Midland CIF Rotterdam rose to monthly ...

The floater market has been a bull one the last few years, and rig rates are at decade highs. But the market is showing signs of cooling as operators show capital discipline and appetites for risky projects diminish. Accordingly, Wood Mackenzie has revised our offshore well demand and rig rate forecasts downwards. After two straight years of greater than 20% YOY growth, 2024 rig rates will end the year up only 4% relative to 2023, and 2025 rates will grow at an even more modest rate of 2% YOY, according ...

A single bank sold a large volume of U.S. oil futures contracts in early afternoon trading on Wednesday, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, pushing prices down more than 1% within minutes and causing traders to scramble to decipher the reason. The sale, just hours ahead of an OPEC+ virtual meeting at which the group is expected to extend supply cuts through the end of the first quarter, left traders scrambling to make sense of the rationale for the transaction. The bank sold 4,000 lots of U.S. ...

Russia’s Gazprom on Nov. 28 set its draft investment budget for 2025 at some Rb1.52 trillion ($14 billion), a reduction of some 7% compared with this year’s planned spending. In a statement, Gazprom said next year’s investment budget would provide funds for financing priority projects, including the expansion of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. Funds would also be used for the further development of gas production centers in eastern Russia and on the Yamal Peninsula, as well as the continued gasification of Russian regions. “The approved financial plan will ...

OPEC+ has agreed to delay plans to raise oil output until April from January 2025 and the group will also take one extra year to fully unwind the cuts by the end of 2026, OPEC sources said. OPEC+, which pumps about half the world’s oil, had been planning to start unwinding cuts from October 2024 but a slowdown in global demand and rising output outside the group forced it to postpone the plans on several occasions. OPEC+ groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia. ...

Igor Sechin, the head of Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft ROSN.MM, said on Thursday that the OPEC+ group’s decisions to reduce oil output in 2016 and 2020 helped the U.S. shale industry and made it a leading global energy exporter. Sechin, speaking at a forum in the United Arab Emirates, said Russia and its partners have made the main contributions to the global energy market stabilisation in the past 10 years. A long-standing ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sechin has previously expressed scepticism about Russia’s cooperation with the OPEC, ...