In this Report, we publish our first outlook for 2020. As we do so, volatility has returned to oil markets with a dramatic sell-off in late May seeing Brent prices fall from $70/bbl to $60/bbl. Until recently, the focus has been on the supply side with the familiar list of uncertainties – Iran, Venezuela, Libya, and the Vienna Agreement – lifting Brent prices above $70/bbl in early April and keeping them there until late May. Not that supply concerns have gone away: yesterday oil prices initially increased by 4% on ...

Analysts have played down fears of a huge spike in oil prices this year, citing the economic slowdown and trade war — but rising tensions in the Middle East could be a threat to the energy markets, according to a U.S.-based think tank. Oil prices rose as much as 4% on Thursday following attacks on two tanker ships off the coast of Iran, which the Trump administration has blamed on Tehran. The attacks in the Gulf of Oman, which involved Japanese and Norwegian vessels, renewed fears of conflict in the ...

OPEC and other producers including Russia are in final talks for an agreement, that may be signed in early July, to cooperate on oil supplies on a long-term basis, Japan’s Nikkei reported, citing Russian energy minister Alexander Novak. Novak also told the Nikkei that discussions with OPEC on moving the date of the meeting to early July from the originally-planned dates of June 25-26 were nearly finalised. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other producers have since Jan. 1 implemented a deal to cut output by ...

Oil prices have been crushed by worries about weaker demand and a slowing global economy, but the market could begin to price in greater geopolitical risks if there are more attacks like the one on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday. But even as analysts say oil could rise on Mideast tensions, they also note it could fall back to the bottom of a wide range — between about $50 and $80 for Brent, if the trade war fears dim the economic outlook for the buyers ...

Kazakhstan supports extending a global output cut deal by OPEC and non-OPEC producers until the end of this year, Kazakh Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev told Reuters. Bozumbayev said Central Asia’s biggest oil exporter had outperformed in terms of compliance with the pact so far this year by cutting output to 1.76 million barrels per day (bpd), well below its quota of 1.86 million bpd. “I absolutely agree with my colleagues (from Russia and Saudi Arabia) in that the agreement needs to be extended,” Bozumbayev said in a written reply to ...

It promised to be the next great shale play, but an oil-and-gas-rich area of central and south Oklahoma has confounded many of the producers lured there, with one of its biggest champions warning that its business may struggle to survive. In recent years, the SCOOP (South Central Oklahoma Oil Province) and the STACK (Sooner Trend, Anadarko, Canadian and Kingfisher) basins drew producers and private equity firms willing to wager billions of dollars on what many considered the next Permian basin, the largest and most prolific U.S. oilfield. But while their ...

Japanese Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko said on Friday an attack on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman will not affect Japanese energy supply, although the ministry issued a warning to Japanese energy companies after the incident. Speaking at a news conference, Seko declined to comment on remarks by U.S. officials blaming Iran for the attacks, saying Japan is still investigating details of the incident. Two tankers, one operated by a Japanese shipping company, were attacked in the Gulf on Thursday. The United States blamed Iran for the attacks, raising ...

Brazil’s Petrobras found suspicious activity in its oil trading business – and failed to stop it – six years before an alleged bribery scandal erupted in that unit in 2018, according to three people with knowledge of the situation and documents seen by Reuters. A 2012 internal probe at the state-run oil company turned up more than two dozen instances in which traders in Petrobras’ Singapore office overpaid for fuel, the people said. Big oil companies frequently purchase and sell petroleum products, taking advantage of price differences to maximize profits. ...

Canadian oil production will grow by 1.4% annually until 2035, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) forecast, halving its estimate from five years ago due to constraints by a lack of new pipelines and inefficient regulation. The Calgary-based industry body said output will increase to 5.86 million barrels per day by 2035, a rise of 1.27 million bpd from current levels, representing a 1.4% annual increase. That growth rate is less than half what CAPP projected in 2014. Even so, it is higher than CAPP’s forecast last year, which ...

The world has an important opportunity to tap into hydrogen’s vast potential to become a critical part of a more sustainable and secure energy future, the International Energy Agency said in a major new report today. The in-depth study, which analyses hydrogen’s current state of play and offers guidance on its future development, is being launched by Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director, alongside Mr Hiroshige Seko, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, on the occasion of the meeting of G20 energy and environment ministers in Karuizawa, Japan. ...

Sour crude market participants in Asia shrugged aside news of the attack on two oil product tankers in the Middle East Friday morning, with crude values and market structure steady after spiking as high as 4% during trading hours on Thursday. At 11:00 am Singapore time (0300 GMT) Friday, the August/September Dubai swap was at 48 cents/b, down from 50 cents/b at the 0830GMT Asian close on Thursday. The September/October Dubai swap spread also came down from 37 cents/b at the close on Thursday to 35 cents/b Friday morning. The ...

Oil rose about 1% on Friday after attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman this week raised concerns about potential supply disruptions, but prices remained on track for a weekly loss on fears that trade disputes will dent global oil demand. Brent futures settled 70 cents, or 1.1%, higher at $62.01 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $52.51. The attacks on oil tankers near Iran and the Strait of Hormuz pushed up oil prices by ...

US oil and natural gas rigs totaled 1,053 for the week ended June 12, according to data by S&P Global Platts Analytics. This represents a net increase of four rigs from the prior week’s total of 1,049. It also reverses two weeks of declines, as operators removed 25 rigs over that time. The prolific Permian Basin saw the biggest rebound, adding eight active rigs to 448. It represents the first time since the week ended May 1 that the basin did not lose any rigs. The sustained lower rig count ...

Attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman threaten global energy security, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said on Friday. Thursday’s tanker attacks stoked concern of reduced flows of crude on one of the world’s key shipping routes, pushing up oil prices as much as 4.5%. “This is a major concern for global energy security, for global oil security and for global energy markets,” Birol told reporters. “We are monitoring events very closely,” he added, saying the agency stood ready to act if ...

OPEC and non-OPEC producers should raise oil production starting from the second half of the year in order to keep the market balance and acceptable oil prices, Alexander Dyukov, the head of Russia’s Gazprom Neft, said on Friday. He told reporters that the oil price range of $55-$65 per barrel is “acceptable” for the Russian producers, while the company is ready to quickly restore its oil output, curbed by a global agreement. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin Editing by Andrey Kuzmin)