China’s crude oil production dropped slightly in September, as output in some typhoon-hit areas fell. Total crude oil production slipped 2.4 percent year on year to 15.18 million tonnes last month, as compared with a 0.2-percent increase in August, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. Some oil fields in south China’s Guangdong Province were affected by Typhoon Mangkhut, which hit the province on Sept. 16. In the first nine months of this year, crude oil production stood at 141.13 million tonnes, down 1.9 percent year on year. ...

Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi has reversed his decision to transfer the ownership of nine state-owned oil companies from the ministry to the newly formed National Oil Company, the ministry said on Saturday. He later told state television in an interview that Iraq hopes to produce 7 million barrels of oil a day (bpd) through the National Oil Company and to export 4 million bpd in 2019. The reversal of the transfer decision would enable the incoming government of Prime Minister-designate Adel Abdul Mahdi to make its own decisions in ...

As per North Dakota’s oil regulator, the state’s daily crude output rose 1.7% in August after increasing 3.4% in the previous month. The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources’ (‘DMR’) latest data said that oil production in August averaged a record 1,291,496 barrels a day, up 22,206 barrels a day from July. Like crude, natural gas output also hit its highest level ever. The state churned out 2,437,760 thousand cubic feet per day in August, up from July’s 2,393,757 thousand cubic feet per day. Meanwhile, North Dakota’s total number of ...

The first clear indication that I had entered an area experiencing an oil boom was the Halliburton Co. office with a “Now Hiring” sign out front on the north side of Artesia, New Mexico. Next came a couple of equipment rental places with some unfamiliar-looking equipment on their lots, then the first of what were to be many billboards advertising personal injury lawyers specializing in oilfield injuries and truck accidents (“$5.2 Million: Oilfield Explosion, Burn Injury” read one that I saw a little later from the Albuquerque law firm of ...

The American Petroleum Institute’s latest monthly statistical report shows the U.S. produced a record 11.0 million barrels of crude oil per day (mb/d) in September. U.S. liquid fuels production grew 2.2 mb/d year-over-year (y/y), and the U.S. met virtually all global oil demand growth. As supply increased, crude oil inventories also rose in September but remained nearly 14 percent below those of September 2017. “The United States has continued to lead the world in oil production growth this year and that growth is helping to meet growing energy needs at ...

Norway’s crude oil production plunged by 13% on the month in September and was down 8% on the year in the first nine months as technical difficulties and maintenance took their toll ahead of expected field start-ups in the next few years, figures from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate showed. The country produced 1.30 million b/d of crude and 1.61 million b/d of liquids overall in September, continuing to fall short of the NPD’s forecasts, as has happened throughout the year. Over the first nine months, crude production was 1.48 million ...

Front-month U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) traded at the biggest discount to the second month in nearly a year on Friday, slipping from a prolonged period of trading at a premium as traders anticipate inventory builds in Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI, as new pipelines come online: * U.S. crude for delivery in November traded as much as 17 cents per barrel lower than futures for delivery in December CLc1-CLc2, the biggest discount since Nov. 20, 2017. * The spread slipped into contango, a structure where ...

OPEC is struggling to add barrels to the market after agreeing in June to increase output, an internal document seen by Reuters showed, as an increase in Saudi Arabia was offset by declines in Iran, Venezuela and Angola. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies agreed in June to boost supply as U.S. President Donald Trump urged producers to offset losses caused by sanctions on Iran and to dampen rising prices. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said OPEC and non-OPEC would pump roughly an extra 1 million barrels ...

China’s refinery crude throughput rose 4.9% year on year to a record high of 12.54 million b/d (51.34 million mt) in September, despite the country’s GDP growth slowing to 6.5% in the third quarter from 6.8% a year ago, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Friday. It also represented a 5.4% rebound from the eight-month-low of 11.9 million b/d recorded in August. The strong throughput was within expectations due to strong demand for oil products since mid-August, and the trend was likely to extend into October, analysts ...

In a single year, Exxon Mobil Corp. has gone from being a tiny bit player in Brazil to the second-largest holder of oil exploration acreage, trailing only state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA. The last 24 concessions the U.S. giant bought with its partners may hold 41 billion barrels, based on preliminary studies, according to Eliane Petersohn, a superintendent at Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency, or ANP. While the existence of the oil still needs to be confirmed, along with whether its extraction will be cost-effective, it’s a huge figure — almost double ...

West Texas Intermediate at Midland’s discount to U.S. crude futures narrowed to the lowest level since March this week and remained tight on Friday as pipeline operators nominated crude volumes to move out of the Permian Basin, traders said. WTI Midland’s WTC-WTM discount to U.S. crude touched an eight-month low of $2.50 per barrel on Thursday, strengthening as pipeline operators in the Permian Basin nominated volumes. Trading activity also focused on Plains All American Pipeline LP’s coming expansion of its Sunrise pipeline, traders said. The inland grade traded at $3 ...

Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO is seeking data from its customers to see where their Basra crude cargoes were eventually consumed to catch buyers who may have flouted their purchase agreements, multiple industry sources said this week. Iraq, the second-largest producer among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), currently restricts the delivery of its long-term crude sales to the buyers’ own refining system, the sources said. However, the company did not enforce the rule in past years to ease sales of its rising supply and to gain market ...

Russia has begun discussions with Exxon Mobil Corp. on possible new oil and gas projects, potentially creating a dilemma as the U.S. government mulls more sanctions against the country. The talks could lead to increased cooperation between the U.S. energy giant and state-run Rosneft PJSC, Russian government officials said, asking not to be named discussing confidential information. Several options have been prepared for Exxon, including in natural gas, refining and chemicals, none of which are currently subject to American sanctions, two officials said. Exxon and Rosneft declined to comment. Exxon ...

Some manufacturing plants can take advantage of relative price differences and cope with supply shortages by switching the fuels used in their furnaces, boilers, ovens, and other combustors. In the United States, the capability of the manufacturing sector to switch the fuels it uses has declined in recent decades, as described in a new report from EIA’s 2014 Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS). Among the most commonly substitutable fuels used in U.S. manufacturing, the amount that could readily be switched in less than 30 days dropped from 24% in 1994 ...

Combined US oil and gas rig counts fell by 10 to a five-week low of 1,161 amid further declines in the Permian Basin, S&P Global Platts data showed. A second week of declines took total US rig counts 15 under the more than three-year high recorded in early October, but favorable drilling economics continued to support counts well above year-ago levels of 1,058. Gas rigs held steady from last week at 220, and rigs chasing both oil and gas added one for a total of 18. But domestic rigs drilling ...