OPEC+ oil producers meet Thursday under pressure from US President Joe Biden, who has opened up his country’s taps hoping to bring down crude prices, and a new Covid-19 variant that has complicated the equation. The meeting “is shaping up to be one of the most significant since the pandemic …
Read More »Oil Prices Crash as New COVID Fears Surface
After news emerged that an Omicron variant of the coronavirus existed, the World Health Organization speculated that the strain could be more infectious and resistant to existing vaccines than other high-profile strains. Following this assessment, oil prices slumped more than 10 percent amid fears that new lockdowns could lead to …
Read More »OPEC+ has Postponed JMMC Meeting in order to Assess New COVID-19 Variant
OPEC+ has postponed its Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting in order to assess the new Omicron strain of COVID-19, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday. Originally scheduled for Nov. 30, the JMMC online meeting will now be held on Dec. 2, the same day as the …
Read More »Saudi Energy Minister not Concerned about Omicron
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman played down the likely fallout from the new coronavirus variant that pummeled oil markets last week. “I’m a very relaxed person. I’m not concerned,” the minister said when asked how the new strain may affect demand. Abdulaziz, who was speaking to reporters in …
Read More »Sechin: Russia-China Trade Turnover Creates Great Potential for Payments in Yuan and Rubles
The high volumes of trade between Russia and China create significant potential for mutual settlements in yuan and rubles, while the security of settlements in dollars is in doubt, the CEO of Russia’s Rosneft Igor Sechin said on Monday. “The achieved volumes of trade between Russia and China create significant …
Read More »Biden’s Blunder could Send Oil Prices to $100
When President Biden announced earlier this week that the federal government would be releasing 50 million barrels of crude from the strategic petroleum reserve, perhaps those around him expected prices to go down significantly and stay down. Instead, prices rose, and OPEC+ gave a heavy hint it might cut supply. …
Read More »Oil Prices Recover but Investors Cautious due to New Omicron Variant
Oil prices recovered some losses with WTI crude gaining over five per cent on Monday morning as investors were a bit cautious and focused on new coronavirus variant Omicron’s spread. The spread of a new Covid-19 variant from South Africa, Omicron, resulted in sharp risk-off sentiment and sell-offs in global …
Read More »OPEC Postpones Technical Meetings to Evaluate Omicron
OPEC and its allies have postponed technical meetings to later this week, giving themselves more time to assess the impact of the new Omicron coronavirus variant on oil demand and prices, according to OPEC+ sources and documents. Oil prices crashed together with other financial markets on Friday by more than …
Read More »Non-Oil Trade Rises 40% in 8 Months yr/yr
The value of Iran’s non-oil trade rose 40 percent during the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 21), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced. Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi said …
Read More »Vitol: OPEC+ Likely to be Cautious on Oil Demand at Meeting
The oil producers’ group OPEC+ will likely take a cautious stance when deciding this coming week whether to go ahead with planned output increases after the emergence of a new coronavirus variant sent crude prices tumbling, according to Vitol Group. There are signs that demand may be weakening in some …
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