Emerging from the coronavirus lockdown, China’s oil refiners are buying ultra-cheap spot cargoes from Alaska, Canada, and Brazil, taking advantage of the deep discounts at which many crude grades are being offered to China with non-existent demand elsewhere. The discounts of spot cargoes of Canada’s Cold Lake blend, Alaska North …
Read More »Rosneft Sale of Venezuelan Assets under Active Deliberation by US
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is engaged in an “active deliberation” of the Russian oil company Rosneft’s decision to sell its assets in Venezuela, OFAC Director Andrea Gacki said on Friday. “These reports on Rosneft’s acquisition or deal with PDVSA as well as …
Read More »President Rouhani Calls for Plans to Minimize Crude Sales
President Hassan Rouhani in a phone call with Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh called for advancing the plans and policies for boosting petroleum products in a bid to decrease the crude oil sales. Rouhani pointed to the government’s progress in economic programs during the past year without relying on oil revenues, …
Read More »US Shale Industry Expected to Shrink Sharply as Oil Price Falls
The US shale industry is expected to shrink by more than 2m barrels a day following a collapse in global oil prices which has forced oil producers to shut down their fracking rigs. The US oil market slumped to fresh 18-year lows and below $18 a barrel on Friday following …
Read More »OPEC+ Oil Deal Could Benefit China, Stabilize Prices
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its Russia-led allies on Sunday agreed to a record output cut of 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in a bid to boost oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic. While international benchmark Brent crude rallied on Monday on the latest development …
Read More »Global Oil Market Undergoing Historic Shock
The OPEC oil group said on Thursday that the world market for crude is undergoing an unprecedented jolt due to coronavirus mitigation measures that have hit demand. “The oil market is currently undergoing a historic shock that is abrupt, extreme and at global scale,” said the group of producer nations …
Read More »Qatar Starts Expansion Drilling at World’s Largest Gas Field
Qatar Petroleum has started the development drilling campaign of the North Field East Project to expand the production capacity of the world’s biggest natural gas deposit that the tiny nation shares with Iran in the Persian Gulf. Qatar shares the North Field with Iran, which calls the deposit the South …
Read More »Russian, Saudi Energy Ministers Reaffirm Commitment to New OPEC+ Deal
Both countries are also committed, if necessary, to take further measures to stabilise the market, which has been extremely volatile recently, together with the alliance and other states. Russia and Saudi Arabia are firmly committed to the implementation of the new OPEC+ oil output cut deal, the Russian Energy Ministry …
Read More »OPEC Sees its Oil Demand Dropping to Lowest in 30 Years
OPEC expects demand for its crude will fall to the lowest in three decades as the coronavirus outbreak freezes the global economy, underscoring the urgency of its promised production cuts. Just under 20 million barrels a day will be needed on average from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in …
Read More »BP Supercomputer Mobilized for Coronavirus Research
BP is joining forces with the US government, universities, and the world’s largest technology companies by providing access to its supercomputer to help researchers halt the spread of COVID-19. The company will donate its supercomputing capability to the public-private consortium formed in March 2020 by the White House’s Office of …
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