Libya will offer production sharing agreements to the successful bidders in its first oil and gas exploration bid round in 18 years, top Libyan oil officials said at an event in London on Monday. Libya is offering a total of 22 blocks for exploration and development, 11 offshore and 11 …
Read More »Keystone Crude Oil Pipeline Shut after Leak
Somewhere in the rural quiet of Fort Ransom, North Dakota, the Keystone pipeline made a bit of a splash this morning—literally. A mechanical bang startled an on-site worker enough to shut down the flow of oil within about two minutes. The pipeline remains shut. The crude spill, now confined to …
Read More »Despite Trump’s Crackdown, Venezuela still has Buyers
It is 3 April, so any country buying Venezuelan oil must face a 25% tariff on all its trade with the United States. That is according to President Donald Trump’s executive order signed on 24 March. The White House has also ordered companies with sanctions waivers to quit Venezuela by …
Read More »China’s Independent Refiners Boost Run Rates
Independent refineries in China, often called teapots, raised their run rates in March in a positive sign for oil demand from the world’s largest importer but worry remains about the immediate outlook. The average run rate for the independents last month was 46%, Reuters reported, citing figures from Chinese energy …
Read More »OPEC+ Committee Repeats Need for Oil Output Quota Compliance
Key OPEC+ nations reiterated the need for members to stick to oil output quotas after the group’s surprise decision to speed up an output revival battered crude prices. The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee noted that some OPEC+ members failed to fully observe their limits or deliver extra curbs pledged as …
Read More »Kazakhstan Announces Major Rare Earths Discovery ahead of EU Summit
On the eve of the first-ever Central Asia-European Union summit, Kazakhstan announced the discovery of vast deposits of rare earths, a big nugget of information clearly designed to attract foreign investment. The two-day summit kicked off on April 3 in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, with the leaders of Central …
Read More »China Aims to Maintain Leadership in Aluminum Sector
At a time when analysts expect the global demand for aluminum to rise, a new development in China may significantly impact both aluminum market demand and the country’s internal consumption. That said, market watchers know that any announcement around metals coming out of Beijing these days also has to be …
Read More »EIA: US Crude Oil Inventories Climb 6.2 Million Barrels
Crude oil inventories in the United States saw a large increase of 6.2 million barrels during the week ending March 28, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released on Wednesday. Crude oil prices were trading up prior to the crude data release by the U.S. Energy …
Read More »Kazakhstan Keeps Exceeding OPEC+ Quota with Record-High Oil Production
Kazakhstan’s combined crude oil and condensate production reached an all-time high in March, which further exceeded the country’s crude output ceiling under the OPEC+ deal. Kazakhstan, a non-OPEC producer part of the OPEC+ pact, pumped a record high 2.17 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil plus condensate last …
Read More »Oil Majors Warn that Australia’s Natural Gas Policy could Make Shortages Worse
Shell, Chevron, and Exxon have warned the Australian government a proposal aimed at curbing natural gas shortages on the domestic market might end up making them worse instead. “The fact that the easiest lever the federal government now has to solve the southern gas problem is export controls, is not …
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