Oil

China’s crude oil imports from the U.S. soared 13 fold in November from a year earlier to the third highest on record, customs data showed on Dec. 25, as companies accelerated energy purchases set out under a trade deal with Washington. China’s U.S. oil imports hit 3.61 million tonnes, about …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced here on Sunday that the government not only pursues daily production of 2.3 million barrels of oil but also expects the Ministry of Petroleum to prepare the ground for rising the volume even further. All international and domestic capacities should be used to help Iran …

Iraq, OPEC’s second largest producer, plans to boost the capacity of its southern oil export facilities by 72% to 6 million b/d after 2023 and wants to build storage tanks to help reach that target, a deputy oil minister said Dec. 26 Iraq will construct 24 storage tanks with a …

The United Arab Emirates is optimistic about a recovery in oil demand in 2021, but says it won’t be immediate. Rollout of coronavirus vaccines and improvement in ties between the United States and China are likely to improve demand for oil, Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei told Sky News Arabia. “Recovery …

Oil prices continued their downward momentum on Tuesday, following the sharp losses in the previous session as several countries closed their borders to British travellers and freight after the spread of a new strain of the novel coronavirus in the United Kingdom. Brent crude was trading down 0.4 percent at …

Russia hopes the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will not derail producer nations’ action to boost oil markets, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday. Russia, other leading oil producers and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a group known as OPEC+, have joined forces …

Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of oil rigs in the United States rose by 5 to 263. The total number of active oil and gas rigs increased for the week by 8. The oil and gas rig count has risen for four weeks in a row for …

Russia is successfully weaning itself off oil revenues, President Vladimir Putin said today during an annual end-of-the-year news conference, as quoted by RT. “This means that, while we’re not completely there, we are nonetheless starting to get off the so-called oil and gas needle,” Putin said, adding, “If someone still …

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday the COVID-19 outbreak has made predicting the oil market “increasingly challenging,” warning that oil market fluctuation is a major challenge for the economy. The world’s biggest oil exporter has cut oil output this year as part of a deal with OPEC and other producers to …

Oil prices rose on Monday, pushing Brent back above $50 a barrel, buoyed by hopes that a rollout of coronavirus vaccines will lift global fuel demand while a tanker explosion in Saudi Arabia jangled nerves in the market. Brent crude futures for February rose 67 cents, or 1.3%, to $50.64 …