Oil prices fell on Wednesday following data indicating an increase in crude inventories in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $82.64 per barrel at 09.31 a.m. local time (0631 GMT), a decrease of 0.62% from the closing price of $83.16 per barrel in …
Read More »Is China’s Oil Demand Set for a Major Bounce back?
Since the mid-1990s, China’s extraordinary economic expansion almost singlehandedly drove a supercycle in key commodities prices it required to power such growth, including oil and gas. In 2013, it became the world’s largest net importer of total petroleum and other liquid fuels and, as late as 2017, its still high …
Read More »Rystad: Global Upstream could See another $150B Merger this Year
So far this year, the global upstream oil and gas market has seen more than $64 billion in mergers and acquisitions, and the year could still see more mega-deals, according to the latest report from Rystad Energy on Monday. While recent deals have focused on the Permian Basin, Rystad says …
Read More »The Future of Plastics will Determine the Future of Oil Demand
The UN is this week discussing the future of plastic—or so it would seem on the surface. The UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations aim to curb plastic pollution by essentially curbing the use of plastics globally. And they look set to fail. The goal is certainly noble. Reducing the massive …
Read More »Oil Moves Higher on Inventory Draw
Crude oil prices ticked higher today after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an estimated decline of 6.4 million barrels in inventories for the week to April 19. This compared with an inventory build of 2.7 million barrels for the previous week, which pressured prices last week. It also compared …
Read More »Turkey to Drill Oil off Somali Coast Starting in 2025
Somalia says Turkey will begin drilling oil off the country’s massive coastline from next year, according to the Director General of the Somali Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Mohamed Hashi Abdi ‘Arabey’. Talking to the BBC Somali Service, Abdi affirmed the recent assertion by a Turkish official on a …
Read More »OPEC+ can Stop an Oil Rally to $100
Talk of $100 oil returned to the market this week following the Iranian attack against Israel that sparked fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East. Analysts are not ruling out $100 oil in case of further escalation and even $130 oil if a broader conflict disrupts oil flows …
Read More »China Tightens Hold on Iraq’s Oil with Al-Faw Refinery Nearing Completion
Back in early 2018 when rumours were rife that then-U.S. President Donald Trump was going to unilaterally withdraw his country from the ‘nuclear deal’ with Iran, China moved to position itself to occupy the vacuum that would be left in Iran and Iraq, at the very heart of the Middle …
Read More »China’s Crude Oil Imports Hit a Record High in 2023
China’s crude oil imports hit a record high in 2023, rising by 10% year-over-year and breaking the previous record from 2020 when the world’s top crude oil importer took advantage of the price crash to gorge on cheap crude. Last year, China’s crude oil imports averaged 11.3 million barrels per …
Read More »Goldman Sees Limited Upside for Oil Prices despite Rising Geopolitical Risk
Goldman Sachs analysts have brushed off the latest events between Iran and Israel as a bullish factor for oil prices, citing potential hedging by producers. “Our commodities strategists do not expect substantial further upside to oil prices,” the bank said, as quoted by FXStreet, adding that “Hedge funds continued selling …
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