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Oil prices touched multi-month highs on Monday on expectations that OPEC and allied producers may cap output at current levels in February as the coronavirus pandemic keeps worries about first-half demand elevated. Prices rose in line with broader financial markets with Brent crude futures reaching $53.17 a barrel, the highest …

Kuwait supports OPEC+ decisions that help maintain stability in crude markets, particularly in light of the negative repercussions from the pandemic, the country’s oil minister said Jan. 4, as ministers from the coalition were set to meet virtually to discuss February oil production levels. Mohammed al-Fares cautioned about the impact …

OPEC sees plenty of downside risks for oil markets in the first half of 2021, its secretary general said on Sunday, a day before meeting allies led by Russia to discuss output levels for February. “Amid the hopeful signs, the outlook for the first half of 2021 is very mixed …

Iran’s parliament has lowered the government’s oil export target from 2.3 million to 1.5 million to manage expectations, news agency ISNA reported Jan 2. The proposed budget had aimed to sell over 2 million b/d of crude both in domestic and international markets. However, the figure was questioned due to …

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to have come as a big draw on South Korean oil refiners last year as their low refining margins ate into their profitability, industry sources said Sunday. Whipsawed by weak oil prices and sluggish refining margins, industry leader SK Innovation Co. and three other players …

Iraq has agreed a multibillion-dollar oil-supply deal with a Chinese company, according to the Arab nation’s official news agency. SOMO, which oversees Iraq’s petroleum exports, picked a Chinese firm after receiving bids from several traders, INA reported, citing an interview with SOMO General Manager Alaa Al-Yasiri. While INA didn’t name …

Members of the OPEC group of oil producers and their partners will meet via videoconference on Monday to decide on production levels for February, hoping to turn the corner on a difficult year. The OPEC+ ministerial meeting comes after oil consumption tanked in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and …

Norway’s risk management and quality assurance firm DNV GL has refused to certify Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline when its construction is completed over new U.S. sanctions. According to the current situation, DNV GL cannot issue a certificate upon completion of the pipeline construction, the Russian news agency RBC …

The Chairman of the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mustafa Sanallah has said they are aiming to reach 1.2 million oil barrels per day (bpd) in 2021, adding that this aim is part of the NOC plan for the new year. Sanallah added on Friday that the NOC plan included …

Twelve years ago, the Department of Energy was so central to the incoming Obama administration’s stimulus plans that DOE staffers were among the first through the doors at the transition headquarters, helping the Secret Service take the plastic wrap off tables and chairs so they could get to work. Now, …