The central Iraqi government has decided to start delivering crude oil from Kurdistan to the state-owned oil company or the oil ministry, local media reported, noting that the price that Baghdad is going to pay to the regional government of Kurdistan is yet to be determined. For starters, however, Baghdad …
Read More »Libya Set to Announce First Oil Bid Round since 2011
Beleaguered North African oil producer Libya is set to announce within months its first oil and gas exploration bid round since the civil war began in 2011, Libyan Oil Minister Khalifa Abdul Sadiq told Bloomberg in an interview. OPEC member Libya plans to offer blocks both onshore and offshore in …
Read More »Chinese EV Makers Retreat from Europe as Trade Tensions Rise
As we have reported over the last year, EU authorities have been doing everything in their power to stifle EV production based in China, fearing that the lower cost models coming from the east are warping the European market and putting domestic producers at a disadvantage. Now as part of …
Read More »Shell Turns Germany’s Top Refinery Green
Shell is gearing up to transform its largest German oil refinery, Rheinland, turning the crude-centric Wesseling site into a base-oil powerhouse. The overhaul, set to kick off next quarter, signals a major shift as Shell pivots from conventional oil refining toward high-grade lubricants. Goodbye crude processing at Wesseling—by 2025, that …
Read More »Soaring Chinese Crude Futures Attract High Middle East Volumes
Soaring crude futures prices on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) have opened the arbitrage for traders to deliver in November what could be this year’s highest volumes of crude from the Middle East to the Chinese exchange, trade sources have told Reuters. The prices of the November futures contract …
Read More »Saudi Aramco Keeps Huge Dividend despite Lower Profit
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company by production and market value, reported on Tuesday a 15.4% annual decline in third-quarter earnings, due to lower oil prices and weaker refining margins, but maintained its $31.1 billion quarterly dividend, most of which goes to the Kingdom. Aramco, which is also the …
Read More »Belgium is Building World’s First Artificial Energy Island in the North Sea
The North Sea is famous as one of Europe’s top crude production sites, with the UK and Norway accounting for about 80% of the region’s output. Unfortunately, the North Sea has already entered a phase of terminal decline. Last year, the oil basin produced 34 m tonnes of oil, its …
Read More »Oil Prices Spike after OPEC+ Delays Production Cut Decision
Crude oil prices started the week with a gain of over $1 per barrel following reports that OPEC+ had decided to postpone a planned partial rollback of its production cuts. The group was supposed to bring back some 180,000 barrels daily in supply from December but it had conditioned that …
Read More »Europe’s Gas Crisis isn’t over despite Full Storage
A year ago, European politicians declared the gas crisis from the near-complete halt of Russian supplies was over. The EU had turned to alternative natural gas suppliers, assuring there would be enough to prevent shortages and steep prices. These assurances now appear premature. Last week, European benchmark gas prices hit …
Read More »Oil Traders Uncertain as OPEC+ Weighs December Surprise
Oil traders can’t seem to agree on where OPEC+ will steer production next, and it’s anyone’s guess if the cartel’s December hike is still on the table. OPEC+ has touted plans for a boost, but the group’s go-to mantra—adjusting output based on market ‘realities’—is giving traders pause. According to a …
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