Month: December 2018

Dec 31, 2018 by Grant Smith (Bloomberg)  Oil headed for its first annual decline since 2015, slumping more than 20 percent in a turbulent year that saw fears of supply scarcity turn to expectations of a surplus. Crude jumped 2.5 percent in New York on Friday, but prices remain on course for a 37 percent … Read more

By Dan Sinaiko & Andrea Lucan Renewable energy projects were marked by distinctive trends and characteristics in 2018: a frothy M&A market driven by a crush of liquidity and a shortage of project supply a highly competitive environment among investors and lenders for an inadequate supply of projects continued focus on alternative offtake structures with … Read more

Dec 28, 2018 by Jessica Summers (Bloomberg)  Even a minuscule decline in U.S. stockpiles was enough to give oil prices a boost after a turbulent week of trading. Futures in New York rose after the Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude inventories fell by 46,000 barrels last week, the smallest decrease since 2011. The … Read more

(Reuters) – U.S. energy firms added oil rigs for a second week in a row even as oil prices fell to 1-1/2-year lows and headed for losses of more than 20 percent this year. Drillers added 2 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 28, bringing the total count to 885, General Electric Co’s (GE.N) … Read more

Dec 28, 2018 by Grant Smith (Bloomberg)  Oil traded near $45 a barrel in New York at the end of a week of wide price swings amid an uncertain outlook for the global economy in 2019. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 0.6 percent after sinking 3.5 percent on Thursday. A key volatility gauge soared … Read more

Dec 27, 2018, by Catherine Ngai (Bloomberg) Crude’s recent sell-off is a grim reminder that OPEC’s management of the oil market isn’t foolproof. The group’s Dec. 7 decision to curb output among members and allied producers was supposed to prop up sinking prices. Instead, it resulted in the worst post-cut price decline in a decade. … Read more

Dec 27, 2018, by Rachel Adams-Heard (Bloomberg) Job growth in the Lone Star State will likely weaken in the first half of 2019 if oil prices remain at current levels, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Changes in Texas job growth tend to lag big moves in the crude price by about six … Read more

Dec 27, 2018 by Serene Cheong (Bloomberg)  The U.S. oil industry is delivering a one-two punch to Middle East producers already reeling from a collapse in prices. A tussle is playing out in the market for so-called light oils, which have a lower sulfur content and are less dense than heavier varieties. When processed, these … Read more

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday it has begun output at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in Australia, the world’s largest floating production structure and the last of a wave of eight LNG projects built in the country over the last decade. Though the project started up later and … Read more

DUBAI, Dec 26 (Reuters) – Private buyers of Iranian crude have had “no problems” exporting it, Iran’s oil minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday by state news agency IRNA, despite U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s oil exports. Iran began selling crude oil to private companies for export in late October, just ahead of U.S. sanctions … Read more

(Reuters) – A SpaceX rocket carrying a U.S. military navigation satellite blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on Sunday, marking the space transportation company’s first national security space mission for the United States. The Falcon 9 rocket carrying a roughly $500 million GPS satellite built by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) lifted off from Cape Canaveral … Read more

Dec 24, 2018 by Heesu Lee and Alex Longley (Bloomberg)  Oil extended declines as worries over rising U.S. supplies and the global economy overshadowed signals from OPEC that it may extend or even deepen its pledged output curbs. Futures fell as much as 1.9 percent in New York, with U.S. equity index futures also turning … Read more

By Devika Krishna Kumar and Jennifer Hiller NEW YORK/HOUSTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) – U.S. shale producers are slamming the brakes on next year’s drilling with crude prices off 40 percent and mounting fears of oversupply, paring budgets that in some cases were set only weeks earlier. The reversal is alarming because blistering growth in shale … Read more

Dec 23, 2018, by Mohammed Aly Sergie (Bloomberg) OPEC hasn’t even started implementing its new six-month agreement to cut output, and already members responsible for most of the reductions have pledged to extend or even deepen it. Officials from Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates agreed with Saudi Arabia’s expectation that the group, along … Read more

(Reuters) – U.S. energy firms added oil rigs for the first time in the past three weeks despite sharp declines in crude futures prices to their lowest since the summer of 2017. Drillers added 10 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 21, bringing the total count to 883, General Electric Co’s (GE.N) Baker Hughes … Read more

December 21, 2018 Reuters Oil prices fell to their lowest since the third quarter of 2017 on Friday, heading for losses of about 11 percent for the week, as global oversupply kept buyers away from the market ahead of the long festive break. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 19 cents, or half a … Read more

HOUSTON (Reuters) – The recent drop in U.S. oil prices to around $46 a barrel and insufficient demand are throwing into doubt the prospects for oilfield service companies in 2019 and may portend a wave of restructuring and consolidation of an industry still recovering from the 2014 downturn in energy markets. Despite record U.S. oil … Read more

Dec 21, 2018, by Paul Wallace (Bloomberg) Emerging markets are tentatively picking themselves up from the floor after a rout that’s wiped more than $5 trillion off the value of stocks since January. But the reprieve may not last long. Rising rates in the U.S., a stronger dollar, Beijing and Washington’s trade war, lower oil … Read more

Dec 20, 2018, by Alex Nussbaum and Brandon Kochkodin (Bloomberg) For all the talk of OPEC supply cuts and surging shale production, oil’s biggest problem is panic over the economy — and the correlations show it. During the last oil price crash in 2014, the S&P 500 Index and Brent crude moved in opposite directions. … Read more

Dec 21, 2018, by Lorcan Roche Kelly (Bloomberg) Hours left Hopes that a Senate bill would allow the standoff over funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall to be pushed back to February were dealt a blow yesterday when House Republicans added $5 billion of funding for the project to the measure before sending it back … Read more

Dec 21, 2018, by Grant Smith and Heesu Lee (Bloomberg) Oil was poised for a weekly loss on concerns that weakening economic growth and surging U.S. supply will lead to a surplus next year, overwhelming OPEC’s efforts to stabilize the market. Futures fell 0.6 percent in New York, headed for the biggest quarterly drop in … Read more

DUBAI (Reuters) – Oil producer group OPEC plans to release a table detailing output cut quotas for its members and allies such as Russia in an effort to shore up the price of crude, OPEC’s secretary-general said in a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday. Mohammad Barkindo said to reach the proposed cut of 1.2 … Read more

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Surging U.S. crude oil production will offset OPEC’s output cuts aimed at rebalancing the market as soon as the end of next year – undercutting the group’s efforts as shale producers ramp up output regardless of the price environment, forecasts show. U.S. oil production in the most recent week was 11.6 … Read more

HOUSTON/LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. and Norwegian oil majors Chevron and Equinor (EQNR.OL) have become the latest target of activist investors moving to force five of the biggest oil companies to commit to fixed emissions targets and align with the Paris climate agreement. The effort, part of a wave of climate-related proxy resolutions planned for spring … Read more

Dec 20, 2018, by Grant Smith (Bloomberg) OPEC’s bold strategy to revive oil markets proved a surprise success last year, but the sequel they’ve unveiled for 2019 is getting a cooler reception. Oil prices have slumped in the two weeks since the cartel and its allies announced they will cut production to prevent a surplus, … Read more

Dec 20, 2018, by Lorcan Roche Kelly (Bloomberg) Oh well, Fed Markets are nervous that yesterday’s Federal Reserve decision will lead to too much tightening from the central bank as Chair Powell said balance-sheet reduction will continue apace. Overnight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 1.2 percent while Japan’s Topix index closed 2.5 percent lower, pushing … Read more

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration miscalculated potential damages from train derailments when it cancelled an Obama-era rule requiring the installation of more advanced brakes by railroads hauling explosive fuels, The Associated Press has fou…

Dec 20, 2018, by Javier Blas (Bloomberg) Oil’s plunge has taken prices below the level all but one OPEC country needs to square their 2019 budgets, increasing the risk of supply disruptions from economic dislocation and social unrest. At today’s Brent price of $55 a barrel, only uber-wealthy and sparsely populated Kuwait will be able … Read more

PHOENIX — The governors of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico’s Sonora state signed an agreement Wednesday to study a plan to export natural gas to Asia by connecting existing pipelines to move the fuel south to the Gulf of California.
The non-binding agr…

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The Latest on a Michigan panel’s consideration of a proposal to allow construction of an oil pipeline tunnel beneath the waterway linking Lakes Huron and Michigan (all times local):
5:10 p.m.
A plan to build an oil pipeline tunn…

Dec 19, 2018, by Grant Smith (Bloomberg) Oil traded near its lowest closing level in 15 months as fears over slowing global economic growth compounded concerns that the market faces a supply glut in 2019. Futures rose 0.8 percent in New York after tumbling 12 percent over the past three sessions, the biggest three-day slump … Read more

Dec 18, 2018, by Kevin Crowley (Bloomberg) The U.S.’s biggest oil field may be about to pump the brakes if crude keeps plunging. Just 10 weeks ago, the Permian Basin was on course to grow almost 1 million barrels a day by the end of 2019, potentially surpassing Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer. Now, it may … Read more

Dec 19, 2018, by Lorcan Roche Kelly (Bloomberg) Decision day Market expectations are for a “dovish hike” from the Federal Reserve at 2 p.m. Eastern Time today. The dovishness is predicted to come in the forecasts published with the decision, signalling a slower approach to policy tightening in 2019. President Donald Trump’s strong opposition to today’s … Read more

Dec 18, 2018, by Kyle Stock (Bloomberg) The future of the auto industry is going to look like the history of the cell phone. The two even share technology: the lithium-ion battery. As the world’s automakers gradually switch from combustion to charging, some of today’s dominant car companies will share the fate of a few former titans of the smartphone. … Read more

Dec 18, 2018, by Grant Smith (Bloomberg) Oil sank to another one-year low in New York as a sell-off in equities worsened crude market sentiment, already soured by signs of plentiful American supplies. Futures in New York slipped as much as 4.1 percent after closing below $50 a barrel on Monday for the first time … Read more

LONDON (Reuters) – Global coal demand will edge higher until 2023 as growth in India and other Asian countries offsets a decline in Europe and the United States, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday. Consumption of the fuel is expected to rise by an average of 0.2 percent a year from 5,355 million … Read more

By Devika Krishna Kumar Dec 17 (Reuters) – Oil production from seven major U.S. shale basins is expected to surpass 8 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a monthly report on Monday. The United States has surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia as the … Read more

Dec 18, 2018, by Lorcan Roche Kelly (Bloomberg) Markets drop Yesterday’s drop to the lowest close in 14 months for U.S. equity markets has set the tone for the rest of the world in trading today. Overnight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.9 percent, while Japan’s Topix index closed 2 percent lower to hit an … Read more

LONDON (Reuters) – The number of new oil and gas projects will rise five-fold next year from a 2015 trough but overall spending is still unlikely to be enough to meet future demand, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in a report. Shaken by a sharp drop in oil prices in recent months, boards are generally expected … Read more

Dec 17, 2018, by Tsuyoshi Inajima and Rakteem Katakey (Bloomberg) Oil was boosted to near $52 a barrel by a weak U.S. dollar while investors weighed if OPEC and its allies can successfully re-balance the market. Futures in New York gained as much as 1.1 percent. The number of oil rigs in the U.S. fell … Read more