The recovery of the UK economy looks set to roll on as business activity continued expanding in March, a closely watched survey suggests. S&P’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which measures activity in the private sector, dropped slightly to 52.9 in March, down from 53.0 the month before. However, it remained comfortably above the 50 mark which separates growth from contraction. The reading shows that the UK’s relatively strong start to the year looks set to continue, even if the performance... Читать дальше...
Venezuela's Cardon refinery halted its distillation units on Friday following a fire, anonymous sources told Reuters. A fire that began with a bang following a gasoline leak has been put out, but not before reaching a power substation in the refinery complex. This triggered a power outage and the subsequent shutdown of three crude distillation units. The Cardon refinery is part of the Paraguana refining center—the single largest refining center in the region with a processing capacity of nearly 2 million barrels. Читать дальше...
The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell by 5 this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rigs gained this year to just 2. The total rig count fell by 5 to 624 this week, compared to 758 rigs this same time last year. The number of oil rigs fell by 1 this week after seeing a gain of 6 in the week prior. Oil rigs now stand at 509--down by 84 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs also fell this week... Читать дальше...
The volumes of Russian diesel in floating storage at sea have jumped this month to the highest levels since at least 2017, according to data from analytics firm Kpler compiled by Bloomberg. In the 10 days to March 17, as many as 6.2 million barrels of Russian diesel had been stored on tankers at sea, per Kpler data. This is the highest level of diesel in floating storage in years and exceeds the levels from early 2023, when the EU banned seaborne imports of diesel and other fuels from Russia. This... Читать дальше...
The examples of the ESG fraud imploding over the last 6 months simply aren't stopping. The latest has come from Texas, where the state is now terminating an $8.5 billion investment with BlackRock due to the investment manager's boycott of energy companies, according to a report from Fox News. Texas State Board of Education Chairman Aaron Kinsey said this week that the Texas Permanent School Fund notified BlackRock this week that it would be terminating the investment. Kinsey told Fox News this week... Читать дальше...
1. As TMX Starts Line Fill, China Takes Centre Stage - Canadian crude will start flowing to China directly (up until now it has only been exported from the US Gulf Coast) as the impending launch of the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline saw the first deals being made. - Chinese refiner Sinochem bought the first ever TMX cargo, an Aframax worth of heavy sour Access Western Blend at the equivalent discount of $5 per barrel to August ICE Brent futures on a delivered basis. - Canadian crude exports are... Читать дальше...
Yesterday, Jay Powell and the FOMC gave us their decision on interest rates. In the accompanying statement and the subsequent press conference given by Fed Chair Jay Powell, they explained to some extent how they arrived at that decision and, more importantly, they also explained how they see the rest of the year panning out. As I’m sure you are aware, that news was greeted with glee by equity traders, with all three major stock indices jumping to record-high levels in yesterday’s session. But is that response appropriate... Читать дальше...
Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict With his campaign for re-election in full swing, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro has managed to get lawmakers to approve the creation of a new state out of Guyana’s oil-rich Essequibo region, where ExxonMobil and partners have discovered 11 billion barrels of oil to date. This is likely another empty campaign stunt on the part of Maduro. Maduro also stepped up his campaign to destroy the opposition ahead of elections, ordering the arrest of nine more opposition figures this week... Читать дальше...
West Texas Intermediate Crude Weekly Analysis This week's crude oil market has been marked by several significant events influencing May West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures. The trends observed ranged from economic policy decisions to geopolitical developments, each playing a crucial role in shaping the market's direction. Declining Gasoline Demand One of the primary factors impacting crude oil prices this week was the unexpected decline in U.S. gasoline demand. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration... Читать дальше...
Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil firm, has been putting off urgent equipment repairs on a major producing platform in the Gulf of Mexico, despite being aware of the faulty components and despite methane leaks from the facility being detected by third parties, Reuters reported exclusively on Friday, citing engineers and internal company documents. Pemex has struggled financially for years and has run up huge debts, while its safety and environment-protection record has been terrible in recent years. Читать дальше...
Global oil demand is stronger than expected with robust growth in all economies across the board, oil industry executives at the CERAWeek conference have said this week, adding that they generally view the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) demand growth projections for this year as too conservative. In its latest monthly assessment, the IEA raised last week its 2024 outlook on global oil demand growth, by 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the February report. The agency revised up its demand... Читать дальше...
ExxonMobil is slightly ahead of schedule in its work to double its LNG portfolio by 2030, Peter Clarke, senior vice president for global LNG, has told Reuters in an interview. In 2020, Exxon said it aims to double its LNG portfolio from 20 million tons per year to 40 million tons annually by the end of the decade. Exxon’s current supply is slightly below 30 million tons per year, Clarke told Reuters, noting that “we are slightly ahead” of the schedule in the plan to double the LNG portfolio. The U.S. supermajor... Читать дальше...
PetroChina is welcoming this weekend a cargo of Venezuela’s Merey crude for use at a new huge refinery after the U.S. eased sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports a few months ago. A cargo of Merey is due to arrive in China for the state Chinese energy giant on Saturday, according to Bloomberg’s ship-tracking data and sources. Merey is currently being offered at a discount of around $10 per barrel to Brent, trade sources told Bloomberg. PetroChina will use the Venezuelan heavy crude at its newly commissioned... Читать дальше...
16 states are suing the federal government for the decision to “pause” new LNG export capacity permitting. The plaintiffs, all Republican-led, include Texas and Louisiana, as well as Florida, claim that the suspension of new LNG export permits would affect the U.S. economy negatively and interfere with the supply of gas to allies in Europe that are trying to quit Russian gas. The states also argued that the decision to halt permitting puts billions of dollars in investments in jeopardy, Reuters noted... Читать дальше...
BlackRock has asked Texas authorities to reconsider the withdrawal of $8.5 billion in assets of the Permanent School Fund from the asset manager. The decision to withdraw from BlackRock was announced earlier this week by the Texas State Board of Education Chair, who cited the 2021 law that Texas passed to penalize financial firms that, according to state authorities, discriminated against energy companies. "We urge you to reconsider your decision and prioritize Texas schools and families who have benefited from BlackRock's consistent... Читать дальше...
Oil prices are set to end this week flat after gaining around 3% last week amid robust demand and growing supply unease. This week, these factors were tempered by the prospect of a ceasefire in the Middle East and a stronger U.S. dollar that normally puts oil traders in mind of weaker demand. Profit-taking after last week’s gains also served to dampen prices. On the other hand, there are indications that global oil inventories are in a stronger-than-usual decline, which might deepen worry about the sufficiency of supply. Читать дальше...
Last October, I published a piece on OilPrice where I discussed the drivers for the rapid expansion of upstream E&P merger activity that was being seen. Upstream M&A has continued since that article came out, and I thought an update was in order as not only has it continued, but seems to have reached a fever pace in recent weeks. In just the last three months we have had news from Chord Energy, (NYSE:CHRD) merging with Bakken focused, Canadian operator Enerplus, (NYSE:ERF). In a long overdue consolidation in the natural gas space... Читать дальше...
Three years ago, Texas passed two laws in 2021 that restrict the state from doing business with companies that are deemed to be hostile to fossil fuels and firearm industries.The two laws are just a handful of the many new laws Republicans have been pushing that oppose environmental, social and governance aka ESG investing and financing. Many Republicans consider screening potential investments for their environmental and social impact as part of the left’s efforts to impose their “woke” political... Читать дальше...
Western nations may be getting ahead of themselves in their ambition to swiftly roll out new nuclear power capacity in the current push to reduce dependence on Russian uranium and meet net-zero targets with more nuclear-generated electricity. At the COP28 climate summit at the end of last year, the United States and 21 other countries pledged to triple nuclear energy capacities by 2050, saying that incorporating more nuclear power in their energy mix is critical for achieving their net zero goals in the coming decades. Читать дальше...
