Crude oil inventories in the United States fell this week by 3.104 million barrels for the week ending May 3, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). Analysts had expected a 1 million barrel build. For the week prior, the API reported a 509,000 barrel build in crude inventories. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose by 0.6 million barrels as of May 10. Inventories are now at 367.8 million barrels—the highest point since last April... Читать дальше...
Recently the Senate Budget Committee held a hearing to discuss a recent report that accused “Big Oil” of a “decades-long deception campaign” to misinform the public about the dangers of climate change. Sharon Eubanks, a former federal litigator, proposed that the government should pursue legal action against the petroleum industry, drawing parallels to the litigation against Big Tobacco in the past. Eubanks, who previously led the racketeering lawsuit against the tobacco industry, argued that major... Читать дальше...
Via Metal Miner The Construction MMI (Monthly Metals Index) remained firmly in a sideways trend, only budging upward by 1.28%. The rising price of iron ore PB fines in China had the heaviest impact on the index, holding it more up than down. After that, the next biggest factor was European commercial 1050 aluminum sheets. Meanwhile, all other components of the index’s metal prices trended sideways or down. Despite this, the recent ban on Russian aluminum and copper could impact aluminum and copper... Читать дальше...
Kazakhstan reawakened a divisive issue among the OPEC+ group with regard to oil production quotas. Kazakhstan said on Tuesday that it felt it should be allowed to increase its crude oil production in 2025, Interfax reported, despite its membership in the group that seeks to maintain balance in the global crude oil markets. Kazakhstan’s energy ministry said it had not requested an increase to its allowable production levels for 2025. Kazakhstan, as a member of the OPEC+ group, stated its desire to... Читать дальше...
AI washing might be a phenomenon you’ve never heard of, but it is rapidly on the rise. Overplaying claims about artificial intelligence in the hope of creating a ‘halo effect’ around their company and boosting their stock price is a new fad, spanning across a variety of sectors. The current wave of AI hype is boosting companies that emphasise their use of AI, with some, like Nvidia, seeing their stock price rise over 500 percent since the start of 2023. This has left many companies eager to jump on the bandwagon... Читать дальше...
Armenia and Azerbaijan negotiators continue to disagree on key provisions of a bilateral peace treaty, officials in Yerevan and Baku said on May 11 after the foreign ministers of the two nations ended two days of fresh negotiations in Kazakhstan. The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers were meeting in the Kazakh city, Almaty, in talks aimed at reaching a lasting peace treaty between the longtime South Caucasus rivals. “The parties agreed to continue negotiations on open issues where there... Читать дальше...
The week began positively with robust U.S. gasoline demand and improved Chinese consumption, but optimism waned as Tuesday's higher-than-expected U.S. inflation data weighed on oil prices.Plunging Diesel Cracks Bring Refinery Run Cuts Back on the Agenda- Higher supply of diesel is eating into middle distillate cracks, with the profitability of making middle distillates halving compared to this year’s February peak levels, prompting run cuts in Europe and Asia. - Asian diesel cracks have fallen to $15 per barrel... Читать дальше...
Gasoline prices in the United States are expected to see a slight drop of up to 10 cents per gallon by Memorial Day weekend, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said on Tuesday. “I do not expect #gasprices to trend higher ahead of Memorial Day,” De Haan said on X today. “Prices could cycle in some areas that see such, which is normal, but I expect the national average to drop 5-10c/gal by the holiday weekend. Low-to-mid $3.50s/gal,” the petroleum analyst added. AAA estimates... Читать дальше...
U.S. oil and gas supermajor Chevron ousted Tesla to top the list of the most shorted large-cap stock in the Americas in April, the Shortside Crowdedness Report from Hazeltree showed on Tuesday. Bets that Chevron’s shares would fall jumped in April as oil prices declined in the second half of the month with a tentative easing of the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. In addition, Chevron’s proposal to buy Hess is getting increased scrutiny from regulators and politicians, while the supermajor... Читать дальше...
Hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and battery electric vehicles made up 18% of all new light-duty vehicle sales in the first quarter of 2024, down from an 18.8% share in the fourth quarter of 2023. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales fell for the first time since the onset of Covid in 2020, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday, citing estimates from Wards Intelligence. This slight decline in the EV market share was driven primarily by a drop in BEV sales,... Читать дальше...
Australia plans to invest as much as US$15 billion (AUS$22.7 billion) over the next decade to become a renewable energy superpower and boost its domestic critical minerals economy, the country’s Labor Government said on Tuesday. The cabinet unveiled today a Future Made in Australia plan to bring new jobs and opportunities and “help Australia succeed and remain an indispensable part of the global economy as the world undergoes the biggest transformation since the industrial revolution.” The 2024-25... Читать дальше...
A resilient global economy early this year has additional upside potential in the second half with the possible easing of monetary policies, OPEC said on Tuesday, keeping its 2024 and 2025 outlook of robust oil demand unchanged from last month. In its closely-watched Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) out today, OPEC maintained its forecast from the April report, which sees global oil demand rising by 2.25 million barrels per day (bpd) this year and by another 1.85 million bpd next year. OPEC estimates... Читать дальше...
OPEC saw its crude oil production decline by 48,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April compared to March, the organization’s monthly report showed two weeks before the crucial meeting at which the wider OPEC+ group is set to decide on production levels after June. Total crude oil production of all 12 OPEC members averaged 26.58 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, down by 48,000 bpd compared to March, according to secondary sources in OPEC’s closely-watched Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) published on Tuesday. Читать дальше...
After rejecting a second takeover bid from BHP, mining peer Anglo American unveiled on Tuesday plans to divest or demerge its diamond, platinum, steelmaking coal, and nickel businesses as it seeks to radically simplify its portfolio to focus on its copper, premium iron ore, and crop nutrients assets. Anglo American, which has been a target of two unsolicited takeover bids from BHP – both rejected – is now looking to unlock significant value from its portfolio and accelerate the delivery of “consistently... Читать дальше...
Japan would need to increase its electricity output by between 35% and 50% by 2050 to meet a proportionate surge in demand, a government projection has revealed. Japan’s electricity output for this decade is estimated at around 1 trillion kWh but this needs to expand to up to 1.5 trillion kWh by 2050 to satisfy new demand coming from the information technology sector, and more specifically semiconductor factories and artificial intelligence, Reuters has reported. The government’s predictions about... Читать дальше...
Indonesia has offered five onshore and offshore oil and gas blocks in its first tender for the year amid efforts to reverse an extended production decline. Indonesia used to be a net oil exporter but this has changed as natural depletion and insufficient new exploration have combined to push its output of hydrocarbons down. As a result, the rate of oil production has been declining, at an average annual rate of 11%, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration. "To meet oil and gas demand... Читать дальше...
Petrobras reported a net profit of some $4.63 billion for the first quarter of the year, which was 38% lower than its first-quarter 2023 result. The figure was also substantially lower than what analysts expected the company would book, Reuters noted in a report. It added that Petrobras would distribute dividends amounting to $2.61 billion, which was also lower than what analysts had predicted. Petrobras also reported a 15% decline in revenues during the period and a 4.6% decline in oil, gas, and fuel sales. Читать дальше...
Europe’s supermajors are doubling down on their core business, returning cash to shareholders and considering relocation to the United States to boost their valuations. Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies are rediscovering themselves and activist investors are not liking it—but everyone else is. Three years ago, Big Oil supermajors in Europe were all about the energy transition and pivoting from their core business to a greater diversification into things like wind, solar, EV charging, biofuels, and all things non-hydrocarbons. Читать дальше...
The only real power that Saudi Arabia has in the world comes from its oil sector. The greater its production appears to be, the more it is taken seriously by countries that otherwise would have nothing to do with it. Given this, it has been clear for many years that a closer look at the Kingdom’s crude oil production capabilities and its reserves figures plainly show that they are much lower than Saudi Arabia has said they are, as analysed in full in my new book on the new global oil market order. Читать дальше...
The Biden Administration is preparing to announce major hikes in tariffs on Chinese clean energy technology and goods, including on electric vehicles, critical minerals, and batteries imported from China, aiming to protect American industry and jobs. Multiple reports in numerous outlets suggested this weekend that the White House will announce this week, possibly on Tuesday, quadrupled import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in another escalation of the trade spat between the world’s two biggest economies... Читать дальше...
Russia has found huge oil and gas reserves in British Antarctic territory, potentially leading to drilling in the protected region. The reserves uncovered contain around 511bn barrels worth of oil, equating to around 10 times the North Sea’s output over the last 50 years. The discovery, per Russian research ships, was revealed in evidence submitted to the Commons Environment Audit Committee last week. The committee was assessing questions regarding oil and gas research on ships owned by the Kremlin’s Rosgeo... Читать дальше...
