News
February 26, 2021
Last year’s crash in oil prices and China’s rapid rebound from the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic set the stage for a flurry of crude purchases. However, stockpiling has leveled off as oil prices rebounded and storage space runs out.
News
February 23, 2021
Oil has surged this year after Saudi Arabia pledged to unilaterally cut 1 million barrels a day in February and March, with Goldman Sachs Group predicting the crude rally will accelerate as demand outpaces global supply.
News
February 20, 2021
Prepayment deals are rare in the oil world and this was meant to improve Iraq’s financial situation. While the government is still struggling, its position has improved on soaring oil prices, largely thanks to the rollout of coronavirus vaccines.
News
February 10, 2021
While prices continue to surge, some of the biggest moves in the past day have come at the front of the futures curve. Brent’s nearest timespread has surged -- a key sign of market tightness -- while key swaps tied to the physical North Sea market have also increased amid frenzied trading of derivatives late Tuesday.
News
February 08, 2021
It’s another milestone in a stellar comeback from the biggest demand destruction in a generation after the pandemic forced countries to lock down, devastated economies and grounded planes. West Texas Intermediate futures increased 0.3% on Tuesday, rising every day this month and taking gains to 11%.
News
February 05, 2021
2020's economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus was the worst the petroleum industry has ever seen. Fuel demand crashed by a fifth, prices slumped below zero, and more than a billion surplus barrels poured into storage tanks worldwide. In spite of all this, oil is posting a remarkable 2021 recovery.
News
February 05, 2021
Crude prices have soared since early November on optimism Covid-19 vaccines will restore energy demand and deep supply cuts by OPEC and Russia. Yet many major economies remain in strict lockdowns and some are struggling to source enough vaccine doses.
News
February 03, 2021
Inventories capped a seventh weekly decline last week, dropping to 990 million barrels, according to market intelligence firm Kayrros.
News
February 03, 2021
Tighter crude supplies are bringing traders flocking back to the oil market. Holdings of WTI futures contracts are now at their highest level since April, having jumped by the equivalent of more than 235 million barrels so far this year.
News
February 02, 2021
Asian-refiner demand has provided major support to U.S. oil as the market rebounds from its worst-ever crash last year. Asia has recovered faster from the pandemic than the rest of the world, helping revive demand for crude and boost U.S. benchmark prices 13% so far this year.
News
February 01, 2021
“There’s a sense that normalcy will occur and it’s looking more certain,” boosting the outlook for oil demand, said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. Meanwhile, “the Saudi production cuts start today, and people are focused on falling inventories and how the market is tightening.”
News
February 01, 2021
BP will sell a stake in an Omani gas block to Thailand’s national energy firm for $2.6 billion, part of a push to divest billions of dollars of assets and focus more on renewable energy.
News
January 25, 2021
The cat-and-mouse games that avoid detection and sanctions include ship-to-ship transfers, shell companies and silenced satellite signals. But there’s another aspect to the dodge. It involves “doping” the oil with chemical additives and changing its name in the paperwork so it can be sold as a wholly different crude without a trace of its Venezuelan roots.
News
January 25, 2021
With the U.S. campaign of “maximum pressure” now over, Iran’s oil customers may be growing a little bolder.
News
January 25, 2021
Iraq pledged to cut output in January and February after pumping more than its OPEC+ quota last year, and Libyan guards halted some crude exports after a pay dispute. Crude was also buoyed by a renewed climb in global equity markets as investors focused on the prospect of additional stimulus.
News
January 20, 2021
Traders have piled into oil this year, with output cuts from Saudi Arabia helping drive prices to the highest since February.
News
January 15, 2021
China National Offshore Oil Corp. has for years drilled in waters far from its borders, and within 200 miles of countries including Vietnam and the Philippines. The activity amounts to the oil giant acting like a “bully” for China’s military to intimidate its neighbors, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement announcing the move, which restricts access to U.S. technologies without specific permission.
News
January 13, 2021
Saudi Aramco will supply less crude as part of long-term contracts next month, giving some Asian processors 20%-30% less than they had sought, according to company officials who received the notices but asked not to be identified as the information is private.
News
January 13, 2021
Global oil use dropped by 9 million barrels a day last year but should recoup more than 6 million in 2021, said Mike Muller, head of trader Vitol SA’s operations in Asia.
News
January 11, 2021
There have been signs across the oil market of traders expecting tighter supplies following the Saudi cuts. The shape of the Brent futures curve returned to backwardation earlier this week, meaning more immediate prices are trading at premiums.
News
January 11, 2021
Bullish factors have struck the LNG shipping market: robust Asian spot gas demand in a cold winter, record-high exports from U.S. projects and -- perhaps most importantly -- delays to traverse the Panama Canal.
