Firms Complain of Contaminated Crude Lifted From U.S. SPR
Three firms that bought crude oil last year from U.S. emergency stockpiles raised concerns about dangerous levels of a poisonous chemical in the cargoes, according to internal Energy Department emails and shipping documents reviewed by Reuters. Problems with crude quality would make the U.S. Strategic Petroleum…
Koch Supply & Trading slashes Staff in Restructuring
Global commodity trader Koch Supply & Trading has cut dozens of workers across at least four offices worldwide, several sources said on Tuesday, as the firm restructures its business. The cuts at the unit of Koch Industries Inc, the industrial conglomerate of billionaire conservatives Charles and David Koch…
Texas Flood: U.S. Oil Pours into Global Markets
United States taking share from OPEC nations in Asia, Europe, as China’s biggest U.S. crude buyer to double imports. In the two years since Washington lifted a 40-year ban on oil exports, tankers filled with U.S. crude have landed in more than 30 countries, ranging from massive economies like China and India to tiny Togo. The repeal has unleashed a flood of U.S.
Surge in U.S. Shale Hedging to Boost 2018 Drilling
When oil prices rocketed towards $60 a barrel this fall, U.S. shale producers hedged more barrels of oil during the quarter than in at least three years, which could help propel the country to record crude production by next year. quarter. sales. million bpd in 2018, which would be an all-time record for U.S. drilling. pressure prices in the near term.
Canada Oil Producers Fill Pipelines, Railroads
Canadian oil producers are running out of options to get crude to market as pipeline and rail capacity fills up, driving prices to four-year lows and increasing the risk of firms having to sell cheaply until at least late 2019. This will drive down the profit margins for the oil sands industry, already struggling to compete with cheaper and abundant supplies from U.S. shale.
TransCanada to Restart Keystone Pipeline on Nov. 28
TransCanada Corp will restart its Keystone crude oil pipeline at reduced pressure on Tuesday after getting approval from U.S. regulators, the company said on Monday. Calgary-based TransCanada shut down the 590,000 barrel-per-day pipeline, one of Canada's main crude export routes, on Nov. 16 after 5,000 barrels of oil leaked in South Dakota.
EIA Raises US Oil Production Growth Forecast for 2018
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday it expects U.S. crude oil production in 2018 to rise by more than previously expected. The agency forecast that 2018 crude oil output will rise by 680,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.92 million bpd. Last month, it expected a 590,000 bpd year-over-year increase to 9.84 million bpd.
BP's Thunder Horse Platform Shut Temporarily on Power Issue
BP Plc halted production at its Thunder Horse platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Monday following a power outage, a company spokesman confirmed on Tuesday. The benchmark for sour crude rallied to its strongest in more than two years on the disruption. BP evacuated its workforce of about 300 people from the facility after the power outage as a precaution…
Harvey's Rains Shut in More Refineries, Sending Fuel Prices Higher
U.S. fuel prices surged on Monday as two more Gulf Coast refiners cut output and a third considered reductions, leaving more than 13 percent of the country's refining capacity offline after Tropical Storm Harvey flooded plants and shut seaports. The storm swung back over the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and was…
No Need to Release Emergency Oil Due to Harvey -IEA
The International Energy Agency said on Monday that there was no need for now to release fuel from emergency stockpiles to compensate for disruption caused by Hurricane Harvey because global oil markets were well supplied. Several refineries in the U.S. state of Texas have shut because of the storm, halting fuel production and causing gasoline prices to rise.
North American Exodus at PetroChina Sparks Speculation
A flurry of departures across the U.S. and Canadian units of Chinese state energy firm PetroChina Co Ltd have sparked speculation that the oil trader is reducing its presence in North America, even though the company says it is committed to the region. More than 30 people in its Houston and Calgary offices have left PetroChina since 2016…
Gunvor Hires BP's Former Top US Trader
Gunvor has hired a senior veteran oil trader, David Garza, previously with BP and most recently U.S. oil refiner Tesoro, to run its U.S. operations as the Swiss trading house further expands in North American energy markets. Gunvor began building its U.S trading operations last year, expanding outside its core markets in Europe, Asia and Africa.
TransCanada Seeks Keystone Pipeline Commitments
TransCanada Corp launched an open season on Thursday for additional commitments for the transportation of crude oil on the Keystone pipeline system, according to a company statement. The open season will close on Sept. 28. The Keystone system moves oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to markets in Cushing, Oklahoma, then onto the U.S. Gulf Coast. Reporting by Catherine Ngai
Pemex Declares Force Majeure over Maya Crude from Pacific
Mexico's state-run oil company Pemex has declared force majeure over at least two cargoes of Maya crude to be loaded at its Salina Cruz terminal on the Pacific Coast, after a fire affected its largest refinery earlier this month, three sources told Reuters. One of the affected cargoes was supposed to be delivered at the U.S.
Oil Traders Brace for US Gulf Coast Storm
Oil traders from Texas to Louisiana braced on Tuesday for supply disruptions as Tropical Storm Cindy, formed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, threatened to hit refining and production centers with wind and rain later this week. Cindy was located about 265 miles (430 km) south of Morgan City, Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles (75 km) per hour.
U.S. Shale Exposed to Falling Prices as Hedges Expire
Cash-strapped U.S. shale firms scaled back their hedging programs in the first quarter, leaving them more vulnerable to tumbling spot market prices just after OPEC reached a landmark deal to curb global supply. The pullback in hedging was driven by rising service costs and expectations that prices would continue…
Full Tanks & Tankers: A Stubborn Oil Glut Despite OPEC Cuts
After the first OPEC oil production cut in eight years took effect in January, oil traders from Houston to Singapore started emptying millions of barrels of crude from storage tanks. Investors hailed the drawdowns as the beginning of the end of a two-year supply glut - raising hopes for steadily rising per-barrel prices. It hasn't worked out that way.
US Crude Sails to Asia as OPEC Weighs More Cuts
Oil tankers carrying around 10 million barrels of U.S. crude are en route to Asia, according to shipping data and trade sources, as U.S. producers take advantage of favorable prices to ship to the region while OPEC ponders further supply cuts next week. At least eight tankers are in transit, sources said and the shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon showed…
East Coast Refiners Mull Texas Oil as North Dakota Alternative
U.S. East Coast refiners are looking to buy increasing volumes of domestic crude oil from the Gulf Coast, two sources said, the latest twist in a trade flow upheaval in the wake of the opening of the Dakota Access pipeline. Major U.S. East Coast refiners profited from railing hundreds of thousands of barrels of discounted Bakken crude to their plants daily from 2013 until 2015.
BP Accuses Former Analyst of Stealing Trade Secrets
BP Plc has sued a former U.S. oil analyst for allegedly stealing trade secrets and other confidential information, according to court filings. BP's oil trading division alleged that Joseph Giljum, a crude oil analyst who left the company in April, compiled over 950 business files containing confidential and…
