Brazil's fossil drive undermines Lula’s green ambitions
Brazil's government has invested heavily in fossil-fuels and plans to make the country the fourth largest oil producer by 2030. This month, President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva signed a law regulating the green hydrogen industry in the country. He will be hosting the United Nations COP30 Climate Summit next year. Which country can compete against us in energy transition? He asked this question at the signing ceremony. Lula said that he wants to make Brazil a global supplier of low-carbon fuels and the "Saudi Arabia" of renewable energy within 10 years.
Denmark Swings to Net Oil Importer as North Sea Production Dips
A 25-year period for Denmark as a net oil exporter is set to end this year following output declines in the North Sea, the country's energy agency said on Thursday after slashing its long-term oil production forecast.The Danish Energy Agency expects this year's oil production to reach 128,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from 138,000 bpd last year and 10 percent lower than an estimate given a year ago.The lower production forecast was due to downward adjustments of North Sea resources…
Indonesia to Keep OPEC Membership Frozen
Indonesia will keep a freeze on its membership of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), deputy energy minister Arcandra Tahar said on Tuesday, following "directions" from the country's President. Indonesia's OPEC membership was suspended in December 2016, less than a year after it rejoined the cartel, when the net oil importer could not agree to production cuts. "There are several reasons, but what is clear the decision was we will keep the (membership) freeze," Tahar told reporters, declining to comment further.
Uruguay to Tender 17 Offshore Blocks for Exploration
Uruguayan state oil company Ancap said on Tuesday it will tender 17 off-shore blocks for exploration in areas up to 3,000 meters deep, with offers to be presented in April 2019. The tender, called Uruguay Round III, will be launched in Houston in September. "Ancap is working with the ministry of industry and energy in the preparation of the model contract," the company's General Manager Ignacio Horvath said during an oil industry conference in Uruguayan resort town Punta del Este on the Atlantic coast. Uruguay is a net oil importer.
U.S. Refiners Cash in on Mexico's Record Imports
U.S. Gulf Coast refiners are cashing in on rising fuel demand from Mexico, shipping record volumes to a southern neighbor that has failed to expand its refining network to supply a fast-growing economy. The fuel trade could top a million barrels per day (bpd) at times in 2017 as Mexico becomes increasingly dependent on the United States for strategic energy supplies and providing business worth more than $15 billion a year to refiners such as Valero, Marathon Petroleum and Citgo Petroleum.
OPEC Deal Expected to Tighten Oil Market in 2017: Kemp
OPEC has reached an agreement to cut its oil output by almost 1.2 million barrels per day and been rewarded with an increase in nearby futures prices of around $5 per barrel. Saudi Arabia is likely to provide around half of the real cuts, and its Gulf allies most of the rest, with a high degree of expected non-compliance by other OPEC and non-OPEC countries. Past experience shows Saudi Arabia and its allies have usually done almost all the real cutting while other OPEC and non-OPEC members have been left to produce as much as they can.
Why is Oil Market Rebalancing Taking so Long?
Rebalancing the oil market is proving a long and frustrating process because the oil-exporting countries hit hardest by the slump were the themselves some of the fastest growing oil consumers before prices tumbled. As oil revenues have shrivelled, their economies have slowed or gone into recession, removing one of the most dynamic drivers of oil demand, and leaving the rest of the world economy to fill the gap. The slowdown in demand from oil-exporting countries…
Argentina Crude Exports Poised to Hit Record
Argentina's oil producers have shipped record volumes of crude this month, spurred by a new government subsidy that has also prompted state-owned oil company YPF to return to the export market for the first time in years. The surge in shipments abroad comes just a month after Argentina's new president, Mauricio Macri, introduced measures to help oil exporters as part of sweeping policy changes aimed at boosting investment and opening the South American nation's economy after years of heavy controls on trade.
Argentina's YPF to Ship Oil to China, Spurred by Subsidy
Argentine state oil company YPF a will export 200,000 barrels of oil to China in a deal spurred by a new government subsidy designed to encourage drilling in the South American country, a market source familiar with the deal said on Wednesday. It would be YPF's first export of crude in two years, the source said. The country has struggled to attract investment needed to increase oil production and reverse its position as a net oil importer. President Mauricio Macri…
Protests Expand in Peru's Oil-producing Amazon Region
Demonstrators in the Peruvian Amazon barricaded streets, hurled stones at local businesses and burned at least one vehicle to protest the government's decision to award a Canadian company a license to tap the country's largest oil block. The protesters, led by the region's governor, want the government to repeal its recently inked contract with Pacific Exploration and Production Corp and transfer control of block 192 to state-owned Petroperu. "The only thing foreign companies have done is pollute and foment distrust among local populations…
Oil Slips on OPEC Output, China Slowdown
China's crude imports down 23 pct in May; OPEC oil production likely to continue to exceed demand. Oil prices slipped on Monday on news of a slide in China's fuel imports and as markets digested OPEC's decision to maintain its production target, which analysts said could prolong a supply glut for the rest of the year. China, the world's biggest net oil importer, bought nearly a quarter less crude in May than it did in the previous month, official data showed. China's imports of oil products also fell by more than 6 percent while oil product exports fell 10 percent.
Indonesia Hopes to Rejoin OPEC by Year-End
Indonesia hopes to rejoin OPEC by oil producer group's next meeting in around six months' time, Energy Minister Sudirman Said said on Thursday. Last month, the minister said the country's President Joko Widodo had agreed to a plan for Indonesia to rejoin the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, over six years after Southeast Asia's biggest crude producer left the group. "We didn't withdraw our membership, we just suspended it," Said told reporters…
Indonesia Seeks to Rejoin OPEC
Indonesia left OPEC in 2008 on becoming net oil importer. Energy minister to attend June OPEC meeting as an observer. Indonesia's energy minister said on Thursday he would seek President Joko Widodo's approval for the country to rejoin OPEC, seven years after leaving the oil exporters' group. If it returned, Indonesia would be the fourth-smallest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ahead of Libya, Ecuador and Qatar, and bring the number of participants to 13 countries.
U.S. Businesses Brace for Oil Downturn
Oil and gas production is fundamental to the U.S. economy. The sharp downturn in prices will have a negative impact on business investment in the short term before the positive impact on consumer spending takes over further down the line. Oil and gas producers accounted for almost $1 in every $8 of new business investment in the U.S. economy in 2013, according to new data published by the Census Bureau. Businesses engaged in oil and gas extraction invested $159 billion in wells…
Scrapping of Fuel Subsidies a Landmark and Boost for Indonesia
The announcement came without fanfare, in line with Indonesian President Joko Widodo's style, but his decision to let petrol prices float freely is the most significant move to stabilise Southeast Asia's largest economy in years and shows his resolve to promote reform. On Jan. 1, Widodo's government scrapped subsidies for petrol, letting pump prices rise and fall in line with the cost of crude oil. "It took some guts," said economist Wellian Wiranto at OCBC in Singapore.
Thailand Stops Petroleum Exports
Thailand's military government has asked oil and gas producers to temporarily stop exports of petroleum products, as it wants to focus on the domestic market and review the structure of the whole system, a senior energy ministry official said on Friday. The move is part of the government's energy reform drive which includes shifting domestic fuel prices from a highly regulated system to a market-based one. Thailand, a net oil importer, had exported 12,000 barrels of oil per day from domestic resources…
Brent at 3-Month Low on Libyan Output
Libyan militia strikes Tripoli airport, U.N. pulls out; OPEC, U.S. offset concerns of supply disruptions. U.S. crude stocks down 2 mln barrels last week. Brent crude oil fell more than $1 a barrel to a three-month low below $106 on Tuesday, extending losses to almost 9 percent since mid-June, as weak demand and rising Libyan supplies overshadow renewed violence in the country. Libya's oil output has risen to 588,000 barrels per day (bpd), Libya's acting oil minister told Reuters…
China, U.S. to Cooperate on Strategic Oil Reserves
China and the United States have signed a preliminary agreement to cooperate on strategic petroleum reserves (SPR), China's National Energy Administration (NEA) said, marking the first such effort between the world's top two oil consumers. During a visit to Beijing this week, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and NEA head Wu Xinxiong signed a Memorandum of Understanding on SPR cooperation, the NEA said on its website late on Thursday. It did not give any further details on the cooperation.
YPFB Tenders to Buy Diesel Cargos
Bolivia's state-run oil company YPFB launched a tender to buy three 230,000 barrel cargos of diesel for delivery from May to August at Arica port in Chile, according to a document seen by Reuters on Friday. Bolivia is the third-largest South American producer of natural gas, which is exported to countries such as Argentina and Brazil, but in recent years it became a net oil importer while domestic fuel consumption grows. The company said the first diesel cargo…
