VEGOILS - Boost exports on the back of positive estimates and weak output
Malaysian palm oil futures ended up higher on Monday after two sessions of losses. Supported by higher export estimates, and expected seasonal palm production decreases, the prices rose. The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in January on the Bursa Derivatives exchange gained 46 ringgit or 1.08% to 4,301 Ringgit ($1,000.23). The contract dropped 1.3% over the last two sessions. Palm prices are currently reacting to better export estimates, and the expectation of a weaker production in the next few weeks, in line with seasonal weaknesses, according to David Ng, a proprietary trading at Kuala Lumpur based trading firm Iceberg X Sdn Bhd.
Palm gains from better export estimates and expectations of low output
After two sessions of declines, Malaysian palm oil futures eked out a slight gain on Monday, backed by increased export estimates and expected seasonal palm production decreases. The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in January on the Bursa Derivatives exchange gained 49 ringgit or 1.15% to 4,304 Ringgit ($1,001.16), a metric tonne, during the lunch break. The contract dropped 1.3% over the last two sessions. Palm prices are responding to better export estimates, and the expectation of a weaker production in the next few weeks, in line with seasonal weakness.
Occidental Petroleum reports lower oil and gas prices in Q3
Occidental Petroleum, a U.S.-based oil producer, announced on Wednesday that its oil and natural gas production prices were lower in the third quarter compared with the previous period. The company reported that the realized prices or the prices it received for its production during the third quarter were about 6% lower in total for its oil output, and 26% lower in its U.S. Natural Gas output. Concerns about the growth of global oil demand led to a decline in oil prices during the quarter July-September. U.S. Natural Gas prices fell to multi-year lows. Prices in the Waha Hub were also at their lowest levels.
Sources say that a top Kazakh oilfield has reached a record production amid tensions between OPEC+ and the country.
Sources say that Tengiz, Kazakhstan's largest oil field, operated by U.S. giant Chevron, increased output to a new record in October. This could complicate the future efforts of Kazakhstan to meet its OPEC+ quota. OPEC+ named Kazakhstan, Iraq, and Russia among the top 10 oil producers in the world as having repeatedly failed to meet its commitments to reduce oil production for this year. Two industry sources said that Tengiz increased its daily production from 687,000 to 699,000 BPD in early October. The output had risen by 30% since August, after maintenance was completed.
Exxon Secures Lead in top US Oilfield with $60B Buy of Shale Rival Pioneer
Exxon Mobil agreed to buy U.S. rival Pioneer Natural Resources in an all-stock deal valued at $59.5 billion that would make it the biggest producer in the largest U.S. oilfield and secure a decade of low-cost production.The deal, valued at $253 a share, combines the largest U.S. oil company with one of the most successful names to emerge from the shale revolution that turned the U.S. into the world's largest oil producer in little more than a decade.Exxon Chief Executive Darren Woods said in a media briefing the combination provides a big opportunity for synergies between the companies."We basically closed this deal fairly quickly…
PetroVietnam Beats Q1 Crude Output Target
Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam said on Monday its crude oil output was 2.6 million tonnes in the first quarter this year, 12.6% higher than its target.The figure, however, is lower than the company's crude oil output of 2.74 million tonnes in the same period last year. PetroVietnam, formally known as Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, reported natural gas output of 1.97 billion cubic metres in the January-March period, 17.6% higher than its target. "This year's economic conditions are forecast to be less favourable than last year's…
Incoming Shell Boss Aims Fire up Renewables Drive
Shell's incoming Chief Executive Wael Sawan is set to accelerate the group's drive to build its renewable energy business, including through a possible "transformative" clean power acquisition, company and industry sources said.Sawan will from January take on a firm with a strong balance sheet after a surge in oil and gas prices, but whose renewables capacity has lagged peers like TotalEnergies and BP as green issues come increasingly into vogue. Shell aims to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to become a net-zero emitter by 2050…
Baker Hughes Finds US Drillers Add Most O&G Rigs Since April
U.S. energy firms this week added the most oil and natural gas rigs in a week since April as rising oil prices prompt more drillers to return to the wellpad.The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose 13 to 601 in the week to Jan. 14, its highest since April 2020, said Baker Hughes in its weekly report. The total count was up 228, or 61%, over this time last year.U.S. oil rigs rose 11 to 492 this week, their highest since April 2020, while gas rigs rose two to 109, their highest since March 2020. Specifically…
Oil Barrels Toward $79 to Start '22
Oil rose towards $79 a barrel on Monday supported by tight supply and hopes of further demand recovery in 2022 spurred in part by a view that the Omicron coronavirus variant is unlikely to significantly dampen the outlook.Libyan oil output will be cut by 200,000 barrels per day for a week due to pipeline maintenance. OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, are expected to stick to a plan to raise output gradually at a meeting on Tuesday.Brent crude rose 95 cents, or 1.2%, to $78.73 a barrel as of 0923 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude added $1.03 or 1.4%…
OPEC+ Sees No Need to Meet US Call for More Supply
OPEC and its allies, including Russia, believe oil markets do not need more oil than they plan to release in the coming months, despite U.S. pressure to add supplies to check an oil price rise, four sources told Reuters.The price of international benchmark Brent crude has risen 35% this year towards $70 a barrel, driven by economic recovery from the pandemic and supply restraint by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners in the alliance known as OPEC+.Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration…
WTI-Brent Spread Narrows as Oil Market Tightens
The price gap between the world's two most actively traded oil contracts narrowed to its lowest in more than seven months, demonstrating that U.S. oil output is still in the COVID-19 doldrums with the market likely to remain undersupplied.North Sea Brent futures traded at a premium of $1.89 to U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on Friday, its narrowest since November 11."We believe that the recent narrowing of the WTI-Brent price spread ... is noteworthy, with North America taking the mantle from Chinese demand or OPEC cuts and disruptions in tightening the global oil market…
Oil Surges After OPEC+ Extends Cuts
Oil prices jumped about 3% on Friday, hitting their highest levels in over a year, following a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report and decision by OPEC and its allies not to increase supply in April.Brent futures rose $2.10, or 3.2%, to $68.84 a barrel by 11:25 a.m. EST (1625 GMT). Earlier in the session, the global benchmark hit its highest since January 2020.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.87, or 2.9%, to $65.70 per barrel, after earlier scaling its highest since April 2019.For the week, Brent was up almost 4%…
Denmark Might Not Reach Its 2030 Emissions Reduction Goal as It 'Relies on Unproven Tech'
Denmark risks not reaching its goal to cut carbon emissions by 70% by 2030 because it is too reliant on unproven technology, an independent council monitoring the effort said on Friday.The Nordic country in 2020 set one of the most ambitious and legally binding climate targets in the world - cutting CO2 emissions by 70% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, but its government has yet to come up with a detailed plan for how to achieve that target."The government has so to some extent picked the low-hanging fruit," Jorgen Elmeskov…
Biden Administration Suspends Federal Oil and Gas Permitting
The Biden administration has temporarily suspended oil and gas leasing and permitting on federal lands and waters while it evaluates the legal and policy implications of the program, according to a Department of Interior memo.The move appears to be a first step in delivering on newly sworn-in President Joe Biden's campaign promise to ban all new federal drilling permits, part of his wider agenda to combat global climate change.The order was welcomed by environmentalists and derided by the oil and gas industry, whose largest onshore drilling companies have stockpiled permits in anticipation of a change in federal policy.U.S.
Oil Rises to 11-month High
Oil hit an 11-month high just below $57 a barrel on Tuesday, bolstered by Saudi Arabia's plans to limit supply, offsetting worries that rising coronavirus cases globally would curtail fuel demand.Brent crude settled up 92 cents, or 1.7%, at $56.58 a barrel by after touching its highest level since last February at $56.75. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 96 cents, or 1.8%, to $53.28.Saudi Arabia plans to cut output by an extra 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in February and March to keep inventories in check.The Saudi cut is part of an OPEC-led deal in which most producers will hold output steady in February.
Oil Prices Jump 5% on OPEC+ Output Talks, Iran Tension
Oil prices climbed nearly 5% on Tuesday after news that Saudi Arabia will make voluntary cuts to its oil output, while international political tension simmered over Iran's seizure of a South Korean vessel.Brent crude futures rose $2.51, or 4.9%, to settle at $53.60 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude ended $2.31, or 4.9%, higher at $49.93 a barrel.Saudi Arabia will make additional, voluntary oil output cuts of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in February and March. The cuts are part of a deal to persuade most producers…
Coronavirus, Consolidation Taking Toll On Energy Jobs
Oil and gas companies worldwide are taking an axe to their employment rolls, shedding workers to survive what is expected to be a prolonged stretch of weak demand.Exxon Mobil Corp said it will cut its workforce by 15%, or about 14,000 people, along with oil majors Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.All told, more than 400,000 oil and gas sector jobs have been cut this year, according to Rystad Energy, with about half of those in the United States, where several big exploration companies and most large oil service companies are headquartered.Coronavirus has devastated swathes of the global economy…
Exxon to Cut 14,000 Jobs as Pandemic Hits Oil Demand
ExxonMobil Corp said on Thursday it could cut its global workforce by about 15%, including deep white-collar staff reductions in the United States, as the COVID-19 pandemic batters energy demand and prices.Exxon and other oil producers have been slashing costs due to a collapse in oil demand and ill-timed bets on new projects. The top U.S. oil company earlier outlined more than $10 billion in budget cuts this year."The impact of COVID-19 on the demand for ExxonMobil's products has increased the urgency of the ongoing efficiency work…
OPEC+ Meets to Decide on Oil Output Cuts Easing
OPEC and allies such as Russia meet on Wednesday to decide oil output policy from August amid broad market expectations the group will ease supply curbs as the global economy slowly recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, have been cutting output since May by 9.7 million barrels per day, or 10% of global supply, after the virus destroyed a third of global demand.After July, the cuts are due to taper to 7.7 million bpd until December. A panel involving…
U.S. Sends First Crude Shipment to Saudi Arabia in Years
The United States sent a shipment of crude to Saudi Arabia in June, data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed on Wednesday, in what appears to be the first such delivery since the U.S. ban on crude exports ended in 2015.The United States shipped about 550,000 barrels, or 18,300 barrels per day (bpd), of crude to Saudi Arabia in June, U.S. Census data shows. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has no recorded instances of a U.S. crude shipment to Saudi Arabia.U.S. Census data shows a miniscule 1,000-barrel shipment to Saudi Arabia in 2002.