A pipeline to America’s largest crude-oil hub is about to find itself in an unfamiliar position: not full.
One of the main pipelines that carries crude to Cushing, Oklahoma, will run at less than capacity in December for the first time in nearly two and a half years. The drop in supply coincides with the opening of a pipeline to Quebec, giving shippers the option of diverting some oil from the middle of the U.S.
“There will be less light sweet crude available to make its way to Cushing,” said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston. “There’s going to be some significant rebalancing of where oil flows in North America.”
Canadian housing starts will decline in the next two years on a weaker economy and with builders seeking to avoid oversupply, the federal housing agency said.
The pace of work on new homes will fall to 178,150 units in 2016 from 186,900 this year, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. said Monday from Ottawa, and again to 173,650 units in 2017.
Hedge funds placed the most bets on falling oil prices since July as rising piles of crude dashed hopes of a near-term recovery.
Money managers’ short position in West Texas Intermediate crude jumped by 18 percent in the week ended Oct. 20, the largest surge since July 21, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That pulled their net-long position down by more than 16,000 contracts of futures and options.
Crude stockpiles in the US rose 22.6 million barrels in the past four weeks to the highest October level since 1930, even as producers have idled more than half their drilling rigs in the past year. A global surplus of crude could last through 2016, according to the International Energy Agency.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman sees more time, not money, as the key to securing a takeover of Oil Search Ltd.
“You don’t always have to sweeten deals,” Coleman said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Angie Lau on Monday. “What happens is that over time, expectations come together. You’re starting to see some M&A activity in Australia post the approach we made to Oil Search and you can see that peoples’ view of the world is starting to get a little closer.”
Oil swung between gains and losses near the lowest closing price in almost four weeks as investors weighed a slowing pace of U.S. drilling-rig reductions against an interest rate cut in China.
Futures in New York rose as much as 0.5 percent and fell as much as 0.4 percent. The number of active machines targeting oil dropped by 1 through Oct. 23 after declining by 45 over the prior three weeks, according to Baker Hughes Inc. China, the world’s second-biggest crude consumer, stepped up monetary easing with its sixth interest-rate cut in a year on Friday to combat deflationary pressures and a slowing economy.
Oil is failing to sustain a rally earlier this month above $50 a barrel as surging U.S. inventories bolstered speculation that a global glut will be prolonged. World crude supplies will remain ample until at least the middle of 2016 while investments in the industry is set to shrink further, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said in Singapore on Monday.
BHP Billiton Ltd. is snapping up oil- exploration prospects from the US to Australia and flagged this week that it’s seeking to make more similar investments. There’s speculation it’ll also target deals for operating wells and mines.
With signs the commodity rout may be bottoming, conventional petroleum and copper assets are probably of most interest to the world’s biggest miner, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. and Fat Prophets. BHP Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie said in August the company would look at the possibility of acquisitions, though wouldn’t overpay and would only consider the best assets.
Mining companies with strong balance sheets, including BHP, which sold about $6.5 billion of hybrid securities last week, should scrap their dividend policies to help seize on cheap high-quality assets, according to Jefferies Group LLC analysts. The average premium on pending and completed deals worth at least $500 million in the mining and oil and gas sectors has fallen to 30 percent this year from 47 percent in 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Gazprom PJSC, the world’s biggest natural gas exporter, is planning for the lowest price for its fuel in its main European market for more than a decade.
The state-run exporter is drafting its budget for 2016 with preliminary estimates for gas prices outside the former Soviet Union of about $200 per 1,000 cubic meters ($5.45 a million British thermal units), said two people with direct knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
A.P. Moeller-Maersk cut its profit outlook for 2015 citing a weaker global container shipping market.
The owner of the world’s biggest shipping line said it now sees underlying profit of about $3.4 billion, compared with a previous forecast for $4 billion, according to a statement to the stock exchange on Friday.
“Particularly the container shipping market deteriorated beyond the Group’s expectations especially in the latter part of the third quarter and October,” the company said. “The Group now expects no market recovery within 2015. Initiatives have been taken to adjust Maersk Line’s network accordingly.”
With oil prices still wobbling around $50, Norway is in danger of a recession that could drive its benchmark interest rates, already at a record low, to zero.
That’s what economists at Svenska Handelsbanken AB in Oslo say as they warn that “recessionary risks are significant.” The central bank in September cut rates to 0.75 percent and signaled more than a 50 percent chance for a third reduction since the drop in oil prices accelerated, about a year ago. Handelsbanken sees three cuts next year, bringing the benchmark to zero by the end of 2016.
“The Norwegian economy will now experience a deeper downturn than during the financial crisis, with output expected to stay below its potential for longer than it did last time,” Kari Due-Andresen and Knut Anton Mork, economists at Handelsbanken, wrote in their latest report.
Halliburton Co.’s proposed purchase of Baker Hughes Inc. faces further regulatory scrutiny after Australia’s competition watchdog raised concerns that the $34.6 billion deal would shrink the number of suppliers for oilfield goods and services, particularly for offshore drilling.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission delayed its decision until Dec. 17 and asked for further comments from market participants, according to a statement from the regulator on Friday. The businesses have significant competitive advantages in providing services as they benefit from extensive product ranges, economies of scale and scope as well as industry experience, the ACCC said.
Halliburton and Baker Hughes last month flagged the sale of additional business units in an effort to satisfy antitrust concerns over the takeover. The world’s second- and third- largest oilfield service companies have been seeking to complete the deal by either Dec. 15, or 30 days after both certify compliance with US Justice Department requests, whichever is later.
Saudi Arabia’s move to maintain its share of the global oil market and expand in Europe will backfire, said the chief executive officer of Russia’s largest oil producer.
“The strategy that Saudi Arabia has chosen doesn’t bring any significant victories,” Igor Sechin, CEO of OAO Rosneft, said Thursday at the Eurasian Forum in Verona, Italy. “More likely the opposite.”
After the US cut imports amid a boom in domestic production, exporters from the Middle East are increasing output and seeking new markets, a move that isn’t helpful for the global industry, Sechin said.
Oil climbed from a three-week low as traders snapped up contracts dragged down by expanding U.S. inventories.
December futures rose as much as 1.7 percent to $45.95 a barrel in New York. They settled at $45.20 on Wednesday after US government data showed stockpiles expanded by 8.03 million barrels last week, the biggest increase since April and more than twice the gain forecast.
“There was a perfect excuse yesterday to send oil through $45 after the bigger-than-expected rise in inventories,” Ole Sloth Hansen, an analyst at Saxo Bank A/S, said by e-mail from Copenhagen. “That did not happen and it could potentially signal that traders are looking to pick up contracts at the bottom of the range that has prevailed since early September.”
The Troll A platform rocks like a boat as North Sea waves pound its four gigantic concrete legs, but monitors inside the control room show a steady flow of natural gas continues unabated -- enough to meet the needs of 10 million homes in Europe.
Norway is on track for record gas production this year after Statoil ASA put an end to technical issues that limited Troll’s capacity. And deep within the windswept jumble of pipes and machinery that top the platform 65 kilometers (40 miles) off the Nordic nation’s coast, two newly installed compressors stand ready to maintain the field’s unequaled capacity well into the next decade.
“These compressors provide an extra muscle, they strengthen the Norwegian gas machine,” Grete Haaland, senior vice president for asset management at Statoil’s marketing, midstream and processing business unit, said in a presentation on the Troll platform Wednesday. “They increase Troll’s ability to deliver more gas in the short and long term. That’s extremely important for us.”
Oil traded near $45 a barrel as investors weighed data that showed US crude stockpiles expanded more than twice as much as forecast.
December futures rose 0.5 percent in New York after falling 2.4 percent Wednesday. Inventories climbed by 8.03 million barrels last week, the biggest gain since April, according to U.S. government data. A Bloomberg survey forecast a gain of 3.75 million.
Venezuela proposed a summit between OPEC heads of state and other producing nations in November to discuss the price needed to sustain future supplies, according to its oil minister Eulogio del Pino.
Nigeria’s government plans to split an oil- industry bill stuck in parliament for seven years and resubmit it to lawmakers after it held up reforms and deterred investment in Africa’s largest crude producer, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said.
Breaking up the Petroleum Industry Bill, or PIB, into smaller laws focused on fiscal and regulatory measures in Nigeria’s energy industry would make it easier to pass through parliament, he said.
The bill, first presented to parliament in 2008, will be resent to lawmakers in the first quarter of 2016.
Russia’s economy minister warned that the nation is facing years of oil prices at about $50 as a sluggish global economy ushers in a long cycle of low commodities prices.
The world’s largest energy exporter must continue financial support for non-commodities exports to buoy the nation’s shrinking economy, Alexei Ulyukayev told a conference Wednesday in Moscow. Measures to help growth by encouraging local food production are starting to pay off, according to First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov.
“We have entered a period of low prices for commodities, a long commodities cycle that’s ongoing and that will continue for a number of years,” Ulyukayev said. “I don’t see any sharp slumps but, relatively speaking, the oil price will be $50, $50 plus for years.”
Britain could have six times the power- generation capacity for the same money by investing in wind turbines instead of the 24.5 billion-pound ($37.9 billion) Hinkley Point nuclear reactor.
That’s the conclusion of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a London-based researcher that estimates the cost of power from renewables in the U.K. are rivaling fossil fuels even without subsidy. Wind easily beats the more expensive nuclear plant that Electricite de France SA is building with the support of investment from China.
The findings highlights the trade-offs Prime Minister David Cameron weighed in his decision to support EDF’s bid to build the first new reactors in the UK in more than two decades. In backing nuclear and maneuvering to draw Chinese funds in a deal due on Wednesday, Cameron prioritized reliability of supply and the impact on rural landscapes over cost.
Platts, the commodities price-reporting agency, may decide soon after Oct. 30 to make changes to the formula of the benchmark for much of the Middle Eastern crude sold to Asia as it seeks to stay competitive with China planning to introduce its own contract.
The agency is considering adding two crudes to the three grades it uses in calculating the Dubai oil benchmark, which determines prices for almost 30 million barrels a day in exports to Asia, said Dave Ernsberger, its global editorial director for oil.
Platts seeks to ensure liquidity amid rising demand from Asia, especially China, which plans to introduce a futures contract this year.
After a year suffering the economic consequences of the oil price slump, OPEC is finally on the cusp of choking off growth in U.S. crude output.
The nation’s production is almost back down to the level pumped in November, when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries switched its strategy to focus on battering competitors and reclaiming market share. As the US wilts, demand for OPEC’s crude will grow in 2015, ending two years of retreat, the International Energy Agency estimates.
While cratering prices and historic cutbacks in drilling have taken their toll on the US, OPEC members have also paid a heavy price. A year of plunging government revenues, growing budget deficits and slumping currencies has left several members grappling with severe economic problems. The fact that the US oil boom kept going for about six months after the group’s November decision also means OPEC has so far succeeded only in bringing the market back to where it started.
Weatherford International Plc shareholders are asking the company for one thing this quarter: Please, just be a little more boring.
Over the last decade, the oilfield services provider has missed analyst estimates 20 times, settled a corruption probe and spent more than $150 million in professional fees to fix errors in its accounting. And last month, it abandoned plans to raise $1 billion for an acquisition just hours after announcing them.
Now the company is seeking to build investor trust amid the worst oil market slump in decades. Chief Executive Officer Bernard Duroc-Danner needs to manage day-to-day activities in a way that will, for the first time in five years, generate more cash than the company spends, said David Anderson, an analyst at Barclays in New York. It’s a target Weatherford set for itself last year but failed to reach.
Energy companies are finally starting to come back into favor.
After enduring the longest oil-price collapse in more than a decade, crashing profits and an investor exodus, Europe’s biggest producers are regaining fans as analysts bet earnings bottomed last quarter and will now start to recover.
While Total SA, the region’s second-biggest oil company, will probably post the worst quarterly performance since 2009, it also has the highest proportion of buy ratings in a year, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Despite similarly bleak forecasts, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s No. 1, has the biggest share of buy recommendations since mid-2012 while BP Plc has the most since February.
Iran’s oil minister sees no imminent change in OPEC’s output strategy even as he urged fellow members of the group to cut their collective production to buoy crude to a range of $70 to $80 a barrel.
Iran is preparing to ramp up its own output once world powers remove sanctions on its economy, regardless of any decisions by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters Monday at an industry conference in Tehran.
“No one is happy” with prices at current levels, he said. “OPEC should decide to manage the market by reducing the level of production,” Zanganeh said. “It seems that the atmosphere is not well for making a change in the market.”
When it comes to deciding how much to charge Asian oil buyers, OPEC members are showing little regard for tradition.
Suppliers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have long moved in lockstep, raising or lowering prices in tandem. Now, Kuwait is undercutting Saudi Arabia by the most on record and Iraq is also selling its oil more cheaply than the group’s biggest member. Qatar is pricing cargoes at the biggest discount in 27 months to competing crude from the U.A.E.’s Abu Dhabi.
While the group that accounts for about 40 percent of global oil supplies maintains a collective strategy of flooding the market with crude, the semblance of unity has vanished when setting monthly selling prices. With Asia forecast to account for most of the growth in global oil demand this year, competition for the region’s buyers is trumping historical allegiances.
Oil Search Ltd., the target of a takeover bid from Woodside Petroleum Ltd., posted a 30 percent decline in third-quarter sales after a drop in energy prices.
Revenue fell to $379 million from $538.2 million a year earlier, according to a statement from Oil Search on Tuesday. Sales dropped 3 percent from the June quarter. Output rose to a record 7.42 million barrels of oil equivalent, the company said.
Halliburton Co., the world’s largest fracking services provider, said it had a third-quarter loss as the volatile North American oil market continued to tumble.
The company reported a loss of $54 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with net income of $1.2 billion, or $1.41, a year earlier, the Houston-based company said in a statement Monday on Businesswire. Excluding certain items, the per-share result was 4 cents more than the 27-cent average of 34 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales dropped 36 percent to $5.6 billion.
"It was a challenging period," Luke Lemoine, an analyst at Capital One Southcoast in New Orleans who rates the shares the equivalent of a buy and owns none, said in a phone interview before the results were released. "Most people at the beginning of the quarter were expecting things to level off. Well, they continued to more or less crash."
