A bill to pass the 40-year-old ban on US oil exports has been passed by the Senate Banking Committee. The bill, which was sponsored by Democrat Senator Heidi Heitkamp from North Dakota, passed 13 to 9. The politician was the only person from the Democrats to vote for the measure.
The speed at which oil wells spitting out their final drops of unprofitable crude will be shut may hold the key to an eventual rebound if prices fall further. Crude prices tumbling to $30 a barrel would threaten the profitability of about 206,000 barrels per day of production from older wells that produce minimal amounts of oil, according to a report.
Brent prices jumped by $11 in the month of September marking the largest gain in three days since 1990, according to a market update. The latest findings from KPMG showed volatility in the oil markets has persisted in August and mid-September brought on by China’s financial slump and its wider effect on the markets. The price jump per barrel was influenced by speculation of an OPEC production cut.
Volkswagen is set to name Matthias Mueller as its new chief executive after the company was embroiled in a scandal over an alleged US vehicle emissions test rigging. The head of the Porsche sports car brand has been widely tipped to succeed Martin Winterkorn who stepped down from his role earlier this week. Officials in both Europe and the United States have stepped up their investigations into the scandal.
Pope Francis has opened his visit to the United States with a call for action to combat climate change.
Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has offered her services as energy secretary if Donald Trump wins the US presidency. Speaking to CNN the former governor of Alaska responded to a question asked regarding which job she would be after. Palin said she would get rid of the department and let individual states within the US have more control “over the lands” within their boundaries.
Halliburton is set to pay back $18.3million to more than 1,000 oil and gas workers after they were improperly exempted from overtime pay. The US Department of Labour said the oil company had improperly identified workers in 28 job categories as exempt from additional earnings under the Fair Labour Standards Act. Halliburton has already begun the process of paying back the accrued overtime for one of the largest settlements for the Labour Department in recent years.
Amec Foster Wheeler has won a contract from Yuhang Chemical Inc (YCI) for its first major project in the US. The subsidiary of Shandong Yuhuang company has planned a 1.7million tons per year world-scale methanol on the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The contract will see Amec Foster Wheeler provide engineering, project management, procurement and early construction services.
In the race to supply crude to the world’s biggest energy user, it’s the tussle for second place that’s too close to call. Russia, Angola and Iran are vying to be runner-up to Saudi Arabia as the top seller to China. The contest is set to intensify as Iran seeks to recover market share lost because of sanctions and the US Congress debates a nuclear deal that’ll allow the Persian Gulf state to boost shipments. China overtook the US as the biggest importer of crude most recently in June, taking advantage of a 50 percent slump in benchmark prices over the past year to boost strategic reserves. With the Asian nation forecast to account for more than a quarter of global demand growth in 2016, the prize of becoming a top supplier will bolster the economic health of national producers that depend on energy exports for most of their budget revenue.
Shale producers in the US have learned to do more with less. Last year’s price crash forced drillers to cut budgets, reducing the number of rigs in U.S. oil fields by 59 percent from the peak. Crude production, though, has fallen only about 5 percent. Part of the reason for that is a spurt of innovation driven by desperation. Rig productivity increased last month in all shale oil plays, the Energy Information Administration said in a report Monday, as companies drill more wells in less time.
Hedge funds added the most bullish oil bets since April on optimism that the global oversupply will disappear as producers slow output. Money managers boosted their net-long position by 16,855 contracts to 132,857 futures and options in the week ending Sept. 8, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The world is “not awash in oil,” Andy Hall, hedge fund manager and noted oil bull, said this month in a letter to investors. The US and other nations outside of OPEC will reduce output next year by the most since since 1992, according to the International Energy Agency. The U.S. government released new output estimates wiping out 13 million barrels of production from the first half of the year. “People are beginning to see significant declines in production figures as a result of the declining rig count, and you can expect that trend to continue through the balance of the year,” Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC, said by phone from Houston. “If you were short, you might have made your money and covered your positions.”
Shale oil producers already awash in a supply glut face added crude as early as next year after an agreement to ease sanctions on Iran cleared a Senate obstacle. A Senate vote Thursday paved the way for President Barack Obama to ease financial penalties for doing business with Iran. Democrats kept Republicans’ disapproval resolution from advancing in a 58-42 procedural vote, with 60 required. That may allow additional Iranian exports to hit the market as early as the first quarter of 2016.
Wood Group has provided engineering, procurement and other services to Flint Hills Resources for its Eagle Ford modification at its West refinery in Texas. The project will enable the refinery to process 100% US crude – primarily from the Eagle Ford region – into transportation fuels. The work was successfully completed by Wood Group Mustang (WGM) who completed the conceptual and front-end engineering design phases of the project.
The new head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said there needed to be greater partnership between the organisation and China. Fatih Birol made the comments on his first visit to the world's largest energy consumer. Birol, who took up his new post earlier this month, told an audience of Chinese officials and foreign diplomats in Beijing that one of his top priorities in the role will be to strengthen ties with the company.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, cut pricing for all October oil sales to the U.S. and Northwest Europe and reduced the premium on its main Light grade to Asia by 30 cents a barrel. State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. cut its official selling price for October sales to Asia of Arab Light crude to 10 cents a barrel more than the regional benchmark, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The discount for Medium grade crude for buyers in Asia widened 50 cents to $1.30 a barrel less than the benchmark.
Barack Obama crossed the Arctic Circle in a first by a sitting US president, telling residents in a far-flung Alaska village their plight should be the world’s wake-up call on global warming. His visit to Kotzebue, a town of some 3,000 people in the Alaska Arctic, was designed to snap the country to attention by illustrating the ways warmer temperatures have already threatened entire communities and ways of life in Alaska. He said, despite progress in reducing greenhouse gases, the planet is already warming and the US is not doing enough to stop it.
OEG Offshore has merged its US business with equipment provider Cameron Rental and Tank Inc (CRT). The multi-million dollar move has been made in a bid to enlarge the combined businesses with a full geographic network of locations across the Gulf of Mexico region. OEG Houston’s recent relocation to a larger office facility in the city’s energy corridor and its merger with CRT is the next step in the development of the company’s strategy to offer services to the Gulf of Mexico region.
Oil headed for the longest run of weekly declines in almost three decades on signs the supply glut that drove prices to a six-year low will be prolonged. Futures fell as much as 1.6 percent in New York, set for an eighth weekly drop. The US pumped crude in July at the fastest pace for the month since at least 1920, the American Petroleum Institute reported Thursday. The nation’s stockpiles are almost 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average, weekly government data showed Wednesday.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to propose regulations which will be aimed at reducing methane emissions by between 40 and 45% from the oil and gas sector over the next decade. The move is part of a wider strategy in place which is looking to reduce both greenhouse gases as well as combating climate change.
Oil rose for a second day in New York, extending its rebound from a six-year low after US crude inventories fell and investor concern over China’s currency devaluation eased. Futures added as much as 1 percent. Crude inventories slid by 1.68 million barrels last week to 453.6 million and production also fell, according to a report from the Energy Information Administration. A measure of oil-price fluctuations rose to the highest level in almost four months on Wednesday after China devalued its currency a second day.
Oil fell amid a broader commodity decline as China’s central bank devalued its currency, making imports of raw materials more expensive in the world’s biggest consumer of metals and energy. Futures slid as much as 1.1 percent in New York. China, the world’s second-biggest oil user, cut the yuan’s reference rate by a record 1.9 percent, allowing depreciation to combat a slump in exports. The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials, which includes crude, metals and grains, retreated after advancing Monday by the most since February. Oil has slumped more than 25 percent since this year’s peak closing price in June amid signs the global oversupply that drove crude into a bear market will persist. The Commodity Index in July capped the biggest monthly drop since 2011 on signs of faltering demand in China and expanding gluts. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.5 percent.
Oil traded near the lowest level in almost five months in New York as a rebound in US drilling signaled production is withstanding the slump in prices. West Texas Intermediate futures were little changed, erasing an earlier drop to the lowest price since March 20. The number of U.S. rigs seeking oil rose by 6 to 670 for a third weekly gain, Baker Hughes Inc. data show. OPEC members Algeria and Libya said the group could meet earlier that its scheduled December gathering to address the crude oversupply. Oil has slumped more than 25 percent since this year’s peak in June amid signs the global surplus will be prolonged. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ largest members have sustained record output, while US inventories remain more than 90 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average.
Oil pared a weekly decline after an influential US lawmaker announced opposition to President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, which is projected to boost global supplies if successful. Futures rose as much as 0.7 percent, trimming a sixth weekly slide. Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who’s in line to become the party’s next leader, said he will break with Obama and oppose the agreement. The oil market faces a glut even without new Iranian supply. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts storage will be filled by this fall amid a global surplus projected at 2 million barrels a day. Oil has slumped more than 25 percent since a June peak on signs that the oversupply will persist. Leading members of OPEC have sustained output while production has surged from the U.S., where inventories remain more than 90 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of the year.
China stocks rose on speculation the government will take measures to support the market, while concern the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates weighed on the rest of Asia. Oil rebounded from a 4 1/2-month low. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index was little changed at 1:02 p.m. in Tokyo after a week in which it lost 0.8 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 0.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.9 percent to 3,731. The Australian dollar strengthened 0.4 percent as the central bank indicated the jobless rate has peaked. The yen headed for a weekly loss as the Bank of Japan held its policy unchanged. “Investors believe the 3,500 to 3,600 level is where the government wants to hold firmly above so bargain-hunters are beginning to buy again,” said Wu Kan, a Shanghai-based fund manager at JK Life Insurance Co., who is adding to shares that will benefit from reforms in state-owned enterprises.
Oil held gains before US government data forecast to show crude stockpiles fell in the world’s biggest consumer. Futures rose 0.7 percent in New York. Crude inventories probably declined by 1.63 million barrels through July 31 for a second weekly drop, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts before an Energy Information Administration report Wednesday. The new head of Libya’s state oil company for the eastern region is considering resuming exports from the nation’s two largest ports and will seek to boost production. Oil is still trading near the lowest price in almost five months after falling 21 percent in July on signs a global supply glut is persisting. US crude stockpiles remain close to 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average, while members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are pumping more to defend market share.