Oil Prices

Offshore Recovery Stalled For Now

As crude oil prices reach Gulf War highs and recent memories of historic low crude prices fade, capital spending on finding and developing new oil reserves continue to play catch up. "The recent oil-price crisis set back non-OPEC output growth for at least a year," a recent report released by Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown states, adding, "While currently high oil prices should spur investment, the extensive 16-month price slide should delay any significant output response from non-OPEC producers." Analysts say there is a lag time for exploration spending to play catch up with oil prices - for every one month when crude prices are below the cost of production, it takes three months of high prices to regain the volume of production lost during the low cost period. Crude prices began to rebound from lows near $10 a barrel when OPEC and other major producers cut crude production to raise prices in March 1999. But industrialized countries looking for more oil may have trouble finding it as the prolonged cuts have eaten into OPEC's spare production capacity, increasing the need for other countries and private companies to ramp up output. Non-OPEC oil costs are generally higher than those within OPEC, and thrives when oil prices are high. Exploration for oil outside of OPEC picked up in the late 1970s in order to counter dependence on the cartel's oil following oil price shocks in 1973 and 1979

EIA: Would More Crude Oil Help?

Yesterday (April 27), the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council co-hosted a conference on “U.S.-Saudi Relations and Global Energy Security.” At this conference, as he has stated recently in other venues, the Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Ali al-Naimi, stated that, “There is no general shortage of crude oil in today's market -- supplies are readily available

Big Oil Profits Expected To Fly High

The near record oil prices have left U.S. oil majors as the envy of industry during the third quarter reporting period, according to many industry analysts. "This is clearly a sector that investors shouldn't worry about having disappointing earnings surprises," said one. "The question is not whether they will beat consensus estimates, but by how much they'll beat estimates," said another. Such expectations from analysts and investors come as crude oil prices in the third-quarter hit

Oilfield Stocks Take A Hit As Crude Dips Below $30

Profit-taking hit oilfield service and drilling stocks on Monday as U.S. crude oil prices shed over a dollar to dip below $30 a barrel for the first time since February 28. On Monday afternoon, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange's oilfield service index was off 4.82 points or 4.6 percent at 100.03, while U.S. April crude oil futures were $1.23 lower at $29.68 a barrel. Halliburton Co., the world's biggest oilfield service provider, was off more than five percent at 36-3/8 while Schlumberger Ltd

Oil Prices Slip

According to reports, oil prices fell by three per cent Monday, slipping below $59 a barrel as traders looked ahead to U.S. supply data due out Wednesday that is expected to show rising inventories of crude. Doubts about OPEC's ability to implement a 1.2 million barrels a day production cut also weighed on prices. Last week, oil prices surged after the U.S. Energy Department data showed a large decline in crude-oil inventories

Subsea Hardware Spending to Double to $124 Billion

Douglas-Westwood (DW) forecast subsea hardware spending is set to double to $124 billion during 2013-2017 compared to the preceding five-year period. The new third edition of Douglas-Westwood’s Subsea Hardware Market Forecast has launched analyses the market through to 2017, examining the key activity trends to provide detailed insight for major players and new entrants alike.   “The prospects for the subsea hardware sector look good, however

Maersk Line Interim Management Statement

Revenue for the period increased by 10% to USD 14.5bn (USD 13.2bn), primarily due to higher container freight rates, container volumes and oil prices. The profit for the period increased by 82% to USD 1.2bn (USD 0.6bn) and was driven by better operational performance in most business units. The Group’s ROIC increased to 11.7% (7.6%). "We have had a good start to the year and are very satisfied with the results

Oil Price Just Down From Two-Year Highs Set Last Week

Oil markets placed another bet on tightening supply, supporting prices in the vicinity of 22-month highs touched last week. Benchmark Brent for September hit $20.87 a barrel today, just 13 cents off a Friday peak of $21 that was the crude's highest value in almost two years.

$300M Oil Rig Ordered

Oil and shipping conglomerate A.P. Moeller has placed a $300 million order with a South Korean shipyard for a new jack-up oil rig for its Maersk Drilling unit. Officials declined to give the name of the shipyard. The order may signal that the strengthening of crude oil prices in the past year has sparked increased exploration activity globally, analysts said, noting that Denmark-based A.P. Moeller's Maersk Drilling had last taken delivery of a new jack-up oil rig 10 years ago

$100 Oil: Driving Deepwater Oil Services Boom

Deepwater is one of the few areas where good prospects of major oil finds still remain, and these are mainly outside the control of OPEC. In a note to clients today, John Westwood, MD of international energy analysts Douglas-Westwood said “over the past year the stock prices of a grouping of 10 companies with significant exposure to the sector (the Douglas-Westwood Deepwater Index) has risen by an average of 79% and one, Wellstream, by 157%”.