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Higher Oil Prices News

26 Oct 2023

World's Ghost Fleet in Focus Over US Russian Price Cap Crackdown

Credit: komi$ar/AdobeStock

U.S. penalties on shippers transporting Russian oil in breach of the G7's price cap could push more Russian cargoes onto vessels referred to as the ghost fleet and away from mainstream tankers, shipping sources and analysts told Reuters.The cap bans Western companies from providing maritime services for Russian seaborne oil exports sold above $60 a barrel.It was designed to keep oil flowing to markets while reducing Russia's energy earnings that it can use to finance its war on Ukraine…

14 Jun 2022

West Africa Market Harbors Positive Potential for MODU Operators

Chart courtesy MSI

The region could be a key growth market for the oil and gas industry going forward, writes Joshua Belo-Osagie, Maritime Strategies International (MSI).Improving sentiment surrounds energy market prospects offshore West Africa, the positive mood underpinned by higher oil prices, reformed regulatory frameworks in key markets including Angola and Nigeria and the discovery of major prospects off the Ivory Coast and Namibia.In addition, the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have only reinforced some of these pre-existing dynamics…

21 May 2021

Oil Jumps on Weather Concerns in Gulf of Mexico

© Roman Krochuk / Adobe Stock

Oil prices jumped 2% on Friday after three days of losses, driven higher as a storm formed in the Gulf of Mexico, but were on track for a weekly fall as investors braced for the return of Iranian crude supplies after officials said Iran and world powers made progress a nuclear deal.Brent crude futures rose $1.33, or 2%, to $66.36 a barrel by 1:06 p.m. ET (1606 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate was at $63.54 a barrel, up $1.61, or 2.6%.A weather system forming over the western Gulf of Mexico has a 40% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours, the U.S.

23 Jul 2020

China's Oil Port Congestion to Stretch On Well into August

Illustration only - Image by Kalyakan/AdobeStock

Congestion at China's east coast oil ports that is adding to costs for shippers and importers is likely to run well into August, with crude shipments set to hit another record high this month, according to analysts and Refinitiv data.The massive inflows are straining offloading facilities, while refiners and port operators in Shandong province -- home to a quarter of China's refining capacity -- are rushing to build new storage tanks.July seaborne arrivals into the world's biggest oil importer are expected to surge to 14.4 million barrels per day…

12 Jun 2019

Offshore: New Project Pace Quickens

As the oil and gas industry comes out of the recent downturn, E&P companies are tempted to chase the rewards of higher oil prices by accelerating the sanctioning of new projects.However, haste can lead to less certainty of what the ultimate cost of any given project will be. Projects with high levels of so-called engineering definition are generally expected to remain within about 20% of the initial cost estimates, according to Rystad Energy.“For offshore operators, that means the expected variation for projects to be sanctioned during the period from 2019 to 2023 could be as high as $220 billion,” says Matthew Fitzsimmons, Vice President of Rystad Energy’s Oilfield Service Research division.

23 Apr 2019

IEA Says Oil Markets Adequately Supplied

The International Energy Agency is monitoring developments in global oil markets, and notes that markets are now adequately supplied, and that global spare production capacity remains at comfortable levels.Further tightening of sanctions on Iran will have an impact on its export capacity. Iranian shipments of crude and condensates are running around 1.1 million barrels a day (mb/d) in April, 300 000 barrels a day lower than March, and 1.7 mb/d lower than May 2018.As a result of OPEC’s high compliance rate with the agreed supply cuts in the OPEC+ group, global spare production capacity has risen to 3.3 mb/d, with 2.2 mb/d held by Saudi Arabia and around 1 mb/d by the United Arab Emirates…

15 Nov 2018

Hyundai Merchant Marine Loss Grows in Q3

South Korea's largest shipping firm by sales Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) said that its operating loss in the third quarter increased to 123.1 billion won (US$108.65 million) from 29.5 billion won in the same period last year.According to the company, the net loss widened due to unfavorable market conditions and high fuel costs.According to Yonhap, the net loss reached 166.7 billion won (US$146.7 million) in the July-September period, compared with a net loss of 60.3 billion won during the same period last year."Bunker fuel prices reached $445 per metric ton in the third quarter, up from $311 from a year earlier" the report said blaming the increased loss to higher oil prices and lower freight rates.However…

04 Nov 2018

Fitch Warns: Shippers' Costs and Capex may Increase

More stringent fuel regulations regarding sulphur content could significantly increase global shipping companies' operating costs and capex needs, says Fitch Ratings in a new report."This may negatively affect their credit quality unless they manage to pass these costs to customers. Many shipping companies have started implementing fuel surcharges to recover costs associated with the new sulphur cap regulation, but their ability to sustain these will depend on market fundamentals, which remain challenging," said Flitch.Competitive dynamics may change in the longer term with companies that are less financially able to absorb additional costs, especially given higher oil prices, withdrawing from the market.

02 Aug 2018

White House Escalates China Trade Dispute in hopes for Early Solution: Kemp

The United States has adopted an "escalate to negotiate" strategy towards China, threatening a dramatic hike in tariffs to try to force a resumption of trade talks while the U.S. economy remains strong and as elections approach in November.U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly rejected a plan to levy tariffs of 10 percent on an additional $200 billion of imports from China and ordered aides to prepare a proposal for tariffs at the higher rate of 25 percent.The levies are in addition to the tariffs on $34 billion of imports that have already gone into effect and the $16 billion of tariffs announced but not yet implemented.The administration's approach to China is the same one it has employed in dealing with North Korea…

30 Jul 2018

Why is Saudi Arabia Halting Red Sea Oil Shipments?

© nicolagiordano / Adobe Stock

Saudi Arabia announced last week it was suspending oil shipments through the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandeb strait after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked two ships in the waterway.To date, no other exporters have followed suit. A full blockage of the strategic waterway would virtually halt shipment to Europe and the United States of about 4.8 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products.Western allies backing a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen expressed concern about the attacks, but have not indicated they would take action to secure the strait.

20 Jul 2018

Sembcorp Marine Swings to Q2 Loss

(Photo: Sembcorp Marine)

Singaporean rig builder Sembcorp Marine Ltd swung into the red in the second quarter, and cautioned a trend of negative operating profit would continue in the near term as overall business volume remains low.It turned in a loss of S$55.6 million ($40.68 million) for the three months ended June, compared with a profit of S$5.1 million in the same period a year ago.Sembcorp Marine, majority owned by industrial conglomerate Sembcorp Industries Ltd, saw its revenue more than double to S$1.63 billion due to revenue recognition on delivery of some rigs.

01 Jun 2018

LNG Prices Climb on Limited Supply

© donvictori0 / Adobe Stock

Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices rose this week to their highest since February as buying interest from China remained firm and as supply is expected to be limited during maintenance in August.Spot prices for July delivery in Asia were at $9.60 per million British thermal units (Btu) this week, gaining 40 cents from the previous week and are at the highest for this time of the year since 2014.Higher oil prices had been deterring some buyers from snapping up cargoes in the spot market in recent weeks but some of them may now need to cover their requirements promptly…

17 May 2018

Maersk: Disappointing Q1 Earnings Hit Share Price

(Photo: A.P. Moller-Maersk)

A.P. Moller-Maersk missed first-quarter profit expectations on Thursday and warned that political and trade tensions clouded the outlook, sending shares in the world's biggest container shipper sharply lower.Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the three months to March 31 rose 5 percent to $669 million but came in well below the $852 million forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.Chief Executive Soren Skou called the result "unsatisfactory"…

13 May 2018

Renewed Optimism is Exploration

Renewed optimism is the theme for exploration in 2018, driven by higher oil prices and improving exploration performance. The cost of exploring has fallen more than 50% since 2013/14 and there are fewer companies competing for acreage, said a research report by Westwood Global Energy Group. It could be argued that there has not been a better time to be exploring in the last decade. The geology economic to explore increases considerably above $60/barrel and in the first quarter of 2018 the oil price averaged $67/barrel. Success rates have improved as lower exploration budgets have led to companies being more selective. The effort and money expended on finding another large deep water oil province in the Atlantic Margins has finally borne fruit in Guyana.

25 Apr 2018

Subsea 7: Offer Could Change if McDermott Cooperates

Norwegian offshore oil services firm Subsea 7 is open to potentially sweetening its $2 billion offer for McDermott if the U.S. company would work with it to identify additional benefits of a deal, Subsea said on Wednesday. The Norwegian firm's comments come a week before McDermott's shareholders vote on a planned combination with Chicago Bridge and Iron (CB&I), which McDermott's board has recommended its investors to support while rejected Subsea's proposal "Subsea 7 is open to considering amending its proposal if it can discover additional value through discussions with the McDermott management team," Subsea, one fifth owned by Norwegian billionaire Kristian Siem, said in a statement.

20 Apr 2018

Trump Rails Against Oil Prices, OPEC Pushes Back

© Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

U.S. President Donald Trump accused OPEC on Friday of "artificially" boosting oil prices, drawing rebukes from some of the world's top energy exporters."Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea. Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!" Trump wrote on Twitter.It was unclear what triggered the tweet, Trump's first mention of OPEC on social media during his term.U.S. oil prices are near a three-year high…

21 Mar 2018

Record-size US Offshore Oil Lease Sale Draws Modest Bidding

© Mike Mareen / Adobe Stock

Oil and gas drillers bid modestly on Gulf of Mexico acreage in the largest lease sale in American history on Wednesday, dealing a setback to the Trump administration's efforts to rapidly pump up investment in the region. The Interior Department had offered up a record 77 million acres (31.2 million hectares) for development in the Gulf with discounted royalty rates on the shallower tracts as part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump's administration to ramp up U.S. fossil fuels output.

23 Feb 2018

Schlumberger, Subsea 7 Mull Oil Services JV

(Photo: Subsea 7)

Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services firm, and smaller peer Subsea 7 said on Friday they were entering exclusive talks to form a joint venture to deliver subsea installations and services for oilfields. The news lifted Subsea 7 shares on hopes the talks could be the first step towards a full takeover, in a sector that has already seen consolidation with the 2016 merger of Technip and FMC Technologies. In recent months, oil firms have returned to profits due to higher oil prices and the benefits of deep cost cuts they made during the downturn.

21 Feb 2018

Offshore Sector Shows Improvement: Sembcorp Marine

Global exploration and production (E&P) capex spending continues to show signs of improvement, underpinned by higher oil prices, says Sembcorp Marine Ltd (SembMarine). Offshore rigs utilization and day rates have stabilized, but rig orders recovery may take some time as the oversupply in most drilling segments has yet to re-balance. The production segment remains encouraging and we are responding to increasing enquiries and tenders for innovative engineering solutions. We continue to make progress in our efforts to develop and commercialise our Gravifloat technology for near-shore gas infrastructure solutions. Demand for repairs and upgrades, especially for LNG carriers and cruise ships remains strong.

16 Jan 2018

BP Deepwater Horizon Costs Balloon to $65 Billion

Response crews battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon April 21, 2010 (File photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

BP said on Tuesday it would take a new charge over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill after again raising estimates for outstanding claims, lifting total costs to around $65 billion. The post-tax, non-operating $1.7-billion charge BP will take in its fourth quarter results came after claims resolved in recent months were about seven times higher than anticipated, the London-based company said. The claims were part of the Court Supervised Settlement Program that was set up in the wake of the disaster and included nearly 400,000 cases, BP said.

07 Jul 2017

Firmer MidEast, WAfrica Sentiment Supports VLCC Rates

Middle East rates helped by fewer old vessels; about 96 MidEast cargoes fixed, 25 to come. Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) could rise next week on firm sentiment in the Middle East and West Africa markets but higher oil prices and fewer floating storage opportunities could cap increases, brokers said on Friday. "Middle East rates to the east have crept up one or two points (on the Worldscale measure)," said Ashok Sharma, managing director of BRS Baxi in Singapore. "Rates are up to W52.50 today. There is a slightly firm undertone," he added. Rates from the Middle East are being partly supported by fewer older vessels that would otherwise discount charter rates due to age and plenty of cargoes from West Africa, brokers said. "Rates from West Africa are showing resilience.

30 Jun 2017

US Oil Drillers Cut Rigs for First Week since January

© Stojanovic Milos / Adobe Stock

U.S. oil drillers cut rigs this week for the first time since January and the pace of additions slowed this quarter due to declines in crude prices despite an OPEC-led effort to cut production and end a multi-year supply glut. Analysts, however, noted the weekly decline in the rig count was likely just a brief pause in a drilling recovery expected to continue through at least 2019. Drillers cut two oil rigs in the week to June 30, bringing the total rig count down to 756, still more than double the 341 rigs in the same week a year ago…

16 Jun 2017

Frontline Expects VLCC Storage Play to Rise

Tanker firm Frontline, controlled by billionaire investor John Fredriksen, expects a growing number of supertankers to be used for storing crude in anticipation of higher oil prices, its chief executive told Reuters on Friday. While none of Frontline's own vessels are currently used for this purpose, independent shipbrokers estimate that around 10 of the world's very large crude carriers (VLCCs) have recently been contracted for oil storage. "It sounds correct, and the number is rising," Frontline Chief Executive Officer Robert Macleod said. "It's always an option," he added. Frontline has 20 VLCCs, each of wich can carry around 2 million barrels of oil.