Oil Output Cuts News

OPEC+ agreed on Thursday to gradually ease its oil output cuts from May, after the new U.S. administration called on Saudi Arabia to keep energy affordable for consumers.The group, which has implemented deep cuts since a pandemic-induced oil price collapse in 2020, agreed to ease production curbs by 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May, another 350,000 bpd in June and further 400,000 bpd or so in July.Iran's oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, confirmed the group would boost output by a total of 1.1 million bpd by July.In addition…

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…

The minimal impact on oil prices from a global deal for record output cuts showed that oil producers have a mountain to climb if they are to restore market balance as the coronavirus shreds demand and sends stockpiles soaring, industry watchers said.After several days of discussions, oil producing and consuming countries aim to remove nearly 20 million barrels per day (bpd) or 20% of global supply from the market, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Monday.The oil market has barely shrugged, however: Brent crude gained 1.5% on Monday, while U.S. crude ended the day lower. The move underscores what both…

Rates fall back after climbing earlier in the week. Overcapacity, OPEC cuts, little scrapping, summer lull weigh on market. Owners of modern very large crude carriers (VLCCs) could see a gain in charter rates amid tightening vessel supply but freight rates, especially for older and newly delivered ships, will remain under pressure, brokers said on Friday. That came as rates rebounded slightly earlier this week on routes from the Middle East only for them to fall back to last week's levels by Friday. Rates hit around 53 on the Worldscale measure after Unipec fixed four VLCCs at around W51-52. "We did see a slight upward correction but rates have fallen off again," said a Singapore-based supertanker broker. That came after S-Oil and Thai Oil fixed VLCCs at W43 and W44.50 on Thursday.

Norway has no plans to cut its oil output, the country's oil and energy ministry said on Tuesday.   "The Ministry has a good dialogue with other countries about the oil market. We are not in a situation in which regulating production is on the agenda for Norway," the ministry said in a statement.   Kuwait's oil minister said earlier on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia's oil minister had spoken to countries including Norway, Turkmenistan and Egypt which had signalled a willingness to join oil output cuts. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Gwladys Fouche)

Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which fell to five-month lows this week, are set to drop further as excess tonnage and an absence of port congestion weigh on the market, brokers said. Supertanker charter rates, which are already below the breakeven levels for ship owners, could fall further due to new vessel deliveries, reactivation of older vessels from offshore crude storage, crude oil output cuts and refinery maintenance, brokers said. That will add to the volume of available tonnage as demand for cargo declines. Average VLCC earnings, which are down to about $18,400 per day, could fall towards $17,000 per day despite resistance from owners to at least maintain current rate levels. This compared with breakeven costs of about $22,500 per day, brokers said.

Shares in Norwegian tanker group Frontline rose 6.8 percent on Tuesday despite planned oil output cuts by OPEC, buoyed by strong chartering rates and a presentation of the company in New York. Frontline was trading at 157 Norwegian crowns per share, up from 147 crowns at Monday's close. It hit an all-time high of 170 crowns in November after rallying in 2000 from a January low of 36.9 crowns. The Oslo Bourse was up 1.4 percent at 14.00 GMT. "Frontline has a roadshow in New York and it seems very likely that the company's doing well because of this," an analyst said. Frontline finance director Tom Jebsen confirmed that Frontline was in talks with U.S. investors.

An upwards revision to world oil demand means the West will need more oil from the OPEC cartel this year and next than previously thought, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. IEA reported that the "call on OPEC oil" would be 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) greater this year than it previously forecast, at 27 million bpd. Next year the call on OPEC oil will be 300,000 bpd more than earlier estimates, although the absolute level is expected to sink to 26.8 million bpd in 2002 because of more production expected outside the cartel. The big revision paints a more bullish picture for global oil markets, particularly after OPEC's recent decision to slash output by one million barrels per day from September 1.