Houthis Say They Will Target US Ships
Yemen's Houthi movement will expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include U.S. ships, an official from the Iran-allied group said on Monday, as it vowed to keep up attacks after U.S. and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.Attacks by the Houthis on ships in area since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers in an escalation of Israel's more than three-month war with Hamas militants in Gaza. The group says it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians.British…
Saudi Arabia Remains China's Top Crude Supplier
Russia remained China's second-largest source of crude oil in 2022, following repeat top supplier Saudi Arabia, as Chinese refiners snapped up low-cost Russian barrels while Western countries shunned them after the Ukraine crisis.China's crude oil imports from Russia jumped 8% in 2022 from a year earlier to 86.25 million tonnes, equivalent to 1.72 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday.Russian crude has been trading in widening discounts to global oil benchmarks following Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine…
Brent Crude Tops $112. Tanker Owners "Are Having a Ball"
Oil benchmarks are hitting multiple price and spread milestones across several key markets as the fallout from severe sanctions on key exporter Russia sows confusion and panic among global crude oil traders, shipping firms and importers.The oil industry has been gripped by acute risk aversion in the finance and shipping sectors after several nations including the United States sanctioned multiple Russian entities following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, though Washington has explicitly exempted energy products from the Russian measures.
Iranian Tanker Hit by Missiles, Oil Rises
Oil prices jumped more than 2% on Friday, October 11, 2019, after Iranian media said a state-owned oil tanker had been struck by missiles in the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia, raising the prospect of supply disruptions weeks after attacks on Saudi oil plants.The Suezmax crude tanker Sabiti was ablaze and suffered heavy damage after being hit by two missiles, Iranian media reported.Both oil benchmarks recorded their biggest daily rise since Sept. 16, the first trading day after the attacks on Saudi installations pushed oil prices up around 20%.International benchmark Brent crude futures were up$1.39, or around 2.4%, at $60.49 a barrel by 0829 GMT.U.S.
Trump Rails Against Oil Prices, OPEC Pushes Back
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…
Oil Trades Strengthen to Mid-2015 Levels on Iranian Unrest
Oil prices posted their strongest opening to a year since 2014 on Tuesday, with crude rising to mid-2015 highs amid large anti-government rallies in Iran and ongoing supply cuts led by OPEC and Russia. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded flat at around $60.40 by 1200 GMT after hitting $60.74 earlier in the day, their highest since June 2015. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were also flat at around $66.80 after hitting a May 2015 high of $67.29 a barrel earlier in the day.
Crude Oil Markets Roiled by Sell Off
A sell-off that began last week continued to roil crude markets, which have been weighed down by worries of oversupply and lackluster demand, pushing Brent crude to a contract low on Monday. U.S. crude traded below $90 a barrel, despite a brief mid-morning rally, while Brent traded below $92 a barrel. Traders and analysts expressed uncertainty about how far global oil benchmarks could fall. "Supply continues to weigh heavy on the market and demand isn't keeping up with it," said Oliver Sloup, director of managed futures at iitrader.com LLC in Chicago. U.S. November crude was down 23 cents at $89.51 a barrel 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT). The benchmark had touched an intraday low of $88.76 a barrel at 10:38 a.m. EDT (1438 GMT) before rallying some 86 cents in the next 45 minutes.
Not All Contangos are Created Equal
After the collapse of the global financial system in 2008, crude oil forward curves moved into steep contango. Fortunes were made in storage asset plays in 2009-2010, which is likely the reason that so much attention is being devoted to the topic today; however, the contango is inherently different today than it was after The Great Recession. As the U.S. energy revolution continues to develop, global crude oil supply and demand dynamics have begun to evolve. Improvements to hydraulic fracturing processes have helped the U.S. become the world’s largest crude oil producer.
Divorce Costs Could Sour Scotland's North Sea Hopes
Scottish nationalists are betting $2.5 trillion of hydrocarbons trapped miles beneath the North Sea could bankroll an independent Scotland, but winning control of the European Union's largest oil reserves would be no blank cheque. Scotland says the bulk of Britain's North Sea oil and gas reserves are in its waters, while London says any division would be subject to negotiations should Scots vote to end their 307-year-old union with England in a referendum on Sept. 18. Oil is the punch in Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond's pitch for independence: he accuses London of squandering the North Sea's mineral wealth and says Scotland would be one of the world's richest countries if it took control of its own destiny.
