Oil Ministers News

After the first OPEC oil production cut in eight years took effect in January, oil traders from Houston to Singapore started emptying millions of barrels of crude from storage tanks. Investors hailed the drawdowns as the beginning of the end of a two-year supply glut - raising hopes for steadily rising per-barrel prices. It hasn't worked out that way. Now, many of those same storage tanks are filling back up or draining more slowly than investors and oil firms had expected, according…

Oil rallied to four-month highs on Thursday, underpinned by a surprisingly large drop in U.S. inventory levels the previous day and by growing expectations for the world's largest producers to agree to cut supply. Brent crude futures were last up 55 cents on the day at $52.41 a barrel by 1408 GMT, having risen to a session peak of $52.65, the highest in four months. U.S. futures rose 46 cents to $50.29 a barrel, having broken above $50 for the first time since June this year. A number of OPEC oil ministers plus Russia's energy minister set to attend an energy conference in Istanbul are expected to meet together informally although they are unlikely to make any new decisions, OPEC sources said.

World oil prices resumed a months-long rout on Tuesday to close at their lowest in more than two years, pressured by reduced economic and demand growth forecasts. U.S. crude oil prices fell faster than European Brent, reversing a weeks-long compression in the Brent/WTI spread amid signs that U.S. refiners are starting to buy cut-priced West African or Mediterranean crudes, re-opening a once common arbitrage. The International Monetary Fund cut its global economic growth forecasts for the third time this year, warning of weaker growth in core euro zone countries, Japan and Brazil. And German industrial output fell in August at its steepest rate since January 2009. "The IMF forecast is weighing on (demand) sentiment," said Phil Flynn, an analyst for the Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Brent crude oil on Monday slumped to its lowest in over two years, below $97 per barrel as lacklustre economic data from China, the world's top energy consumer, cast a shadow over the outlook for oil demand at a time of abundant supply. * U.S. China's factory output grew at the weakest pace in nearly six years in August, while growth in other key sectors also cooled, raising fears the world's second-largest economy may be at risk of a sharp slowdown. October Brent, which was due to expire later on Monday, fell to as low as $96.21 a barrel, its weakest since July 2, 2012. The futures contract recovered to around $96.40 by 0730 GMT, down 71 cents. U.S. crude was down $1.00 at $91.27, after touching $90.63 - near a 16-month low of $90.43 hit last week.

OPEC President and Venezuelan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez dismissed another increase in crude oil output in July, quelling speculation that a recent price spike could pressure exporters to crank out more oil. Mexico's Energy Minister Luis Tellez, meanwhile, said the Wednesday summit of the oil trio -- the three engineers of a March 1999 producers' pact to restrict output and lift sagging prices -- would not produce any firm action. South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction has won a $510 million order to build a container terminal in Hong Kong. Hyundai said it had been awarded the deal by a group of Hong Kong companies, including Modern Terminals Ltd. Work is to begin on May 12 for completion by October 2004.

OPEC President and Venezuelan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez dismissed another increase in crude oil output in July, quelling speculation that a recent price spike could pressure exporters to crank out more oil. Asked ahead of a Wednesday meeting with his fellow oil ministers from Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Mexico if production would be raised in July, Rodriguez replied "no." Mexico's Energy Minister Luis Tellez, meanwhile, said the Wednesday summit of the oil trio -- the three engineers of a March 1999 producers' pact to restrict output and lift sagging prices -- would not produce any firm action.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has postponed a top-level seminar on oil markets, originally scheduled for March, until later in the year. The seminar, "OPEC and the global energy balance: towards a sustainable energy future," was to be held in Vienna the two days before the March 16 meeting of oil ministers in which they are to discuss output policy for the next few months. "It will be postponed because a various ministers are not going to be able to attend," OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez told Reuters. Another OPEC official said the seminar was tentatively rescheduled for September. - (Reuters)

U.S. oil prices fell Monday on renewed concerns that the OPEC cartel's recent cut in production would not be enough to counter the impact of a global economic slowdown. U.S. light sweet crude for September delivery traded down 1.4 percent, or 23 cents, at $26.96 a barrel. London Brent futures for September delivery traded down 21 cents to $24.98 a barrel. Oil prices have declined steadily since late May amid increasing evidence that the global economic slowdown is eating into demand for petroleum this year. Concern over falling prices and a sustained rise in spare petroleum stocks spurred the OPEC producer cartel to agree last week to a 1 million barrels per day (bpd) output cut. But traders were reluctant to push prices up without indications that the world economy is rebounding.

Euphoria surrounding the soaring price per barrel of oil soured a bit last week, as world oil markets took a nosedive as speculators apparently decided the rally which doubled prices since March had gone far enough. London benchmark Brent blend futures dipped $0.61 cents to $20.02 a barrel in late trading after overnight U.S. data indicated slower than expected demand growth for gasoline in the world's biggest oil consuming nation. Weekly government data showed U.S. gasoline inventories rose in the week to August 20 when dealers were expecting a large decline. "Gasoline supplies appear plentiful," said Prudential Bache broker Nauman Barakat. Traders said the investment hedge funds which have led this year's price rise, in the wake of OPEC supply cuts, sold heavily on Thursday.

Excess oil industry stockpiles are likely to disappear entirely in October or November as winter demand overwhelms supply constrained by OPEC export curbs, analysts said. Inventory statistics, always key to the international oil market, have assumed an even greater significance over the past week as OPEC officials singled out the indicator as the leading factor for judging when to ease supply limits. Now, even the most cautious of analysts expect OPEC's target of shrinking stockpiles to pre-1998 levels to be achieved before the end of the year - at least three months before an agreement on output cuts expires. "With no schedule for another quota review before March 2000…

Oil prices marched boldly along near 32-month highs last week after key OPEC exporters said output cuts should be kept in place until March next year. On Sept. 14 Benchmark Brent blend for delivery in October was trading 20 cents firmer at $23.68 a barrel, just four cents off a 32-month high touched the day before. Brokers cautioned that technical factors to do with the expiry Sept. 15 of the October contract on London's futures market had inflated Brent's value. However, they agreed the trend was moving in favor of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the producer group of Middle Eastern, Asian, African and Latin American countries responsible for 60 percent of the world's oil exports.

Senior oil ministry officials from OPEC's 11 member states will meet Nov. 17 in Vienna to prepare a rare summit of the cartel's heads of state and discuss the oil market outlook, an OPEC spokesman said. "They will flesh out the agenda for the heads of state summit and discuss the medium-term objective for OPEC, the oil market situation, supply and demand," said Farouk Muhammed, spokesman for the Vienna-based OPEC secretariat. The meeting will be followed in early December by talks in Caracas of senior diplomats and oil ministry officials, plus OPEC Secretary-General Rilwanu Lukman, to complete preparatory work for the summit on March 30. OPEC oil ministers are expected to hold their next full conference in Caracas on March 27, to review a 12-month agreement to cut production.

Oil prices last Tuesday (Oct. 26) consolidated recent gains, moving sideways after a bounce last week. International benchmark Brent crude traded seven cents higher $22.90 a barrel after leaping 80 cents on Oct. 22. The gains came after fresh signals from oil producers including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that they would consider extending the duration of limits on exports. On Tuesday Omani Oil Minister Mohammad bin Hamad Seif al-Ramhi said he backed a continuation of the cuts beyond their expiry in March. Oman is one of a handful of non-OPEC producers that took part in global output cuts that rescued oil prices from less than $10 earlier this year.