China has been buying a lot of U.S. crude oil lately, perhaps in a belated attempt to fulfill some of the energy import quotas agreed with Washington last year or perhaps in a bid to take advantage of supercheap U.S. crude. But the buying spree may be about to end.
China Ramps Up U.S. Crude Oil Imports Read More »
Big Oil has frequently been chided for merely trying to burnish its green credentials, and so far, it has done little to convince us that it is truly moving forward to greenness. Despite the much-vaunted megatrend involving the global electrification drive and shift to renewable energy, the most ambitious pledges by Big Oil to pursue net-zero agendas remain weak at best.
Oil Majors That Bet Big On Renewables Read More »
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz recently claimed that the Kingdom will be the world’s biggest hydrocarbon producer “even” in 2050. But is this just a boast? Or can they live up to it?
Saudi Arabia Eyes Total Dominance In Oil And Gas Read More »
Bullish sentiment appears to have returned to the stock markets with a vengeance. In a historic rally that has taken even die-hard bulls by surprise, the S&P 500 has managed to claw back all of its 2020 losses, taking just 53 sessions for the index to fully restore the nearly $10T in value it shed in an epic bear market. The oil markets have been nearly as impressive.
Bulls Beware: A Dark Cloud Is Forming Over Oil Markets Read More »
Within a month, the U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate recorded two first-of-a-kind events. First, it fell below zero on April 20. Then, it soared up so quickly it is about to book its best month ever. Still, many analysts and other observers remain wary of any premature optimism. Bankruptcies in the U.S. shale patch are rising. Seventeen companies have already filed for Chapter 11 protection since the start of the year, the FT reported. Still, many more bankruptcies are on the way, with Rystad Energy estimating that as many as 73 shale drillers could be forced into bankruptcy by the end of the year.
Oil Goes from Zero to $35 in a Month, But is it Enough? Read More »
Saudi Arabia and Russia must have known an oil price crash would result when they broke up their three-year-long bromance designed to push up oil prices.    Two weeks after the break-up and nearly 4 million bpd of total promised additional oil supply to the market next month, and Riyadh and Moscow are now counting the cost and trying to adjust government spending.
Saudi Arabia’s Oil Price War Is Backfiring Read More »
You know that the oil markets have truly gone to the dogs when they are suddenly riskier than one of the world’s most volatile commodities: bitcoin. Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies are synonymous with extreme bouts of volatility. However, it’s crude oil that is now earning that dubious distinction after exhibiting price swings wilder than even the leading cryptocurrency.
Oil Is Now More Volatile Than Bitcoin Read More »
Not long ago, Bill Gates offered some investment advice. That, in itself, constitutes news, but the content and the reactions make up a more interesting story. Gates told the Financial Times, in essence, that investors who want to do something about climate change should stop making up lists of companies they do not want in their portfolios based on involvement in fossil fuel production or use. They should, instead, invest in disruptive technologies that will provide actual solutions to climate change.
Is Bill Gates Right On Energy Investing? Read More »
Quelling fears in the market is the right thing to do, but reality also needs to be addressed. Nasr’s message is that of an oil company CEO, taking all precautions to deal with a calamity. ADNOC’s Sultan will be doing the same. Still, the oil market is at present a victim of geopolitical power projections of emotional leaders superseding rationality. This confrontation is one of a possibly unprecedented order, not for oil (as skeptics again will state) but with oil as a weapon for defeat or survival. The continuing reference to the Iran-Iraq tanker war during 1980-1988 is out of touch with reality. At this time, it is not going to be Iran denying support or trade with Iraq, but a possible Arab-Iranian confrontation, led by the USA if no countermeasures are being implemented.
The Oil Crisis Saudi Arabia Can’t Solve Read More »
After years of improvements in drilling techniques and impressive “efficiency gains,” there is now evidence that the U.S. shale industry is reaching the end of the road on Well productivity.
A report earlier this month from Raymond James & Associates finds that the U.S. shale industry may be struggling to achieve further productivity gains. If these improvements begin to fizzle out, it could result in “an inflection point in future global oil supply/demand balances,” the investment bank said.
Oil well productivity is “tracking WAY below our model,” analysts Marshall Adkins and John Freeman wrote in the report. They note that U.S. oil production is up less than 100,000 BPD over the first seven months of 2019, compared to the 600,000-BPD increase over the same period in 2018.
Weakening Shale Productivity “VERY Bullish” For Oil Prices Read More »
