Futures Markets
Crude oil higher as Hurricane Dean strengthens
Crude oil prices rose on Friday as investors continued to worry about the effect that Hurricane Dean might have on oil production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.
Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NSYE: RDS.A, RDS.B) has reportedly closed two of its wells that might be in Dean’s path in the Gulf and evacuated workers.
Dean, [...]
Companies bid for Cyprus oil exploration licences
An international consortium and a US based company have applied for licences to explore for oil off Cyprus’ coast. The US company applied for one block while a consortium of 3 companies from Norway, the United Arab Emirates and the UK applied for 2 blocks. The names of the companies have not been [...]
WTI, Brent drop more than $2 per barrel
September contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were down on Thursday, dropping $2.33 to $71 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery was $2.22 cents lower to $69.42 on the Intercontinental Exchange in London.
Prices were lower as weather news improved, with a forecast that while Hurricane Dean will [...]
Russian experts at odds with regard to Arctic continental shelf
The Arctic icecap is thinning as a consequence of global warming so the race is on to claim ownership of the rich oil and gas resources under the North Pole and Russia is one of many nations competing to lay claim to the oil and gas reserves.
Russia seeks to claim the seabed under the Arctic [...]
EIA: Crude oil, gasoline stockpiles down last week
Crude oil prices were higher Wednesday as analysts and investors kept an eye on weather forecasts and the US Energy Information Administration said that oil and gasoline inventories declined again last week.
The EIA said that crude oil stockpiles were down by 5.2 million barrels in the week ending August 10 against an expected drop of [...]
Subprime mortgage crisis may affect oil demand
OPEC (the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) has warned that a sluggish US economy and fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis could cut oil consumption for the remainder of the year.
In its August Monthly Oil Market Report, OPEC repeated its view that major consumers have enough crude stocks, despite calls for more oil. [...]
CNOOC wins bid to explore for oil in Australia
The Ministry of Commerce has announced China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has won a bid to commence oil exploration in Australia.
Initially, CNOOC will invest Aus$81.3 million to carry out 3-D seismic survey and drill 5 wells on an oil field in the Bonaparte Basin, in coastal waters off the north coast of Australia.
CNOOC is [...]
Oil prices up on named tropical storm
Crude oil prices were higher in New York on Tuesday as a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean was upgraded to a tropical storm and given the name Dean as it heads toward the Caribbean.
Dean is expected to become a hurricane by the end of the week and analysts worry that it could enter the [...]
China certifies biggest oil discovery in Jidong Nanpu
China’s Ministry of Land and Resources has certified the proven oil reserves in the latest section of the Jidong Nanpu oil field in Bohai Bay at 445 million tons of oil.
This brings the total reserves for Jidong Nanpu at 1.18 billion tons of oil equivalent in oil and gas reserves.
The China National Petroleum Corp [...]
Fourth tropical depression forms in Atlantic Ocean
A fourth tropical depression has formed in the Atlantic Ocean, in addition to a tropical wave in the Gulf of Mexico, both of which could develop into hurricanes.
Speculation is already rife that an Air Force reconnaissance plane may need to fly into the Gulf system for data gathering, on what is expected to be a [...]
Denmark ready for North Pole mission
The Arctic icecap is thinning as a consequence of global warming so the race is on to claim ownership of the rich oil and gas resources under the North Pole and Russia is one of many nations competing to lay claim to the oil and gas reserves.
Researchers from Denmark now plan to head for the [...]
Oil prices up on weather forecast, equities gains
Oil prices were higher on Monday after the US National Hurricane Center reported that a tropical depression has formed in the Atlantic Ocean.
The depression was located around 840 kilometeres (520 miles) west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands at late morning Eastern Daylight Time, but forecasters said that by the time it approaches the Caribbean later [...]
Pressure in Cyprus following oil and gas exploration plans
Nicosia’s plans to go ahead with oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean are causing tension on the island of Cyprus. The Greek Cypriot government plans to invite tenders for oil exploration permits for a 70,000-square-kilometer sea area south and south-west of the island until mid August.
According to the government, provisional data [...]
Crude oil lower despite storm forecast
Crude oil ended lower on Friday after rising from earlier lows that took the price of West Texas Intermediate crude as low as $70.10 per barrel early in the session.
Prices came back up after a report that a tropical storm is beginning to form in the Atlantic Ocean that could reach the Gulf of Mexico [...]
Oil discovery for Chevron
Chevron Corporation has reported that its subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited (CABGOC) and partners made a major oil discovery in Block 14, offshore Angola.
A spokesperson for Chevron commented that they are pleased with the discovery and that this is a further demonstration of how they are accomplishing success from a high-impact exploration programme.
The [...]
WTI stands $7 lower than Aug. 1 peak
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil for September delivery was 52 cents lower to $71.63 per barrel at the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday, down more than $7 from it record high reached just nine days ago.
Analysts are worried that demand will slow on economic worries [...]
Output increases for Lukoil
One of the world’s leading vertically integrated oil & gas companies, OAO Lukoil Holdings, announced that its total oil and gas production rose 4.3% to 2.21 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the first 6 months of 2007.
Crude oil production rose 4.1% to 48.53 million tons (44 metric tons), an average [...]
Crude oil, gasoline inventories lower last week
Crude oil prices were lower at the close of trade in New York on Wednesday after having risen after new data from the US Energy Information Administration showed that inventories of both crude oil and gasoline were lower by unexpectedly high amounts in the week ending August 3.
Gasoline stockpiles, which had been expected to rise [...]
Singapore Petroleum & China National Offshore Oil Corporation Alliance
Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) has entered into a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) for Block 26/18. SPC will operate the Block with a 100% participating interest.
The Block covers an area of roughly 4,961 square kilometers and is situated in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea. [...]
WTI slightly higher in late trade
The price of crude oil was slightly higher on Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery up 6 cents to $72.12 per barrel in late trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange following the decision by the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates steady for another month and ahead of Wednesday’s US inventories [...]