A team of banking and technology managers and former U.S. regulatory commissioners said on Monday that they are launching the world’s first regulatory compliant cryptocurrency backed by a physical asset—OilCoin, which will be based on oil reserves. OilCoin’s public token sale, also known as the initial coin offering (ICO), is expected to begin in January… Read more »
Posts By: Olivia Cao
Baker Hughes: US rig count ticks up 2 units to 931
The US drilling rig count climbed for the fifth straight week with a 2-unit gain to 931 rigs working during the week ended Dec. 8, data from Baker Hughes indicate. The pair of rigs are both oil-targeted, bringing the total to 751 from a week ago. Gas-directed rigs remain unchanged from a week ago at… Read more »
Oil Prices Could Jump To $80 Next Year
Strong global economic growth and Saudi Arabia bringing a risk premium to oil prices could send Brent oil prices surging to $80 next year, more than 25 percent compared to current prices, according to economist Jim O’Neill, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. At 11:59am EST on Monday, Brent Crude was down 0.79… Read more »
Saudi Oil Minister Hints At Post OPEC Deal Strategy
OPEC and Russia-led non-OPEC oil producers left any ‘exit strategy’ talk out of their agreement to extend the production cut pact through the end of 2018 last week, and now Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih fed the market some hints about what OPEC would do after the cuts. Unless sudden oil market developments occur,… Read more »
ADNOC, CNPC agree to offshore collaboration
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) signed an agreement covering potential collaboration, including potential offshore opportunities and the sour gas development projects. The agreement covers discussions between the two companies on possible CNPC participation in the Lower Zakum, Umm Shaif, and Nasr areas as well as the Bab, Bu… Read more »
US Senate panel adopts Murkowski plan to lease ANWR to meet budget
The US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee adopted Chair Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alas.) proposal to authorize oil and gas leasing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain for federal budget reconciliation purposes. The final 13-10 vote on Nov. 15 ran along party lines, with Republicans voting aye and Democrats, with Independents Bernie Sanders (Vt.)… Read more »
IEA: ‘Too Early to Write Obituary of Oil’
The world’s consumers are not yet ready to say goodbye to the era of oil, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2017 report. WEO 2017 projects that global oil demand will continue to grow to 2040, although at a steadily decreasing pace. Up until the mid-2020s demand growth remains robust,… Read more »
Cybersecurity Pro: Oil and Gas Supply Chain Can Be Weak Link
Oil and gas companies employ various measures to protect their increasingly sophisticated operational infrastructure. Nevertheless, cyber-criminals are adept at finding vulnerabilities to gain access to these critical systems – and their efforts appear to be paying off. As a 2016 white paper from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) observes, cyberattacks against critical energy infrastructure systems have been… Read more »
Can WTI Hit $70 In 2018?
Comparative inventory (C.I.) has been dramatically reduced in 2017. Levels have fallen 159 mmb since February and are now approaching the 5-year average for the first time in nearly 3 years (Figure 1). (Click to enlarge) Figure 1. The U.S. Over-Supply of Oil is Ending. Source: EIA and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. An interpreted yield curve that… Read more »
Venezuela Just 24 Hours Away From Formal Declaration Of Default
Less than a week after Venezuela shocked the world by announcing it would proceed to restructure its massive external debt, even as it was within the grace period on hundreds of millions in unpaid interest expense, on Thursday the socialist nation confirmed it has never been closer to an official default after Reuters reported that… Read more »
