Oil prices started the year on a high note as some geopolitical tension pushed aside bearish concerns. Both WTI and Brent opened above $60 per barrel for the first time in years. The protests in Iran were the main driver of the bullish sentiment in the oil market. Anti-government demonstrations swept across the country in… Read more »
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Oil-Rich Venezuela Is Out Of Gasoline
After lining up for an entire day to get a plane ticket to visit her relatives in the western city of Mérida, Josefina García did not know if she and her octogenarian mother were going to reach their final destination on time for Christmas. The airport is located 76 kilometers away from the city and… Read more »
Gas Wars: The First Energy Conflict In 2018
The eastern Mediterranean is expected to witness the first conflict of 2018, as developments at the end of 2017 are signaling worsening relationships between Turkey and the Greek Cypriot-Greece-Israel-Egypt bloc. Territorial disputes over natural gas and newly discovered hydrocarbon reserves in the eastern Mediterranean basin are the reason. Up until a few years ago, the hope was that… Read more »
Will Oil And Gold Prices Rise This Year?
Crude oil and gold prices both started the year on a firm footing, but are prices going to keep going up in 2018? Here’s what analysts said about the commodities. Oil prices expected to stay around $60, but could go as low as $30 Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices both opened above $60… Read more »
Oil Firms To Boost Drilling In Norway’s Mature Offshore Areas In 2018
Following a discouraging 2017 Arctic exploration campaign, oil companies plan to nearly double exploration drilling offshore Norway with a focus on more mature areas of the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), according to preliminary company drilling plans. Up to 50 exploration wells, including such to delineate previously made discoveries, could be drilled offshore Norway in 2018,… Read more »
U.S. And China Agree On North Korea Sanctions Enforcement
The United States and China will jointly monitor the implementation of sanctions on North Korea, Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reported, citing U.S. officials. The monitoring system will seek to make sure China is in fact taking part in the sanctions and that the U.S. and China military commands have direct communication. The two will share… Read more »
U.S. Bank Freezes $22B Assets Of Kazakhstan’s Oil Fund
In a rare move, Bank of New York Mellon has frozen US$22 billion worth of assets held by Kazakhstan’s sovereign oil wealth fund as part of a years-long legal battle between Kazakhstan and Moldovan investors in Kazakh oil and gas assets, a source told Reuters on Thursday. Moldovan businessman Anatolie Stati and his son Gabriel… Read more »
Saudi-U.S. Nuclear Talks To Start In Weeks
Saudi Arabia will initiate talks with the U.S. administration within a few weeks about the participation of U.S. nuclear energy companies in the Kingdom’s first civilian nuclear energy project. That’s what Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in an interview with Reuters, adding that reaching an agreement with the U.S. will allow U.S. companies to bid… Read more »
The 5 Oil Factors To Watch In 2018
Oil prices are set to close out the year somewhere around 15 percent up, and the oil market looks more stable than it has in years. But what does 2018 have in store? Most analysts believe more of the same – inventory declines, some shale growth, a gradual increase in the oil price and eventually… Read more »
Canadian Oil Prices Plunge To $30
Oil from Canada’s oil sands is now selling at a $27-per-barrel discount relative to WTI, the sharpest difference in more than four years. Western Canada Select (WCS), a benchmark for oil from Alberta’s oil sands, has plunged in December, falling to just $30 per barrel at the end of this past week. WCS typically trades… Read more »
