436 thousand barrels, a drop in US oil inventories for this week
436 thousand barrels a drop in US oil inventories for this week:
The American Petroleum Institute (API) announced yesterday,
Tuesday, April 20, 2021, that US crude oil inventories reached 436,000 barrels for the week ending April 16th.
After analysts had expected a decline of 2.860 million barrels for this week.
In the previous week, the American Petroleum Institute announced a decline in oil inventories of 3.608 million barrels,
and analysts had expected a decline of 2.889 million barrels.
Sales inventories were also reported to have decreased by 1.617 million barrels
for the week ending April 16 – after an increase of 5.565 million barrels in the previous week.
Analysts had expected an increase of 650,000 barrels this week.
Changes in oil prices this week
Before the American Petroleum Institute data was released,
oil prices decreased due to declining demand rates,
as a result of the high number of people infected with the Coronavirus in India,
which ranks as one of the largest oil importers in the world.
Prior to midday on Tuesday, WTI was trading for $ 62.29,
down 1.72% on a day but higher than this time last week by more than $ 2 USD per barrel.
Meanwhile, the benchmark Brent crude oil price, trading at $ 66.33 a barrel, is down 1.07% for the week.
At the end of the day, WTI was trading for $ 62.29, while Brent crude was trading for $ 66.33 a barrel.
Weekly energy production rates
Coinciding with the rise in crude oil inventories this week,
in the last week ending April 9th, daily crude production rose to 11.0 million barrels,
according to the Energy Information Administration data.
However, the increase is still limited from October of 2020 until this week.
Cushing’s stock indexes decreased by 1.286 million barrels.
India’s demand for oil has declined due to the Coronavirus
The increasing number of people infected with the Coronavirus has caused the closure of some oil fields,
and India’s oil production decreased by 5% from April of last year until March of this year,
and refining operations decreased due to weak demand for oil.
The average price of crude oil that India bought in April and May was $ 19 a barrel,
while India’s purchase price of oil in January 2020 was $ 60 a barrel.
Thanks to last year’s price drop that hadn’t happened in years, India saved $ 685.11 million.
The Gulf States Are Planning New Oil and Gas Projects at a Value of 10 Billion Dollars
The Arab Gulf states announced the opening of new projects in the oil and gas sector during the first quarter of 2021,
at a value of $ 10 billion, out of $ 32.3 billion allocated to projects in all sectors.
The Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, represented by Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
and the United Arab Emirates added the oil industry as the second largest project value
in the first quarter after the projects sector of the BNC Network Special Projects Company,
cited by TradeArabia.
The announced projects in utilities were worth a total of US$14.5 billion,
according to BNC Network’s estimates.
At the global level, Saudi Arabia accounted for 54% of the Q1 announcements with projects worth $19 billion,
followed by Qatar with 21% of the value of Q1 announcements.
GCC
In the oil and gas sector, it was Qatar that contributed the most to the $10 billion worth of projects in the GCC in the first quarter,
with the announcement of the expansion of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity.
Qatar’s plan is to replace energy with LNG since February 2021 at a rate of 77 million tons per year,
until it reaches 110 million tons per year in 2025. According to the plan,
production is expected to start in the third quarter of 2025, at a cost.
$ 28.75 billion as one of the largest recent Qatari investments.
project to expand
Qatar is also planning a project to expand the “North Field” it shares with Iran,
the largest natural gas field in the world.
It is also planning another production phase of LNG, through an expansion project in the North Field (NFS),
the largest natural gas field in the world, which it shares with Iran.
This project is set to increase Qatar’s capacity to produce LNG from 110 mmtpa to 126 mmtpa annually,
and with an expected production start date in 2027.
Nigeria Is Preparing To Start More Than 90 Oil and Gas Projects
According to the latest GlobalData report, up to 100 projects in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector
are set to begin implementation by 2025, which is 23% of all petrochemical projects starting in Africa,
over the next five years.
Until 2025, petrochemical projects will retain the largest share of startup projects in Nigeria.
It is expected to implement 28 projects, then 25 oil and gas projects, 24 refining projects,
and 23 medium projects, according to GlobalData.
It is planned that the projects will be carried out with close monitoring,
in order to reduce its dependence on fuel imports, to renovate old refineries and build new refineries.
The implementation of these projects will make Nigeria an exporter of oil and distillates for neighboring countries.
The largest producer and exporter of crude oil in Africa is expected to terminate the crude oil-to-fuel swap deals beginning in 2023.
Nigerian National Petroleum
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said in October of last year.
Nigerian refineries project, which needs to be revamped, will be completely renewed by 2023.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude oil producer and exporter, is expected to end its crude-for-fuel swap deals by 2023 when its refining capacity is set to increase with state refineries revamped and a new refinery built, Mele Kyari,
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said in October last year.
Nigerian refineries, which are in need of refurbishment,
will be fully revamped and running by 2023.
Back in October, Kyari also said that “The outlook for Nigeria’s downstream sector looks bright with attractive market conditions,
large market, and significant crude distillation capacity additions from various refinery projects,
and improvements of the distribution network & the use of natural gas.”
A Decline in the Rate of Libyan Oil Production
The National Oil Corporation in Libya announced that the Harika port crisis due to lack of funds
needed to repair infrastructure, to be reduced Libyan oil production to less than one million barrels per day,
for the first time in several months,
as it was forced to stop production in several fields.
“While the National Oil Corporation understands the motives for the temporary production reduction that the company
was forced to do and give an excuse for the Government of National Unity due to the delay in approving the 2021 budget,
it returns legal responsibility to the Central Bank of Libya,
which refused to liquidate the financial arrangements that were approved in accordance
with the decision of the former Government of National Accord.”
The National Oil Corporation blamed the central bank
for being the indirect cause of problems including the collapse of the reservoir and transmission line,
contamination of reservoirs, and suspension of wells,
all because it did not provide the necessary maintenance papers to the state oil company.