Continuing escalating pressure on oil prices
A few days after OPEC decided to accelerate production cuts and bring 648,000 barrels per day
to market in the July-August period, the price of Brent crude is back above $120 a barrel
There are several reasons why the initial downward pressure on oil prices may not continue
At first, doubts began creeping in about whether OPEC could produce more – in that sense
the sharp rises in crude oil prices certainly didn’t help
Second, everything is set for a particularly strong period of summer demand
and global crude oil inventories are likely to continue declining
With expectations of macroeconomic weakness yet to affect demand
the coming weeks will see significant upward pressures
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Oil market conditions this week
The latest decisions of the companies that drive the oil market
Oil market conditions this week
Just two days after OPEC accelerated the pace of production increases
Saudi Aramco raised its July formula prices for Asian buyers to higher-than-expected levels
raising concerns that supply may be lower than expected
The Arab Light OSP on July 22 for the largest inflow of Arab Light crude in Saudi Arabia rose by $2.1 a barrel compared to June
which is almost a dollar more than the monthly changes in the Dubai futures spread
With Chinese buying expected to return on a large scale after recording some of the country’s
worst post-epidemic numbers in April and May
Aramco can afford to raise its prices, especially with production expected to drop in Russia
Prices have increased in Europe, keeping only US prices unchanged
Saudi Arabia may indicate that it will not be able to produce as much crude oil as the OPEC agreement stipulates
leading to Brent prices rising above $120 a barrel again
The latest decisions of the companies that drive the oil market
Australia’s largest upcoming gas project, the $3.6 billion Barossa operated by Santos (ASX: STO)
may be at risk as Indigenous Australian groups have filed a lawsuit, saying the project threatens their way of life
US equity fund EIG is said to be in discussions with Spanish oil major Repsol (BME:REP) to buy up to 25%
of the company’s exploration and production in a $4-5 billion deal
Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) has signed a 25-year LNG supply deal with China Gas Holdings on a FOB basis for 0.7 million tons per year
coming from its upcoming Lake Charles LNG project and is expected to begin First deliveries in 2026
Oil sector updates
Russia is confident that it can bypass the European Union’s insurance ban
Russia has claimed that it is confident of bypassing a recent EU ban on Russian insurance and financing on Russian
crude oil that will begin after a six-month hiatus, primarily by using state guarantees to cover shipments
The White House allows Venezuela to ship debt
In a symbolic move to ease Venezuelan oil sanctions, the Biden administration signaled European oil companies Eni (NYSE:E)
and Repsol (BME:REP) to begin shipping Venezuelan oil to Europe, and to resume debt-swaps that were halted in 2020
India doubles Russian crude supplies
According to Bloomberg, Indian state-owned refiners are collectively finalizing new six-month supply contracts
with major Russian oil producer Rosneft, with Russian imports already rising to 750,000 barrels per day in May
Lebanon warns Israel against encroaching on the disputed area
Tensions suddenly escalated in the eastern Mediterranean after Beirut warned the Israeli authorities against any activity
in the yet-to-be-determined disputed area between the two countries, in response to the arrival of an FPSO vessel there
US natural gas futures jump amid rising demand
US first-month Henry Hub natural gas futures rose to $9.37 per million British thermal units yesterday as record energy demand
in Texas and higher cooling-driven generation in general along with lower gas production maintained a steady upward push to prices
All the big players are leaving Alaska
Oil and gas companies are abandoning federal leases at Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
as BP (NYSE: BP) and Hilcorp Energy ditched options last week amid intense conservation pressure
even though state authorities remain Hopes to revive the pits
The NWS well does not find any hydrocarbons
One of the most closely drilled wells in Australia this year, the Sasanof-1 exploration well off the Northwest Shelf
in Western Australia turned out to be dry despite initial estimates that put it at 7.2 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves
jeopardizing natural gas production. The future of the country is at risk
Kurdistan is challenging the Iraqi authorities and courts
Iraqi Kurdistan authorities have rejected a decision by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court declaring
that the separate Kurdistan Regional Government’s marketing of crude oil is illegal
with another round of negotiations expected between Baghdad and Erbil this week
Russia’s legal struggle over alumina refinery
Russia’s Rusal Aluminum Group has launched a lawsuit against Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO)
seeking to reclaim 20% of the Australian Queensland refinery that it held together in a joint venture
before Rio cut off Rusal’s access to production and acquired it
BP-Shell is the only Trinidad License Provider
The government of Trinidad and Tobago has received bids for four of the 17 deepwater blocks
it has auctioned off to stem the decline in gas production
with a consortium including BP (NYSE: BP) and Shell (LON: SHEL) all bidding
Biden administration waives tariffs for solar panels
Despite earlier concerns about Chinese tariff circumvention, the White House waived tariffs on solar panels from Cambodia
Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam for two years amid a nationwide slowdown in US solar projects due to supply chain delays
Elliott is suing the London Metal Exchange over the cancellation of nickel trading
US hedge fund Elliott Associates is suing the London Metal Exchange for $456 million
to cancel nickel deals in the trading chaos seen last March
arguing that the exchange should not wipe out deals after prices more than
doubled from $100,000/metric ton within hours
The United States may never build a new oil refinery again
Amid unprecedented refining margins boosting downstream profitability to unprecedented levels
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) CEO Mike Wirth stated that there may not be a new refinery in the United States
although another Large scale refinery launched in 1976
artical name Continuing escalating pressure on oil prices