Oil & refined products
IEA revises China oil outlook for 2010
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has revised its global oil demand forecast for the second time this year, following a double digit upwards surge in China’s year-on-year apparent oil demand in January.
Russia plans pipeline to speed oil feed to China
Russia will start construction on a $1.34 billion oil pipeline link this week, in order to speed up its delivery of crude supplies to China.
Iraq: the new hope for oil supply security?
As international oil companies wade into Iraq, forecasts for Iraqi production now stand as high as 10 million b/d within the decade. However political uncertainty and poor infrastructure leads analysts to caution against relying on Iraq as the next hope…
Q&A: Gunvor's Paymon Aliabadi
Privately owned energy trading company Gunvor is the third largest crude oil trader in the world after Glencore and Vitol. It has recently expanded into other energy markets. Paymon Aliabadi, managing director of Gunvor’s global energy group, talks to…
Shell: Nigerian oil and gas production is falling
Crude oil and gas production in Nigeria has fallen by around 30% over the past five years, following a slowdown in exploration and production activity in the country, says Ann Pickard, Shell’s regional executive vice-president of exploration and…
BAML: Iraq poses risk to oil outlook
Iraq poses a risk to oil market outlook as the country may not fulfil output expectations in the shorter term, says Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML). However, the prospect of a huge increase in oil production may still maybe able to keep prices under…
Global supply squeeze to ease with China/Saudi ties
The global oil supply tightness forecast for the next five years due to increasing Asian demand might be eased by China’s latest move to promote closer ties and secure more imports from Saudi Arabia, say analysts.
Oil price of $70-80/bbl expected in 2010
Oil prices are expected to remain between $70 and $80 per barrel (bbl) this year, according to a consensus of industry experts speaking at the IP Week conference in London.
Iraq's capacity puts pressure on oil prices
The recovery of Iraq’s oil industry is putting downward pressure on global oil prices as the ability of the world market to absorb the extra capacity might be limited, say oil experts.
JP Morgan and RBS Sempra Commodities agree $1.7bn deal
RBS Sempra Commodities has sold its global oil, global metals, and European power and gas assets to JP Morgan for $1.7 billion.
China seen overtaking US as biggest oil importer in 2-3 years
“In two to three years, China will be the largest global importer of crude oil,” Jorge Montepeque, global director of market reports for Platts, said at today’s Global Outlook for Oil event during IP Week.
China forces IEA to boost oil demand forecast
Higher-than-expected demand from China and other Asian countries has forced the International Energy Agency (IEA) to revise up its global oil demand forecast for 2010 by 120,000 barrels a day (b/d) to 86.5 million b/d.
Iraq adopts new pricing for US crude
Somo, the Iraqi state-owned oil marketing firm, has followed in the footsteps of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait by adopting the Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI) to benchmark price sales of US-bound crude from April onwards.
Interview: Mexico's hedging plans: in crude health
Pauline McCallion speaks to Gerardo Rodriguez, deputy undersecretary for public debt at Mexico’s Ministry of Finance & Public Credit, about the government’s highly successful oil price hedging strategy
EIA eyes Brazil for non-Opec supply growth
Brazil could be the largest source of non- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) oil and liquids supply growth between 2009 and 2011, with an annual production expected to increase by 410,000 barrels per day (b/d) within this period, says…
Oil price volatility still concerns the market
After oil prices started to stabilise in the last quarter of 2009, all eyes turned to the market outlook for the year ahead. But as we enter a new decade, oil still remains at the top of the risk agenda and price forecasts differ vastly. Lianna Brinded…
Singapore Exchange to trade fuel oil futures in February
SGX has announced details of a new fuel oil contract scheduled for launch on Monday, February 22.
Lukoil-led consortium seals Iraq deal
A consortium led by Russian private oil company Lukoil is the latest in a line of energy giants sealing deals in Iraq, in a move set to develop one of the country’s largest oil fields.
BP CEO: Oil industry faces supply challenge
The oil industry will continue to face supply challenges in the long term, following China’s burgeoning demand for imports, said BP’s chief executive at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Russia and Belarus sign deal and end dispute
Russia and Belarus have ended a dispute over oil supply by signing a deal on Russian oil deliveries for one-third of Belarus’s import needs, confirms Russian deputy prime minister Igor Sechin on the country’s government website.
Mexico sees return to normality for oil hedging
Banks’ ability to act as a counterparty is “back to a very normal situation” after the credit crunch, according to one of the designers of Mexico’s oil price hedging programme.