Will producers be tempted by a rise in crude oil prices to disregard quotas and voluntary production cuts?
Oil markets have taken some respite. But is this rally sustainable? Prices were surging until reports that Russia might back off on oil production cuts spooked the market. But even with that uncertainty, we’ve seen a complete turnaround in the markets. Just a month ago, crude oil markets faced a bloodbath. Since then, demand has…
The need to generate cash, along with political pressure, compelled the Saudis to make some bitter decisions
Saudi Arabia has capitulated. A few moves here and there, in Washington and elsewhere, made the trick work. Saudi Arabia made a surprise announcement last week that it would cut its crude oil output by a further one million barrels per day (bpd) from planned June levels, “voluntarily.” This takes the total Saudi production cuts…
With the world beginning to get back on its wheels, a ‘new normal’ is set to emerge. But what will new normal look like – particularly, will crude oil demand ever return to pre-pandemic levels? Our streets are not as empty as they were just a short while ago. Freeway traffic is rising. Prices at…
The world oil market seems to be climbing out of the depths. Yet questions linger. And another crude oil price rout could be just around the corner. The price of oil futures contracts could go to zero again, even faster than the May contracts fell, says CNBC’s Jim Cramer. The oil glut is dominating the…
He needs to do something to boost his electoral fortunes, with the presidential election looming in November
Is American President Donald Trump beating war drums in the Middle East to prop up the ailing crude oil industry? After having failed to turn around the oil markets by engineering an unprecedented output cut deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia, Trump seems to be looking desperately at other options. The crude oil industry is…
As the cost of pumping crude exceeds the selling price in most cases, production in many oil-producing countries is already taking a hit
The math is fuzzy. When the agreement to cut crude oil output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) was announced, U.S President Donald Trump, who played a dominant role in getting the agreement, went further. “Having been involved in the negotiations, to put it mildly, the number that OPEC-plus is looking to cut is…
As world demand declines thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, oil countries struggle to control prices with production cuts
Too little, too late? On Thursday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Russia led non-OPEC oil producers, commonly termed OPEC+, took an unprecedented step to agree to cut the global crude oil output by 10 million barrels a day (bpd). The next day, after a five-hour-long virtual meeting, G20 energy leaders endorsed…
For four years, the U.S. has firmly rejected joining the producers’ club to curb output. It can’t remain aloof any longer
Energy diplomats are on overdrive, seeking to bring an end to the senseless global crude oil war. Russia and Saudi Arabia have flooded the market, driving down oil prices. A G20 virtual meeting of energy leaders is being urged, with International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol reportedly propelling the idea. Former U.S. Energy Information…
With demand and supply shock acting simultaneously, crude markets are imploding. And this is just the tip of the iceberg
The global oil war is on and no one seems to be blinking. Saudi Arabia is set to increase its crude oil exports in May by about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd), bringing its total petroleum exports to 10.6 million bpd, an official at the Saudi Arabian Energy Ministry told the Saudi Press Agency. Russia…
It’s time for a Russia-Saudi-Arabia-Texas crude oil axis. But it will require the Trump administration to make some concessions
Is a Russia-Saudi-Arabia-Texas crude oil axis possible? Based on the media hype, it seems not just possible – it seems probable. Demand destruction in the oil market was already in place. The coronavirus pandemonium only accelerated it. And the oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia only helps to worsen things. The oil industry…