Oil Prices ///
Futures climbed more than 2% in London and New York on Tuesday. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are concerned about the outlook for demand next year, Reuters reported, citing unnamed cartel sources.
Oil held steady as estimates of brimming U.S. crude stockpiles added to signs that, with demand constrained by weak economic growth, markets remain comfortably supplied.
Hedge funds are increasingly pessimistic on oil as U.S. stockpiles surge and crude refining plunges. Bets on a West Texas Intermediate crude rout rose 7.6% in the week ended Oct. 15 and have almost tripled since mid-September, data released Friday show.
Amid forecasts of a new surplus next year, there’s a chorus of calls from Morgan Stanley to Commerzbank AG for the alliance to deepen the curbs when it meets in Vienna in December.
Oil traded near $53/bbl after an industry report showed a sharp jump in U.S. inventories, adding to concern that supply keeps growing while demand ebbs.
Soaring oil-tanker costs are drying up activity in the U.S. export market as sellers are slow to lower offers and buyers are skittish, according to market participants.
The International Energy Agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries all see global oil inventories building in the first half of next year, as they almost unanimously cut their forecasts for oil demand growth for 2019 and 2020.
Oil dropped the most in two weeks amid concern that the recent U.S.-China trade talks won’t lead to a deal.
“I don’t think the call for the end of shale is stronger this year,” said Ed Morse, global head of commodities research at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. “But it’s more detailed.”
Oil short-selling has more than doubled in three weeks, with attacks on oil facilities and tankers unable to push prices higher for very long.
Nigeria began preliminary talks with international oil companies to settle a dispute over revenue. The government, citing a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, says it’s entitled to $62 billion from the companies after they failed to comply with a 1993 law that hands the state a greater share of income when oil exceeds $20/bbl.
Abu Dhabi wants to create a benchmark for Middle Eastern crude that competes for customers in Asia with exports from America’s shale boom. If the new contract for Murban crude takes off, it could herald a fundamental shift in the way Gulf producers sell oil.
Oil jumped back above $60/bbl after reports of a missile strike on an Iranian tanker near the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah reignited fears over military escalation in the world’s most important crude-producing region.
The Islamic Republic’s tanker company initially said the attacks probably came from Saudi Arabia, but later withdrew the claim.
U.S. shale oil plays are “riding the edge of profitability” at current prices and the industry faces a significant slowdown in fracking activity if crude falls below $50/bbl for a sustained period, according to BloombergNEF.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts lower crude oil prices in the fourth quarter of 2019 and in 2020 despite tighter global balances.
Canadian heavy oil prices have weakened ahead of an anticipated announcement that Alberta will ease production limits in exchange for shipping more crude by rail.
Oil fell again, erasing earlier gains, as economic tensions between the U.S. and China flared ahead of talks aimed at resolving their long-running trade feud.
Oil gained after its biggest weekly slump since July ahead of the resumption of U.S.-China trade talks that may sway a cloudy demand outlook.
Through August, Permian employment has grown at an annualized rate of 0.7%, far less than the 11.4% growth of the same period last year, the Dallas Fed said Wednesday in its latest monthly report.