Indeed, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the countries most vulnerable to an oil price shock, the bank says.Brent crude prices have declined 12.5% this month alone, as traders worry about declining demand and rising output notably from the United States, the North Sea, Canada, Iraq and Libya.
Overall, Brent has lost 6.9% in 2013, ending the third week of April at USD 102.41 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will increase shipments by 60,000 barrels a day through to the middle of May because of rising demand in Asia, according to tanker tracker Oil Movements.
The group that supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil will boost exports by 0.3 percent to 23.61 million barrels a day in the four weeks to May 11, the researcher said today in an e- mailed report. The figures exclude Angola and Ecuador………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Imports to China may surpass 6 million barrels a day by the end of this year, according to an e-mailed report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. US oil imports declined 21% last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Shipments may drop below 6 million a day in 2014, according to OPEC.
“People have been anticipating this for the better part of a decade,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Brent crude held above $100 a barrel on Wednesday, supported by fear that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) could cut supply if prices fall further, although data from major economies pointing to slower growth and fuel demand capped gains.
Oil has propped above $100 this week after calls from Opec oil hawks Venezuela and Iran for an emergency meeting ahead of one already scheduled on May 31………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran considers the logical price of crude to be around $100 to $120 a barrel, the Mehr News Agency quoted him as saying.”It is possible to reach an agreement on the issue of oil price without holding an emergency meeting,” he said.
Brent crude fell below $100 a barrel on Tuesday.OPEC’s 12 members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Crude oil prices have recently dropped to near $101 ahead of the next OPEC meeting on May 31. “Negotiations and consultations have begun with OPEC members and it is likely that an agreement could be reached between the members without holding any extraordinary meeting,” Nikzad Rahbar said on Tuesday.
He noted that the OPEC members are all unanimous that oil prices should remain above $100 per barrel. “Under the present circumstances, $100 (per barrel) is a reasonable price for crude oil, but any price lower than that will be definitely unreasonable,” Nikzad Rahbar added………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Since its inception in 1960, OPEC has never been shy in flexing its energy-fuelled power over the West. But those days are gone. And it’s not just the US and Israeli shale gas and oil revolution which threatens OPEC decline. OPEC is already grappling with a whole bunch of serious energy problems that are colluding to hasten its demise.
Let’s just focus on the OPEC kingpin and world’s leading oil producer, Saudi Arabia. Even as the Saudis and other OPEC leaders have played down the nascent impact of US shale development on global production (especially America’s growing self-sufficiency), the signs are that the Saudis are increasingly desperate to keep their world no 1 ranking in oil production………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Brent crude fell below $100 a barrel on Tuesday after manufacturing data from China pointed to a lukewarm recovery in the second quarter, denting the outlook for fuel demand in the world’s second largest oil consumer.
The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index for April fell to 50.5 in April from 51.6 the month before as new export orders shrank in China, suggesting the country faces considerable headwinds………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran is currently negotiating with members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to maintain oil prices around $100 in international markets, Iranian oil ministry spokesman Alireza Nikzad stated on Tuesday.
Iran considers the logical price of crude to be around $100 to $120 a barrel, the Mehr News Agency quoted him as saying………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Crude oil prices at “roughly” $100/barrel are required for future upstream investments in unconventional oil production as well as for the sustainability of producer governments, Xavier Preel, vice president for Middle East E&P at France’s Total, said Tuesday.
Speaking at the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference in Abu Dhabi, Preel said that without the relatively high oil prices since 2005, upstream investment would not have seen the “fivefold increase” that has happened. “Without those prices, we would not be where we are today.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Describing the current demand supply patterns in the world oil market as well-balanced, United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazroui said there is no need for OPEC countries to increase production, Xinhua news agency reported citing a local media report.
Delivering a keynote speech at the opening of the two-day annual Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Al-Mazroui said that despite rising energy demand in emerging markets in East Asia in particular, many OPEC exporting nations will not be able to increase their oil production, news agency WAM reported………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Crude can move either side of $100 a barrel with neither direction currently dominating, aside from a longer term bias for gradual gains, said the head of Vitol Group, the world’s largest privately held oil trader.
Brent crude futures sank below $100 on April 16 for the first time since July and have oscillated either side of that level in the days since, trading at $100.53 at 12:58 p.m. London time today on the ICE Futures Europe exchange………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran may seek OPEC’s top secretary-general position after Riyadh backed away from the position, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi said.
Qassemi said he’s heard suggestions that Saudi Arabia may pull out of the race for the secretary-general post at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Former Libyan Oil Minister Abdalla Salem el-Badri serves as OPEC secretary-general………………………………………..Full Article: Source

There have been many calls on peak oil – the tipping point at which global production reaches a peak – and, due to dwindling reserves, production declines, even if demand continues to rise. In reality, the industry and the technology have proved more resourceful than predictions have allowed and production has continued to rise.
Indeed, the recent opening up of tight oil reserves in the US heralds the possibility that the US may become self-sufficient in a number of years if rates of production growth continue………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran sees no need for an emergency meeting of OPEC over a recent drop in crude prices before the producers’ annual session at the end of May, Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi sai.
“No extraordinary meeting is needed as the May 31 meeting is coming up, and the price of oil had not gone below $ 100 per barrel for a long time,” Qasemi said on the sidelines of an oil and gas trade fair in Tehran. In the last meeting of OPEC, held on December 12, oil producers decided to hold an emergency session if oil prices fall below 100 dollars per barrel, Qasemi said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Mohammad Ali Khatibi, who is also the National Iranian Oil Company’s Director for International Affairs told the oil ministry’s website that in a report earlier this year, OPEC’s Secretariat has predicted oil supply would surpass demand.
Khatibi added that following growth in oil production in Non-OPEC countries and rising oil withdrawal from non-conventional reserves including shale oil, it is predicted world oil supply to go beyond demand. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are discussing holding a special meeting following the recent drops in international oil prices, Venezuela Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters Thursday. “We’re watching the price of oil, and we’re being careful,” Mr. Ramirez said at the central office of state energy company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, which is also headed by the minister.
“We’ve been in discussions over whether or not they are going to call a special meeting of OPEC. We’ve maintained that there is oversupply of oil in the market,” said Mr. Ramirez, repeating his government’s frequent calls to hold a “floor” of $100 a barrel……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is going to have to cut production to keep crude oil prices at a reasonable level, an energy consultant said. Crude oil prices for the Brent trade classification this week dropped to less than $100 per barrel for the first time since July. The OPEC basket price, a representation of the cartel’s export grades, is less than $100 as well.
Ali Aissaoui, a consultant at the Arab Petroleum Investments Corp., told Bloomberg News that OPEC’s top producer, Saudi Arabia, needs prices around $94 per barrel to keep its federal budget in check. Iran, meanwhile, needs a price per barrel of around $125 to keep its budget balanced……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sanctions-hit Iran considers the “logical” price of crude to be around $100 to $120 a barrel, its oil ministry said on Wednesday, ahead of an OPEC meeting next month. “The logical price for oil is around 100 and 120 dollars a barrel,” ministry spokesman Alireza Nikzad said.
Oil prices were mixed in trade on Wednesday. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, fell 10 cents to $88.66 a barrel but Brent North Sea crude for June was up 11 cents at $100.20. The Brent contract on Tuesday fell below the $100 mark for the first time since July…………………………………Full Article: Source

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi says crude prices are unlikely to fall below USD 100 a barrel and that the downward trend has stopped. “We forecast that the price of oil will not fall below USD 100 a barrel,” Qasemi told reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of an Oil and Gas Show in Tehran.
“…oil prices below USD 100 per barrel is not reasonable and it’s an unreasonable price,” he said. Qasemi added that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would envisage calling an emergency meeting if prices fall below USD 100…………………………………Full Article: Source

The fall in oil prices from this year’s high since mid-February shows that the market is sufficiently supplied, said Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the International Energy Agency, adding that the slide may help the global economy.
Brent crude sank below $100 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time in nine months after data from China and the United States weakened the outlook for demand. The benchmark has mostly held above $100 a barrel since 2011 on supply worries that started with the civil unrest in Libya and then were boosted by escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme…………………………………Full Article: Source

OPEC will probably cut output if Brent prices keep trading below $100 a barrel because that’s less than what many member countries need to balance their budgets, an inter-governmental Arab energy lender said.
Oil prices must average $99 this year for the 12 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to be able to balance their national budgets, said Ali Aissaoui, a senior consultant at the Arab Petroleum Investments Corp., or Apicorp…………………………………Full Article: Source

The fall in oil prices from this year’s high since mid-February shows that the market is sufficiently supplied, said Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the International Energy Agency, adding that the slide may help the global economy.
Brent crude sank below $100 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time in nine months after data from China and the United States weakened the outlook for demand. The benchmark has mostly held above $100 a barrel since 2011 on supply worries that started with the civil unrest in Libya and then were boosted by escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme…………………………………Full Article: Source

The average price of benchmark OPEC crudes ended its longest run above $100 a barrel after dropping below that level for the first time since July amid signs the global economic recovery is faltering.
The so-called OPEC basket, a weighted average of the main grades produced by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, slipped to $98.56 a barrel yesterday, according to an e-mail today from the group’s Vienna-based secretariat. It’s the first time OPEC’s reference price slipped below $100 since July 16 and ends an unprecedented 191-day spell above that threshold…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Iran will call on the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to convene in an emergency meeting to discuss oil prices if they slump below $100 per barrel, an oil ministry official said.
On Friday, crude prices dropped to near $101 ahead of the next OPEC meeting on May 31. “Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi will have telephone conservation with OPEC president about an extraordinary meeting if prices fall below $100,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Monday…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Brent crude sank below $100 a barrel for the first time in nine months on Tuesday, extending a recent rout triggered by data from China and the US that weakened the outlook for demand.
Earlier in the session, the dismal outlook pushed gold to a more than two-year low and shaved more than $2 off oil prices. As the day progressed, gold and precious metals bounced back but oil was unable to move into positive territory…………………………………….Full Article: Source

An Iranian Oil Ministry official says Iran will ask OPEC to call an emergency meeting to discuss oil prices if they slump below USD 100 a barrel. “To that effect, Iran’s oil minister [Rostam Qasemi] will have telephone conservation with OPEC president about an extraordinary meeting,” the official, who was not named, said Monday.
On Sunday, Qasemi said Iran wanted oil prices to stay above USD 100 per barrel, noting that “an oil price below USD 100 is not reasonable for anyone.” Crude dropped to near USD 101 on Friday and ahead of the next meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on May 31………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Brent crude oil fell by almost 3 percent to near $100 a barrel on Monday, extending a two-week selloff that has sliced nearly 10 percent off prices,as part of a wider flight by investors from commodities.
Gold posted its biggest two-day loss in 30 years while Brent crude fell for the eighth time in 10 sessions in what analysts said were indications that a host of weak fundamental signals dominated sentiment. In the United States, crude oil stockpiles have ballooned to a 30-year high as domestic output surges, with no end in sight. Global demand has struggled due to economic uncertainty in top consuming nations………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran wants oil prices to stay above $100 a barrel, its oil minister said on Sunday after crude touched nine-month lows near $101 on Friday and ahead of OPEC’s next meeting on May 31. “An oil price below $100 is not reasonable for anyone,” Rostam Qasemi said.
Fellow OPEC member Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said last month that around $100 a barrel was a “reasonable” price for consumers and producers alike………………………………………..Full Article: Source

For a commodity usually described as “volatile”, oil prices have been eerily stable over the past three years - averaging US$111.26 in 2011, $111.57 in 2012, and $111.89 so far in 2013. Despite the revolution in Libya, stringent sanctions on Iran and Japan’s nuclear shutdown, the oil market has remained remarkably steady.
Yet on Friday, Brent oil prices fell sharply to under $102 per barrel, their lowest level for nine months. This came in response to downgrades of global oil demand by the producers’ and consumers’ representatives: Opec, the Energy Information Administration in the United States and the International Energy Agency. They were particularly concerned about weak demand in Europe and Japan, as the economic crisis drags on………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, describes itself as “a permanent intergovernmental organization of 12 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its Member Countries.”
Historically, the organization has exerted considerable influence on the world oil market, with many even characterizing it as a cartel. Over the past three decades or so, it has produced a little less than half of the world’s oil, with its Gulf State members still controlling most of the world’s crude oil spare capacity. By lowering their collective output, OPEC members can push global oil prices higher, or so the logic goes………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gulf Arab OPEC oil producers do not see the need to change production levels to support crude prices, OPEC delegates said after benchmark Brent touched nine-month lows on Friday.
A sell-off in commodities saw Brent contracts fall from around $106 a barrel on Wednesday to lows near $101 on Friday. Brent recovered to $103.11 at close of trade last week and Gulf exporters are happy to leave production unchanged at current price levels, delegates from all the Gulf Arab OPEC producers said over the weekend……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Non-OPEC crude oil supply may be reduced to 625 thousand b/d mark, almost 175 thousand b/d lower than March and almost 500 thousand b/d lower than January due to unplanned supply disruptions, according to the recent market analysis by London based Barclays.
Disruptions in non-OPEC supply centres continue to become less pronounced and constraints are easing, helping to alleviate much of the stress recently placed on the supply system………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The world’s top oil forecasters this week all cut their 2013 oil demand forecasts due to subdued economic growth, with the figures showing increasing similarity in the views of producers and consumers.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday trimmed its global oil demand growth estimate, which followed similar moves by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). A growing resemblance in the outlook of the IEA, which represents 28 industrialised countries, and producer group OPEC contrasts with past disagreements……………………………………..Full Article: Source

U.S. oil demand is expected to trend lower in 2013 while China will account for much of the oil demand growth, OPEC said in its monthly report.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its report for April that the U.S. economy was on the road to recovery. It said first quarter economic growth was around 2.5 percent to 3 percent. The cartel said, however, that the forecast for crude oil demand was uncertain because of budgetary concerns in the United States……………………………………..Full Article: Source

OPEC kept its world oil demand forecasts for 2012 and 2013 virtually unchanged yesterday, with China expected to contribute the most to growth while industrialized countries appeared to be headed for a decline.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) expects world demand to reach 88.87 million barrels per day (mbpd) this year, slightly higher than its previous forecast in March of 88.83 mbpd……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Energy Agency has revised down its estimate of European oil demand for the second consecutive month and warned that the Cypriot bailout is weighing on the continent’s demand for oil.
“Every time the weakness of Europe’s economy or the severity of its debt crisis has hit the news, that has tended to translate into a small hit to oil consumption,” said Antoine Halff, head of the IEA’s oil markets division……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Changing oil market dynamics appear set to reduce the wide price differential between Brent crude oil and WTI that developed within the past few years, the Energy Information Administration said in its latest Short-Term Energy and Summer Fuels Outlook.
These global benchmark crude oil grades are also expected to generally decrease in price from the averages seen last year, while US natural gas prices move well above the historic lows recorded last April……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s petroleum ministry foresees a bigger improvement in oil demand this year than the world’s three best-known forecasting agencies, including OPEC.
Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, expects world demand to rise about 1 million barrels a day this year, and exceed 90 million barrels a day “for the first time in history,” Ibrahim al-Muhanna, an adviser to Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, said yesterday in Kuwait……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Wall Street is unhappy with the performance of ExxonMobil’s share price. In the race of Big Oil share prices, Chevron is clearly winning. The discussion of relative share price performance is recently focusing on two things that distinguish the two oil giants. Unlike ExxonMobil, Chevron opted to stay out of Iraq and hasn’t yet purchased a US shale gas company. This begs the question: Who was right?
Wall Street is notorious for taking a short term, even quarterly, view. ExxonMobil has made a business out of taking the long view……………………………………..Full Article: Source

OPEC trimmed its estimate for global oil demand growth after the group’s crude production dropped last month. Worldwide oil consumption will rise this year by 800,000 barrels a day, or 0.9 percent, revised down from 840,000 last month, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its Monthly Oil Market Report.
Demand will rise to 89.66 million barrels a day in 2013 versus 88.87 million last year, OPEC estimated. The group’s output fell in March as Nigeria, Iran and Kuwait pumped less………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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OPEC kept its world oil demand forecasts for 2012 and 2013 virtually unchanged yesterday, with China expected to contribute the most to growth while industrialized countries appeared to be headed for a decline.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) expects world demand to reach 88.87 million barrels per day (mbpd) this year, slightly higher than its previous forecast in March of 88.83 mbpd. This would represent a hike of 770,000 bpd from the revised figure for 2011, the organization said in its latest monthly report………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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The current oil price range of $100 to $110 a barrel is satisfying for both producers and consumers, Iran’s OPEC governor was quoted as saying Wednesday. The views suggest the organization is likely to keep its policies unchanged when it meets next month.
The governor’s remarks–made to Iran’s oil ministry website Shana by Muhammad Ali Khabiti, who represents Iran at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries–echoes similar views made by Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi in late March………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Production of oil from shale deposits will be too limited and costly to significantly harm the interests of established oil exporters, the adviser to Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said, in the most comprehensive response yet from OPEC’s top producer to an energy boom that is reshaping global markets.
However, Ibrahim al-Muhanna, a close adviser of Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, acknowledged the psychological impact the U.S. shale boom is having on members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, most of whom have so far played down the significance of the phenomenon………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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World oil demand will rise in 2013 and 2014, but moderate recovery in economic growth will keep the gains lower than projected a month earlier, U.S. government forecasters said Tuesday. In 2013, rising consumption in China and in other developing nations is expected to offset weakness in European economies, the Energy Information Administration said.
World oil use is expected to rise by 1 million barrels in 2013 to 90 million barrels a day. That’s some 140,000 barrels a day below the forecast made a month earlier. In 2014, global demand is expected to rise to 1.3 million barrels a day, about 200,000 barrels a day less than the EIA’s March forecast………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Crude-oil output from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries fell in March to its lowest monthly level since October 2011, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
OPEC members pumped 29.83 million barrels a day last month, down from a revised 29.88 million barrels a day in February, the EIA said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook. Last month, the EIA estimated OPEC’s February crude oil production at 30.01 million barrels a day………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The first signs are emerging that key Persian Gulf members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are adjusting their strategies to cope with the growing threat that North American shale oil is making to their long-term dominance in global energy markets.
The OPEC moves lag behind other international players such as Statoil and Sinochem, who are staking out a major stake in the U.S. shale industry but provide the first insights on how major oil producers might respond over time to the possibility of a future supply glut: Integration through foreign investment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Recently, I explained how high oil prices can bring on financial collapse for oil importers. In this post, I’ll discuss the flip side of the situation: how oil exporters reach financial collapse.
Unfortunately, we have many examples of countries that were oil exporters, but are dealing with collapse situations. Egypt, Syria, and Yemen all have had political disruptions since 2011. These may not be called financial collapse, but they all took place as the country’s oil exports decreased and as the price of imported food rose. Another example is the Former Soviet Union (FSU). It collapsed in 1991, after a period of low oil prices, in what looks very much like a financial collapse………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Brent crude rose towards $105 per barrel on Monday as plans to stimulate Japan’s economy lifted financial markets, but the oil benchmark remained near an eight-month low on worries over global economic growth and fuel demand.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has promised to inject $1.4 trillion into the economy in less than two years and economists expect the huge monetary stimulus to support assets such as oil and other commodities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The global crude oil maket is well supplied and balanced, OPEC member Algeria’s Energy and Mines Minister Youcef Yousfi was quoted as saying, ahead of an OPEC meeting next month to set output policy.
“The global oil market is well supplied and suffers no imbalance between supply and demand,” the APS news agency quoted him as saying. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet on May 1 in Vienna to review its policy for the second half of the year………………………………………..Full Article: Source