Two years ago, global oil prices crashed after the world started pumping out far more crude than anyone needed. That plunge, from $100 per barrel down to $45 per barrel, completely upended the global economy — and cost oil producers like Saudi Arabia billions of dollars in lost revenue.
Now those oil producers have had enough. This Wednesday in Vienna, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will try to reach a deal to cut back sharply on oil production in order to raise global prices. (OPEC is a cartel of 14 major oil exporters, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq, that account for 40 percent of global production.)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq can’t agree how to end a fight for market share. Here we go again. Like a year ago, crude oil futures are tumbling again Tuesday as hopes for a cut in output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fade due to entrenched differences between its most important members.
The benchmark contract for U.S. crude was down 3.9% at $45.27 a barrel, after Reuters reported that Iran and Iraq–two countries who are ramping up production after years of politically-induced disruptions–are resisting pressure from Saudi Arabia to rein it in………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s problems run far deeper than trying to cobble together a deal with fellow OPEC members to curb crude oil output in order to bolster prices. About two-thirds of Saudi Arabia’s oil exports head to Asia, and the kingdom’s struggles in the region’s two biggest importers, China and India, are symptoms of its wider issues in crude markets.
While Saudi Arabia has been increasing the total volume of crude it ships to China and India, it has steadily been losing market share, something that is likely of deep concern given that much of the current and future growth of oil demand is dependent on these two countries………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The oil market is pricing in a 30 percent chance of producers reaching a deal to cut output at OPEC’s meeting in Vienna, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Global benchmark Brent crude may swing $6 a barrel on Wednesday, based on implied volatility for options contracts, analysts including Damien Courvalin and Jeff Currie said in a report Monday.
Futures would rally into the low $50s a barrel and average $55 over the first half of next year if the group agrees to a cut, according to the bank. Failure to reach an accord would mean prices would average $45 a barrel through the summer………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Like celebrating Thanksgiving with a houseful of in-laws, OPEC’s autumn meeting in Vienna brings a combination of joy and dread. Something unexpected usually crops up, but the headlines out of both meetings are about the same year after year:
Iran Argues With Saudis. Grandpa Loses Dentures. Venezuela Pleads For Production Cuts. Three Year Old Has A Meltdown. Bomb Blasts Nigeria Pipeline. Sisters Bicker Over Politics………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oil and gas players are finally inking new mergers and acquisitions, after nearly two years of moribund deal activity. Deal-making hit a soft spot following the 2014 oil bust as banks tightened lending to distressed drillers and buyers and sellers remained at odds over the value of energy assets.
Now, climbing crude prices, easing capital markets, and a gold rush in Texas’s prolific Permian basin are thawing a prolonged M&A freeze. Through the first two weeks of November, upstream oil and gas deal-making hit $56.7 billion, compared with $26.8 billion seen in the same period last year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

It’s time for the oil industry’s favorite guessing game: Will OPEC continue to flood the world with more oil, or will it finally blink and cut production? OPEC reached a preliminary deal to much fanfare in September to cut output for the first time since 2008. That tentative agreement sent crude soaring above $50 a barrel.
But there’s lingering skepticism over whether OPEC can really keep its word at Wednesday’s meeting in Vienna. Internal squabbling among OPEC members — especially Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia — has made a concrete agreement difficult to achieve………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The oil market’s attention is focused overwhelmingly on figuring out which OPEC member is going to cut what. The bigger question it shouldn’t lose sight of is this: Who will replace China?
Looking back over 50 years, oil demand has gone through three broad phases: pre-1970s industrialization in the OECD countries, retrenchment after the oil shocks, and then renewed growth through 2015. If the International Energy Agency’s latest long-range forecasts are right, then we stand on the edge of another slowdown in demand growth — a big one………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Two years ago, Saudi Arabia and the other OPEC nations declared an oil war with America. On November 30h OPEC will meet to admit they have lost that conflict.
At this month’s meeting OPEC will try to decide about the possibility of a global production cut or even a freeze in crude oil production in order to raise prices. The speculation about this conference is the fact that the production increase war failed and OPEC is on the verge of extinction………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani agreed in a telephone call on Monday to coordinate steps on global oil and gas markets, the Kremlin said.
The coordination also included a dialogue between Russia and OPEC member countries, the Kremlin said, adding that both men noted the importance of measures taken through OPEC to reduce output as a key factor in stabilising the world oil market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The U.S. became a net gas exporter just a few weeks ago, but exports to Canada have actually been falling. Unlike still developing Mexico, Canada doesn’t have huge incremental gas needs, explaining why it’s so critical for Canada’s gas industry to have access to global markets via LNG. Interestingly, while Mexico is overdependent at 60%, natural gas accounts for just 10% of Canada’s power generation.
But, U.S. shale gas will continue to be very competitive into eastern Canada as new pipeline infrastructure gets built, such as the Rover and Nexus routes which will take Marcellus and Utica gas to southern Ontario’s Dawn hub. Both are expected to have completed phases next year………………………………….Full Article: Source

The election of Donald Trump to the presidency gives OPEC members another reason to agree to oil production cuts when they meet next week, says Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s head of global commodities and derivatives research.
Saudi Arabia is trying to guide OPEC members toward a deal to cut production by 4 to 4.5 percent, in a bid to balance global supply and perhaps boost oil prices by about $10 a barrel. Merrill’s Francisco Blanch told CNBC there are three ways Trump’s win and the Republican clean sweep of Congress will affect OPEC’s forecast:…………………………………Full Article: Source

Analysts expect swift fall in prices if no deal reached. Oil futures were slightly lower on Thursday, with all eyes on the coming Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting next week, where a deal to cut output is expected.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was down 0.10% to $48.90 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading 0.06% lower at $47.92 a barrel………………………………….Full Article: Source

An oil price surge triggered by a successful OPEC agreement to cut production could be snuffed out as supply surges back, according to the head of International Energy Agency.
If OPEC members agree to limit supplies at their meeting next week, prices could rise to $60 a barrel and trigger a jump in global output, particularly from U.S. shale producers, Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based IEA, said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. The output boom could put downward pressure on prices again within nine months to a year, he said………………………………….Full Article: Source

Investment in new oil production is likely to fall for a third year in 2017 as a global supply glut persists, stoking volatility in crude markets, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday.
“Our analysis shows we are entering a period of greater oil price volatility (partly) as a result of three years in a row of global oil investments in decline: in 2015, 2016 and most likely 2017,” IEA director general Fatih Birol said at an energy conference in Tokyo. “This is the first time in the history of oil that investments are declining three years in a row,” he said, adding that this would cause “difficulties” in global oil markets in a few years………………………………….Full Article: Source

Rivals of OPEC seeking to reach its most-prized oil customers are finding that the long way around is better than any shortcut to success. As the group seeks to implement a deal to limit output, the glut that was exacerbated by its prior strategy of keeping taps open has spawned a market structure that’s benefiting competitors in sales to Asia.
Cargoes from Europe’s North Sea will reach South Korea in coming months, while U.S. Eagle Ford shale crude as well as Mexican oil arrived at Yeosu port in November. Japanese and Thai refiners have bought West Texas Intermediate from BP Plc………………………………….Full Article: Source

OPEC’s final push to implement the Algiers supply accord and boost oil prices shifted focus to Iran and non-members such as Russia as Iraq appeared to reverse its opposition to output cuts.
The extension of shuttle diplomacy — including a visit to Tehran from an architect of the September agreement and an unusual Vienna breakfast with non-OPEC ministers — comes after an OPEC committee failed this week to hammer out details of how producers will share the burden of cuts. With less than a week until the crucial Vienna ministerial meeting, the refusal of just one major producer to participate could scuttle the whole deal………………………………….Full Article: Source

Next week’s OPEC meeting could send oil back to $50, but investors may want to curb their enthusiasm. In a note from RBC Capital Markets on Tuesday, head of commodity strategy Helima Croft wrote that OPEC would “stick the landing” at its Nov. 30 meeting and finally draw a long-awaited agreement.
The main player will be the world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Arabia, as Croft believes that the Saudis now have incentive to agree to production cuts. “I think the burden is going to be heavier on Saudi Arabia [because they have] key policy priorities, they want the IPO of Saudi Aramco,” Croft said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Futures Now.”………………………………..Full Article: Source

PM indicates willingness to ‘shoulder responsibility’ for Opec production reductions. Iraq’s prime minister said the country is willing to cut some of its own production, in a move that could smooth the way to a supply deal when Opec, the oil cartel, meets next week.
Haider al-Abadi said Iraq would “shoulder responsibility” for some of the planned reductions of the 14-member group’s output to bolster the oil price, according to comments reported by Reuters…………………………………Full Article: Source

Despite the fall, Finland remains an important trade partner for Russia, the deputy prime minister stressed. “Between January and September 2016, the volume of trade between Russia and Finland came to around $6.2 billion, falling 20 percent compared to the same period last year.
The main reason for this is the fall in oil prices,” Kozak said during a meeting of the Russian-Finnish Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation. The Finnish delegation at the meeting was headed by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkanen, while Kozak headed the Russian side…………………………………Full Article: Source

OPEC officials are struggling to reach a final agreement on how to share out production cuts implied by the preliminary output accord agreed by ministers in September. In theory, all OPEC members would benefit in absolute terms if an output cut produced even a modest and sustained rise in oil prices, so there are strong financial incentives for a deal.
But all members are acutely aware an agreement is about more than just a short-term boost to export earnings and has implications for the future regional power structure in the Gulf, which makes a deal harder…………………………………Full Article: Source

Growing speculation that the Opec nations and Russia will agree output cuts at a meeting next week sent the price of Brent crude surging to its highest level in three weeks.
Prices were boosted by comments from a Nigerian official attending an Opec technical meeting, which is trying to hammer out details of a deal, that it was likely all countries would be “on board” by the end of yesterday…………………………………Full Article: Source

Investors should buy commodities on Chinese demand and rising oil prices in the coming year, according to Goldman Sachs. “Historically, when the US and Chinese output gap closes and inflation begins to rise, this has been a buy signal for commodities. We believe the recent reacceleration in global PMIs suggests commodity markets are entering a cyclically stronger environment,” Jeffrey Currie, global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs, said.
“Recommending overweight commodities and long enhanced GSCI. [S&P GSCI Enhanced Commodity Index] ” S&P GSCI Enhanced Commodity Index contains commodities such as oil, heating oil, natural gas, wheat, corn, lean hogs and live cattle………………………………………Full Article: Source

Russia is strongly backing the cartel and said it is ready to support an Opec decision. It sees a big chance of the cartel agreeing on the terms of a freeze by November 30, 2016, at its meeting scheduled in Vienna.
Iran has given a clear indication that it will not be attending the meeting. Iraq and Iran both want exemptions from any Opec output cut, putting pressure on Saudi Arabia, the producer group’s biggest member, to bear the brunt of a possible reduction………………………………………Full Article: Source

Oil surged for a third day on signs OPEC members have made progress toward finalizing a deal to cut output. January futures rose as much as 1.5 percent in New York after the December contract expired 3.9 percent higher Monday.
Talks on assigning quotas to individual countries went well, Libyan OPEC Governor Mohamed Oun said after preliminary meetings at the group’s headquarters in Vienna. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it’s now “tactically bullish” on the likelihood of an agreement……………………………………..Full Article: Source

If oil prices are going to rebound, a few countries that have spent two years trying to edge each other out of crude markets will have to learn to cooperate.
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have suffered serious economic pain as oil prices have languished over the last two years. But OPEC’s largest producers —Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran — as well as nonmember Russia — have all pumped their way through the rout, seeking to capture more business to offset the falling value of their lifeblood product………………………………………Full Article: Source

Hedge funds have taken a more cautious stance on oil prices amid a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at securing a production-limiting deal among OPEC members by the end of the month. The funds cut their combined net long position in the three major Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures and options contracts by just 3 million barrels to 422 million barrels in the week ending Nov. 15.
The much smaller reduction came after fund managers cut net long positions by a record 149 million barrels the previous week, according to an analysis of data from regulators and exchanges………………………………………Full Article: Source

Iran and Iraq have emerged as major stumbling blocks as OPEC officials tried to make progress on the broad outlines of a production cut that would thrust the cartel back into the position of directly trying to influence petroleum prices.
Two years after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries made the historic decision—on Thanksgiving Day—to let prices fall without taking action, the cartel’s members met for midlevel talks to nail down an agreement ahead of their formal Nov. 30 meeting………………………………………Full Article: Source

Growing hopes for an Opec deal on production has helped the oil price continue its rebound after hitting three-month lows last week. Iran, one of the most stubbornly resistant members of the 14-nation cartel, has been offered an exemption from export cuts so long as it agrees to “at least cap production” at its pre-international sanctions level, Reuters reports.
It adds: “This would leave the onus of an outright reduction on other Opec members, including its political rival and de-facto Opec leader Saudi Arabia.”…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Not only will OPEC reach a deal this month, but Goldman Sachs’ global head of commodities research said the cartel will have to “take it to conclusion” once the process starts.
OPEC members and noncartel producers have been working on an agreement to freeze oil production increases and reduce ouput. In September, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it would look to cut production to between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels a day…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management, discusses the prospect of an OPEC oil output deal and his investment strategy ahead of this month’s meeting. He speaks on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas.”.…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Regional competition and the lack of a cooperation strategy with its neighbors are compounding Saudi Arabia’s inability to act as an oil price setter. The 70 percent drop in oil prices from their all-time highs in 2014 to the current lows of an average of $47 dollars per barrel is severely affecting all hydrocarbon producers, but especially Saudi Arabia.
The many overlapping reasons for the slump include an oil glut, lower demand, and the expansion of U.S. shale extraction. But none contribute more to the continued suppression of prices as the oil pricing wars between neighboring countries of the Middle East……………………………………Full Article: Source

Impact investment firm Wermuth Asset Management (WAM), has said that regardless of whether oil prices rise around potential Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) production-capping news, there is no long-term future for the hydrocarbon sector. Solar power is now available at $3 cent/kWh, which is equivalent to oil at $5/barrel.
According to WAM research, continued investment in oil and gas exploration would only make sense if oil majors and oil producing countries were to develop new projects that could output at less than $5/barrel……………………………………Full Article: Source

For years, Saudi Arabia was a close American ally, while Russia was a distant enemy. That’s why America purchased a lot of oil from Saudi Arabia and very little from Russia. For the period 1973-2005, America’s oil imports from the Saudi kingdom remained steady, in the range of one to 1.5 million barrels per day.
Over the same period, America’s oil imports from Russia fluctuated widely, rising from next to nothing in the 1970s and 1980s to a couple of hundred thousand barrels a day in the early 2000s, before falling back to less 38 thousand in 2015……………………………………Full Article: Source

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh expressed optimism on Saturday about an upcoming OPEC meeting and said crude prices could jump to $55 a barrel if an agreement is reached and non-OPEC producers cooperate.
“We are receiving positive signals that increase the likelihood of agreement at the meeting … and I’m optimistic about the situation,” Zanganeh told state television by telephone, after meeting OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo in Tehran ahead of the Nov. 30 meeting……………………………………Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said Thursday he’s “optimistic” that the agreement OPEC reached in September to limit supply will be implemented, with individual output ceilings for member countries. But don’t mistake him for a pushover.
The economics of a cut are compelling, but there’s more to it than just doing the math — and this could mean the group fails to reach a deal when it meets in Vienna on Nov. 30. An output cut of just over 1 million barrels a day would only have to boost prices by $1.60 a barrel for producers to be better off……………………………………Full Article: Source

OPEC’s diverse 14-country membership has responded to the oil price malaise of the past two years in contrasting ways, perhaps permanently altering the group’s dynamics as the world becomes more reliant on its crude in the long-term, according to the International Energy Agency.
OPEC’s share of global oil production, including condensate, will approach 50% by 2040, up from its current 42%, the IEA said Wednesday in its World Energy Outlook, as non-OPEC production will significantly drop off after 2020. But any benefits from OPEC’s increased market share will be spread unevenly, as its Middle East members figure to grow more influential, at the expense of its African and South American members……………………………………..Full Article: Source

President-elect Donald Trump is very unlikely to restrict imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia despite threats to do so issued during the election campaign. Trump is first and foremost a showman and impresario rather than a policy wonk. Much of what he said on the campaign trail was intended to mobilise support rather than provide a detailed programme for government.
The media “never takes (Trump) seriously but it always takes him literally. I think a lot of voters who vote for Trump take Trump seriously but not literally,” as technology billionaire Peter Thiel observed in October……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia has decided to officially list shares in the state-owned Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest producer of oil. It is expected that the company will immediately become the most valuable listed company on the planet.
Along with the IPO, though, will be the big reveal of a number of secrets about Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves, and global energy analysts are eagerly awaiting an answer to the question of exactly how much crude oil lies within the country’s borders……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran overtook political rival Saudi Arabia as India’s top oil supplier in October, shipping data showed, just ahead of a producers’ meeting this month to hammer out the details on output cuts aimed at reining in a global glut.
Iran used to be India’s second-biggest oil supplier, a position it ceded to Iraq after tough Western sanctions over its nuclear development programme limited Tehran’s exports and access to finance. But India’s oil imports from Iran have shot up this year after those sanctions were lifted in January……………………………………..Full Article: Source

U.S. shale oil producers will increase their output if oil prices hit $60 a barrel, meaning OPEC will have to walk a fine line if it curtails production to prop up prices, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
OPEC members are due to meet in Vienna at the end of the month to push through the first output limiting deal since 2008. “If this decision pushes the prices up (to) around $60 dollars, we may well see a significant increase from shale oil from the U.S.,” Fatih Birol said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodities were broadly lower as the US dollar notched up fresh multi-year highs, even as analysts sounded a bullish note on oil and gold. Front month Brent crude futures fell back, albeit following sharp gains in the previous session, with Brent down 0.5% to $46.72 while West Texas Intermediate was drifting 0.2% lower to $45.71 on the ICE.
To take note of, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak reportedly said there were good odds that OPEC members would agree on the details of an oil output cut by 30 November, when the cartel was next scheduled to meet………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Energy Agency expects global oil consumption to peak no sooner than 2040, leaving its long-term forecasts for supply and demand unchanged despite the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement entering into force.
The Paris accord to cut harmful emissions seeks to wean the world economy off fossil fuels in the second half of the century in an effort to limit the rise in average world temperatures to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. But while demand for oil to power passenger cars, for example, may drop, other sectors may offset this fall………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Russian energy minister’s comments boost crude, but prices are dragged down by growing stockpiles. Crude oil settled lower after flipping between gains and losses Wednesday, as renewed optimism that major oil producers could agree to scale back production competed with data showing that crude supplies are still swelling.
Prices began to move higher Wednesday afternoon after Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters at a Moscow energy forum that Russia would “support any decision” adopted by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to media reports………………………………………..Full Article: Source

OPEC and Russia will meet in Doha on Thursday for another round of talks without ministers from Iran and Iraq, the two countries that pose the biggest obstacle to a deal to cut production. Bloomberg’s Simon Kennedy reports on “Bloomberg markets: European Close.”.………………………………………Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia is cautioning President-elect Donald Trump against carrying out a threat to cut off American purchases of the kingdom’s oil.
Trump made the threat earlier this year, saying that if elected he might halt imports of oil from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries if they don’t commit ground troops to fight ISIS, or at least reimburse the U.S. for efforts to battle the terror group. “Without us, Saudi Arabia wouldn’t exist for very long,” Trump told The New York Times in March………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The oil market is “pretty pessimistic” about OPEC reaching a deal to cut production, BP Plc Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said. Oil prices will probably stay around current levels if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries fails to implement the deal it reached in Algiers in September to limit output, Dudley said.
The producer group is meeting in Vienna on Nov. 30. “People are pretty pessimistic right now about a potential agreement, you see that in the price,” Dudley said. If the talks fail, prices “will stay around the level we’re at.”…………………………………Full Article: Source

Chairperson of Russia’s Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina said on Monday the probability of another drastic collapse in oil prices is low, though recovery won’t be substantially above current rates.
“We are considering several scenarios of economic development, our base scenario includes $40 per barrel in the next three years,” she said in remarks carried by Russia’s Tass News Agency………………………………….Full Article: Source

Kingdom’s energy minister says move would risk damaging the US economy. Saudi Arabia has warned Donald Trump that the incoming US president will risk the health of his country’s economy if he acts on his election promises to block oil imports.
In a sign of the difficulties Mr Trump faces over his campaign pledges to create “complete American energy independence” from “our foes and the oil cartels”, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister pointedly reminded the president-elect that the US “benefits more than anybody else from global free trade”, adding, “energy is the lifeblood of the global economy”………………………………….Full Article: Source

Oil prices jumped 6 percent on Tuesday, with U.S. crude notching its biggest daily percentage gain in seven months, on renewed expectations that OPEC will agree later this month to reduce a global supply glut.
OPEC secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo will travel to member nations, including Iran and Venezuela, over the next several days to discuss the deal ahead of the group’s meeting in Vienna on Nov. 30. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to an outline of the deal in September but with two weeks to go before the next meeting, disagreements persist among OPEC members and non-OPEC Russia on the exact details of the deal………………………………….Full Article: Source