Oil rises 1% on settlement amid fears of supply shortages

[10 YEARS LATER]

Hmm ... “ Go Fish  “. Howszat, Bubba ! Quit yer bitchen

 

[Pitcher]

Iraqi oil production could pass 5m b/d

March 13th 2019| Iraq | Oil and gas

A series of new contracts and initiatives, as well as progress in ongoing development plans, is supportive of growing oil production capacity. Although Iraq did not comply fully with its OPEC quota in January, we expect compliance to improve slightly and for Iraq to reduce its production until June 2019, when the OPEC mandated production cuts come to an end. Nevertheless, given the long-term production potential of the country's oilfields, Iraq will attract considerable foreign investment into its oil sector during 2019-23 and we expect production to surpass 5m barrels/day (b/d) in 2021, assuming that the political situation improves over the coming years.

Management of the oil sector is also being restructured. Thamir Ghadhban, who became oil minister in October, is pressing ahead with a range of initiatives to boost output in both the short and medium terms. When Mr Ghadhban, a respected technocrat, was appointed as the oil minister. He pledged to reform the sector. One aspect of this reform seems to be a restructuring of the leadership in the Ministry of Oil. On February 14th Mr Ghadhban changed all four of the deputy ministerial positions, which have responsibilities for upstream production, gas, distribution and refining, and appointed three new director generals. The changes involved shifting the portfolios for two deputy ministers and bringing in newcomers to fill their vacated posts: Fayadh Nema moved from refining to the key portfolio of deputy minister for upstream, while Mutasim Akram was moved from distribution to gas. The director-general positions that were changed were for the economic, internal audit, and training and development departments. It is difficult to assess the impact of the personnel changes, which will likely be followed by more at lower levels, but they are a sign of Mr Ghadhban's stamping his authority on the ministry.

Non-compliance with OPEC-mandated production cuts will continue

According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), output in January, at 4.69m b/d, was almost flat compared with production in December and well ahead of its current OPEC quota of 4.51m b/d. The reason for the overproduction, which contributed to Irag's having one of the worst levels of compliance in OPEC, is not immediately clear. However, Iraq faces particular challenges in meeting quotas because of the diversity of its oil sector, which involves many foreign companies operating fields in the south and also a largely autonomous sector in the Kurdistan Region, over which the ministry of oil until now has had no direct control. However, in February the ministry ordered an output cut of around 0.11m b/d at the Majnoon field, which it now operates directly, in order to achieve compliance with the quota. This suggests that total output will fall in February and output will likely average 4.50-4.55m b/d, at least until June, when the latest round of cuts is due to expire. This is still above its average output of 4.5m b/d in 2018, when it was operating under a lower OPEC quota of 4.35m b/d.

Development of Basra oil fields continues

Development work continues on the giant oilfields in the Basra region, with the ministry in 2019 allocating around US$5bn to investment in these fields, to be spent over the coming years. There has been a notable pick-up in activity at Majnoon, which the state-owned Basra Oil Company (BOC) now operates after Shell gave up its licence in June 2018. In December it signed a contract with Schlumberger, a US oilfield service firm, to drill 40 wells at Majnoon and also conduct seismic surveys. In January it signed a similar 40-well contract with the state-owned Iraq Drilling Company. This will help boost the field's capacity from around 240,000 b/d currently to 290,000 b/d by the end of 2019 and, eventually, 450,000 b/d by 2021, according to BOC's director, Ihsan Abdul Jabbar.

Lukoil, (a Russian multinational energy corporation), which operates another of the Basra fields, West Qurna 2, has recently launched the second phase of its development plan, signing contracts to drill 57 new wells. This plan is expected to double the level of oil output from these oil fields by 2025. There are also signs of progress on the Common Seawater Supply Project, which is a vital piece of infrastructure to achieve and maintain output plateau targets at many of the Basra fields by injecting water to maintain field pressure. The long-overdue project, originally planned to launch in 2013, was supposed to have been developed by Exxon, but contract negotiations with the company collapsed in April 2018. Mr Jabbar indicated that Hyundai is now the front-runner to be awarded a contract for the project. Meanwhile, negotiations continue on another important contract with Exxon, for the Southern Iraq Integrated Project, which involves developing the Nahr Bin Umar and Ratawi fields to boost their production from 80,000 b/d to 500,000 b/d. Plans to increase the oil export capacity, which could soon become a bottleneck, from 4m b/d to 6m b/d, along with other shared infrastructure, are also under consideration. Exxon has bid for the project in consortium with PetroChina and an award is expected by the end of March.

Reconciliation with KRG will determine success of increasing production in northern fields

Progress is being made on repairing the Baiji refinery, which was badly damaged during the war with Islamic State. It reopened in September, following the repair of one of its 70,000 b/d units. A second refining unit, Salahuddin-1, is expected to come into operation in March, doubling capacity to 140,000 b/d. However, this is likely to be the limit of rehabilitation work at present, as damage to the remaining units at the refinery, which has a rated capacity of 310,000 b/d, is more extensive. The limited refining capacity was one of the bottlenecks to raising output from Kirkuk and other northern fields. That bottleneck was eased in November when agreement was reached with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for using their export pipeline to Turkey again. However, flows through the pipeline from Kirkuk have been held at around 90,000 b/d, with Mr Ghadhban saying in late December that there was no need to raise these exports because of demand from refineries. In reality, the decision to limit exports from Kirkuk is likely related to the fact that its crude quality and the export costs associated with the pipeline mean that Iraq gets more revenue per barrel from its Basra exports, and so while OPEC quotas remain in place it makes sense to maximise the contribution from southern provinces. Meanwhile, the federal budget agreed in January commits the KRG to provide 250,000 b/d in exports through the pipeline to Turkey from the fields within its territory, which is an achievable target.

Two key factors that will determine the success of ambitious plans in the oil sector will be reconciliation between the federal government and Kurdistan regional government (KRG), which we expect to progress in 2019; and the prevention of the resurgence of extremist forces such as the Islamic State (IS) and the possibility of their gaining territorial control or attacking oil facilities, as happened during 2014-17. We expect both these factors to remain favourable and hence oil production to surpass 5m b/d by 2021.

[Pitcher]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has cut its oil exports average to 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in compliance with an ongoing production curb agreement, its oil minister said on Thursday.

 

Thamer Ghadhban told reporters that an OPEC meeting in Vienna in April would assess member states’ compliance with agreed production cuts and whether to extend the curbs until the end of the year. 

 

Iraq is committed to the deal and working to stabilise markets, and is producing slightly more than 4.5 million bpd, below its full capacity of nearly 5 million, Ghadhban said. 

“We do not want severe volatility in prices because this affects producers and consumers,” he added.

 

https://in.reuters.com/article/iraq-oil/iraq-cuts-oil-exports-to-3-5-million-bpd-in-line-with-opec-deal-minister-idINKCN1QV1BK?rpc=401&

[yota691]

«OPEC» hinted at the continued reduction of production .. Oil is falling

 

Source:

• LONDON (Reuters)

History: 15 March 2019

OPEC has cut its forecast for global demand for its oil this year as rival production increases, justifying the extension of the cut-off agreement with Russia and other WTO allies beyond the first half of 2019.

Demand for its oil in 2019 will average 30.46 million barrels per day (bpd), 130,000 bpd lower than last month's forecast, it said.

Brent crude futures for the year reached a peak of 2019 at $ 68.14 a barrel, before falling to $ 67.47 a session, down 8 cents, or 0.12 percent, from Wednesday's close. US WTI futures traded at $ 58.11 a barrel, down 15 cents, or 0.26 percent.

[yota691]

World oil inventories rise 22 million barrels in February

 14 March 2019 06:49 PM
Mubasher: Global oil stocks jumped by about 22 million barrels last month, according to the OPEC report.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) monthly report released on Thursday showed that commercial oil inventories of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) rose 22.1 million barrels in February to 2880 million barrels.

World oil inventories are 4.3 million barrels higher in February compared with the same period in 2018.

For the last five years, commercial inventories of crude oil in February were 19.1 million barrels higher.

According to OPEC's monthly report, preliminary estimates of total US commercial inventories fell by 14.3 million barrels in the past four months to reach 1244.7 million barrels.

US oil inventories are 34.7 million barrels higher than last February and above the average of the last five years at 31.9 million barrels.

By 2:00 pm GMT, the price of Brent crude for May delivery rose 0.4% to $ 67.83 a barrel.

US Nymex crude futures for April delivery rose 0.6% to $ 58.62 a barrel.

 

[trident]

Middle East

Iraq cuts crude exports in compliance with OPEC deal

Kurdistan 24 |

March 14-2019     03:43 PM

 

---

An Iraqi national flag flies as excess gas is being burnt off near the Zubair oil refinery, southwest of Basra in southern Iraq. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images/Haidar Mohammed Ali)

 

Iraq Baghdad Oil and Gas Oil

 

 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq has cut its average crude exports to 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd), in line with an agreement to reduce its output, Iraq's oil minister announced on Thursday.

In early January, Baghdad agreed to cut annual oil production in compliance with an agreement between OPEC and additional non-member states such as Russia, known together as OPEC+, to curtail global supply in order to bolster prices. 

Iraq is the OPEC' second-largest producer and currently has an output below its maximum capacity of nearly 5 million bpd.

In early March, the oil ministry revealed that Iraq had exported 3.649 million bpd of crude in January while it exported close to 100 thousand bpd less, 3.54, in February.

On Thursday, Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban told reporters that the OPEC meeting planned for April in Vienna would assess the extent to which member states are in compliance to the agreed production cuts and whether the reductions should be extended to the end of the year, Reuters reported.

Ghadban affirmed that Iraq is committed to the agreement and work to stabilize the markets. He also added that the country produces just over 4.5 million bpd.

Editing by Nadia Riva

[ChuckFinley]

Thanks Trident, that should push it to where Adam thinks it needs to be.

 

[yota691]

OPEC: Oil investment recovery is very limited

Economy | 12:49 - 17/03/2019

 

 

 

Follow - up to the balance of News 
said Mohammed Barkindo Secretary - General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting the necessary investments to ensure stability in the global oil industry back after a recession , but the pace is still slow. 
Barkindo was speaking to Reuters and Azerbaijan's Riel TV on the sidelines of a meeting of the OPEC Monitoring Committee and non-member producers in the Azerbaijani capital Baku earlier this week. 
He added that the major oil producers have made great achievements in terms of cooperation and efforts to avoid imbalances supply and demand in the global oil market. 
He said he would welcome more engagement with the United States to address the issues of the sector.
According to estimates from Amin Nasser , chief executive of Saudi Aramco last year, the global oil and gas industry needs more than $ 20 trillion investment over the twenty - five years coming to meet the expected growth in demand and offset natural attrition in the exploited fields productivity. 
"There are a number of problems stemming from the downturn we have seen, and at the top of the list is the issue of investments. We have seen investments shrink for two years and even now the recovery is very, very limited. 
For the long cycle projects, which are the basis of the global economy, the picture is still not encouraging, so we welcome the US joining us in this global energy dialogue to address that and other issues affecting the industry.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major oil producers led by Russia have agreed on joint efforts to curb oil production in order to restore balance in the global crude market and support prices. 
The first such agreement was the end of 2016 in Vienna. 
"We have not got off the track and we have made significant progress in not allowing the market to return to the imbalance," said Barkindo, speaking in English. 
All participating countries were committed to ensuring a continued supply and demand balance by not leaving stocks below the five-year average. 
This remains our main criterion in assessing the state of the oil market and things are fine so far

[yota691]

Saudi Energy Minister expects collective compliance from OPEC countries to reduce oil production

 

Arab and international Economy News - Baghdad Saudi Arabia urged the OPEC + countries to continue the path of reducing oil production until June. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday he expected collective compliance by more than 100 percent by cutting oil production from OPEC countries this month. Al-Faleh urged OPEC and its allies to continue the path of compliance with the recently agreed cut in oil production, when the current global agreement to cut supply expires at least. "My estimate is that our work is not yet complete in order to restore balance, we are still seeing inventory accumulation in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and certainly US production is still well above normal levels," the Saudi Energy Minister told a news conference after the JCOMM meeting. "We need to continue on the same path until June, but we will continue to monitor supply and demand and do what is necessary this year to maintain the balance of markets," he said. Views 9   Date Added 17/03/2019

[6ly410]

 

 

The Minister of Oil: We have the hope to adhere to the maximum reduction of production efforts of (OPEC +)

2019/03/17 22:49

 

BAGHDAD - Oil Minister Thamer Al-Ghadhban expressed his hope for continued cooperation between the OPEC countries and the countries participating in the agreement to cut production to the maximum compliance with that agreement.

"I hope that we will follow up on what we are doing and reach maximum compliance, and this month we did more than we did in January and February," Ghadhban told a news conference after a meeting of the ministerial technical committee to monitor the agreement, Sunday 17 March 2019. " .

At their December 7, 2018 meeting in Vienna, ministers of OPEC member states decided to reduce oil production by 1.2 million bpd from January 2019 to 6 months .

OPEC countries will cut their total output by 800,000 bpd and non-OPEC countries by 400,000 bpd.

Russia agreed to cut production by 228,000 bpd from the October 2018 level. "

http://almasalah.com/ar/news/166536/وزير-النفط-لدينا-أمل-الالتزام-بأقصى-خفض-للإنتاج-بجهود-من-أوبك-

 

[wc41]

One more ""'connected dot' toward our ultimate end!! We join the Oil Minister in his continued hope!!! 🙏🛢🙂🙏

[yota691]

Faleh says the United States is not exerting pressure to increase supplies

 

Arab and international Economy News _ Baghdad Saudi Arabia's energy minister said on Monday the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its non-OPEC allies needed to rethink whether there was a need for a meeting in April, adding that the United States was not exerting pressure to increase supplies. "We are under pressure not only to pressure the market," Khalid al-Falih told reporters in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, adding that there was no need to change production policy until June. "As long as stock levels are high, the policy will remain the same and the alliance will not change course until there is a drop in inventories." Views 18   Date Added 03/18/2019

[yota691]

Oil Minister: Iraq is keen to support oil prices and stability of the global market

 

Monday 18 March

 

 

Alsumaria News / Baghdad confirmed Oil Minister Thamer Ghadban, Monday, keen Iraq to support oil prices and working with producers from inside and outside "OPEC" to restore balance to world markets through the control of oil supply, indicating that the extension of the agreement or otherwise will be discussed during the meeting Next in Vienna next month.  He said Ghadhban during his participation in the thirteenth meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee to monitor the reduction of the production agreement, which will be held in the Azerbaijani capital Baku in a statement Alsumaria News received a copy of it that " the meeting comes within the framework of the keenness of producing countries in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries" OPEC "and in solidarity with them From outside the control of the decision to reduce the oil production, which was taken before the end of last year, which was implemented as of January 2019 for a period of six months.     "Iraq plays an important role in bringing the views of the producers closer to the logical and realistic solutions and decisions," Ghadhban said, stressing that "the decision to extend the agreement or otherwise will be discussed at the next meeting in Vienna next month."  "The meeting aims to review the reports prepared by the specialized committees and emanating from the meetings of the producers in order to achieve members' commitment to the decision to reduce production to advanced levels and control over the surplus oil supply and to take appropriate steps to maintain the goal set by OPEC and its partners, The stability of the world oil markets and access to fair prices both producers and consumers, and this leads to the revitalization of the global economy. " Prices have received support from efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other countries under the alliance known as OPEC to reduce 1.2 million barrels per day of oil, in a strategy aimed at reducing supply to markets.

[yota691]

 

Oman decides to break the agreement "OPEC +"

 

18-03-2019 01:47 PM 
Number of readings:

Agency of the orbit -

Follow - up 

announced the Saudi energy minister, Khalid al - Faleh, during his press conference on Monday that the Sultanate of Oman has decided to get out of the committee 'OPEC +'.

 

 

 

 

 

[Pitcher]

Perfect Storm” Drives Oil Prices Higher

 Mar 18, 2019, 7:00 PM CDT

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Oil prices have already hit four-month highs, forcing a range of analysts to overhaul their expectations for this year.

“The latest Brent rally has brought prices to our peak forecast of $67.5/bbl, three months early,” Goldman Sachs wrote in a note. The investment bank said that “resilient demand growth” and supply outages could push prices up to $70 per barrel in the near future. It’s a perfect storm: “supply loses

are exceeding our expectations, demand growth is beating low consensus expectations with technicals supportive and net long positioning still depressed,” the bank said.

The outages in Venezuela could swamp the rebound in supply from Libya, Goldman noted. But the real surprise has been demand. At the end of 2018 and the start of this year, oil prices hit a bottom and concerns about global economic stability dominated the narrative. But, for now at least, demand has been solid. In January, demand grew by 1.55 million barrels per day (mb/d) year-on-year. “Gasoline in particular is surprising to the upside, helped by low prices, confirming our view that the weakness in cracks at the turn of the year was supply driven,” Goldman noted. “This comforts us in our above consensus 1.45 mb/d [year-on-year] demand growth forecast.”

Demand in China is growing at a stronger rate than expected, while other emerging markets are set to shake off a rough 2018 that saw a strong dollar, rising interest rates and high oil prices.

Meanwhile, other analysts are also similarly bullish. “As risky assets focused on macro concerns, oil markets have largely overlooked supply-side tightness in 1Q19 that has helped global oil markets to rebalance since the end of 2018,” JPMorgan Chase said in a report. “With a potential for a US-China trade talk resolution emerging, oil prices should finally break out of the narrow trading range and should be supported in the very near-term due to policy-driven supply-side tightness.” Related: LNG Sector Dangerously Dependent On Chinese Demand

 

 

A supply deficit could become rather significant, the bank said, with total oil products demand growth at 1.03 mb/d against supply growth of only 0.3mbd. The second quarter is particularly tight. “As OPEC+ cuts begin to bite and non-OPEC supply tightens in 1H19, due to Canadian curtailments, a temporary US production growth slowdown, and maintenance in some of the key global oil fields (Kashagan particularly), we expect 2Q19 to have a theoretical tightness of over 1.2mbd in global balances.” A supply deficit of 1.2 mb/d is rather notable given the roughly 1.5 mb/d surplus in the fourth quarter of last year, the bank said.

Both Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan see the supply deficit fading in the second half of the year unless OPEC+ continues to over-comply with the production cuts. U.S. shale could rebound from the current lull, while the fate of OPEC+ compliance is up in the air. “Hence, we think OPEC+ cuts will need to be extended not just to the end of 2019 but also into 2020 if they want to avoid another oil price crash,” JPMorgan wrote. Related: Pakistan Aims To Become A Natural Gas Hotspot

Of course, there is no shortage of uncertainty to these – or any other – price scenarios. In particular, the Trump administration will have a lot of influence over what unfolds this year in the oil market. Trump has helped exacerbate the crisis in Venezuela, where the output declines had somewhat stabilized late last year. Venezuela’s production fell by 142,000 bpd in February, while the losses this month have the potential to be even worse.

The U.S. is also weighing the expiration of sanctions waivers on Iran, and the tight oil market could force Trump to extend some of them. The Department of Energy could also release oil from the strategic petroleum reserve, while the U.S. Congress is working on NOPEC legislation, which could threaten OPEC coordination. Moreover, it is unclear how OPEC+ might respond to any of those actions. For instance, Saudi Arabia could ramp up supply to crash prices in response to NOPEC being signed into law. Or, they could continue to over-comply with production cuts after making the mistake of abandoning them too early last year. The permutations are endless, so take each price forecast with a grain of salt.

 

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Perfect-Storm-Drives-Oil-Prices-Higher.html

[Pitcher]

Markets Brace For U.S. Decision On Iran Sanction Waivers

Mar 18, 2019, 5:00 PM CDT

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Over the past few months, oil market participants and analysts focused on OPEC’s production cuts, soaring U.S. shale output, the U.S.-China trade dispute, projections of slowing oil demand growth, and most recently—the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry.  

While these factors are still on everyone’s mind, the U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil are also returning to focus with the six-month waivers to key Iranian oil customers expiring in six weeks.

The U.S. Administration continues to signal that the ultimate goal of the sanctions is zero Iranian exports, yet analysts believe that oil prices at end-April early-May will be a key factor in the decision whether to extend the waivers and demand additional reductions from Iranian oil customers.  

Meanwhile, Iran’s key buyers in Asia ramped up imports in January and February compared to November and December last year, when there was a lot of confusion over who is getting waivers and under what circumstances.

Iranian customers, however, while hoping for—and some of them reportedly working to secure—waivers extensions, have drafted contingency plans for alternative oil supplies in case they won’t get new waivers.

The U.S. granted waivers to eight of the major Iranian clients—including the biggest—China and India—after it slapped sanctions on Iran’s oil, sending oil prices sharply down in the fourth quarter of 2018, after the OPEC+ alliance had preemptively ramped up production to offset what the U.S. Administration promised to be “zero” Iranian oil exports. Related: Cuba Faces Oil Crisis As Venezuela Crumbles

Oil prices plunged in Q4 as oversupply started to build again and as the market began to panic over the U.S.-China trade war with potential consequences on global trade, economic growth, and oil demand growth.

Going into Q2 this year, the U.S. policy towards Iran’s oil exports will be one of the key factors for setting the trend of the oil prices.

The price of oil, on the other hand, will be key to the U.S. Administration’s decision, consultancy Energy Aspects said in a recent note, as carried by Bloomberg. If prices stay at their current levels (Brent at around $67, WTI at $58), Energy Aspects sees the U.S. extending the waivers for China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey, with import caps slashed by 30-50 percent compared to what these countries are currently allowed to import from Iran. If oil prices rise, the allowed import levels may be lowered only by 20-30 percent, according to Energy Aspects.

Last week, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the United States would likely extend the waivers, but would demand additional reductions in imports, as the Administration is currently aiming at below 1 million bpd of Iranian oil exports.

According to various tanker-tracking data, Iran’s oil exports were at around 1 million bpd-1.2 million bpd in January and February.

 

 

The U.S. continues to aim for zero exports, officials say.

Yet, considering other current market-tightening measures including OPEC’s cuts and the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil, the Trump Administration could opt for another softer stance on waivers rather than risk running up oil prices to above $70 a barrel Brent, which doesn’t sit well with U.S. President Donald Trump.

In his keynote address at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, referring to Iran:

“You know its role in global energy markets. We know that role is diminishing. Its exports have tanked due to our pressure campaign, and we have every intention of driving Iranian oil exports to zero just as quickly as we can.” Related: IEA Warns Of Looming Oil Market Deficit

“I’m not going to get ahead of myself or ahead of the President, but make no mistake about it, that’s the direction of travel,” Secretary Pompeo said in an interview with Brian Sullivan of CNBC in Houston, when asked if it was possible to bring down Iran’s oil exports to zero.

Bringing down Iranian barrels to zero could be done this year without compromising global oil supply, four U.S. officials told Bloomberg last week.

The State Department Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, told CNBC last week that projections for supply outstripping demand could provide more wiggle room to the U.S. to tighten the screws on Iran, but noted that “We don’t preview exemptions or nonexemptions.”

OPEC—excluding Iran and Venezuela—currently has around 2.8 million bpd of effective spare production capacity due to the ongoing cuts, so “the potential means of avoiding serious disruption to the oil market is theoretically at hand,” in the event of serious losses from Venezuela, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.  

However, if a serious loss from Venezuela were to coincide with ‘waiver-for-no-one’ regarding Iran, oil prices could shoot up again as they did in the run-up to the sanctions on Tehran when U.S. officials were promising ‘zero’ Iranian oil exports. So the U.S. Administration may want to prevent a spike in prices, which, incidentally, may largely depend on where oil prices are at end-April early-May.

 

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Markets-Brace-For-US-Decision-On-Iran-Sanction-Waivers.html

[yota691]

Oil near its highest level in 2019 due to OPEC cuts and US sanctions

 

Arab and international Economy News _ Baghdad Oil prices are nearing their highest levels in 2019, supported by OPEC-led supply cuts. US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela are supporting prices, but dealers say rising US production may curb the market. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were $ 59.14 a barrel, up 5 cents from the previous settlement price and close to a high of $ 59.23 in 2019 reached in the previous session. Brent crude for the benchmark Brent rose 20 cents to $ 67.74 a barrel, also near the peak of 68.14 recorded late last week. In China, Shanghai crude futures, which opened last year, rose 4.5 percent from the previous close to 468.2 yuan ($ 69.71) a barrel, also close to the 2019 peak of 475.7 yuan a barrel in February. Thus, Shanghai crude is trading at a premium above Brent when calculating the dollar price. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Monday canceled its April meeting, effectively extending supply cuts in force from January to June at least when the next meeting is due. OPEC and a group of outside producers, including Russia, in the so-called OPEC + coalition, began curbing supplies to stem a sharp fall in prices in the second half of 2018, when markets were under pressure from rising production and an economic slowdown. Views 25   Date Added 19/03/2019

[yota691]

Iraq confirms its keenness to suppor t oil prices and stability of the global market

 

The Iraqi oil minister during his attendance at the 13th meeting of the ministerial committee between OPEC and the major producers from outside.

energy Economy News Baghdad Deputy Prime Minister for Energy and Oil Minister stressed Iraq's keenness to support oil prices and work with producers from within and outside the "OPEC" to rebalance the world markets by controlling the supply of oil.  This came during his participation in the thirteenth meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee to monitor the reduction of production between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and major producers from outside, which is held in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.  "This meeting comes within the framework of the keenness of the producer countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its co-sponsors from outside to monitor the decision to reduce the oil production," said Deputy Prime Minister for Energy and Oil Minister Thamer Abbas al-Ghadhban. Was adopted before the end of last year, which was implemented as of January 2019 for a period of (6) months. " "The meeting aims to review the reports prepared by the specialized committees resulting from the meetings of the producers in order to achieve members' commitment to the decision to reduce production to advanced levels and control over the surplus oil supply, and to take appropriate steps to maintain the target set by OPEC and its partners, The stability of the world oil markets and access to fair prices both producers and consumers, and this leads to the revitalization of the global economy. "  "Iraq plays an important role in bringing the views of the producers closer to the logical and realistic solutions and decisions, and he has seen through his meetings with his counterparts their keenness to do so," Ghadhban said.  The oil minister stressed that "the decision to extend the agreement or otherwise will be discussed at the next meeting in Vienna next month." Views 47   Date Added 18/03/2019

[yota691]

OPEC cancels April extraordinary meeting, leaving production cuts until June

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

 18 March 2019 09:06 PM

Mubasher: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) canceled its planned meeting in April and will instead decide whether to extend oil production cuts in June as soon as the market is able to assess the full impact of US sanctions on Iran and the crisis in Venezuela .

A ministerial committee recommended between OPEC and its allies on Monday to cancel the extraordinary meeting scheduled for April 17 and 18, and that the normal talks will be held on June 25 and 26, according to "Reuters .

  * Saudi Arabia 's energy minister: OPEC will not change its output policy meeting in April

  * " OPEC": Saudi Arabia raises its oil production during January .. And increase consumption

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday that the market appeared to be oversupplied by the end of the year, but April would be too early for any decision on production policy .

"What we have heard from a general agreement ... is that April will be an early date for anyproduction decision for the second half," Faleh said on Monday .

"As long as the levels of stocks rise and we are far from normal levels, we will continue on the path of directing the market to balance . "

"We are under pressure not only to pressure the market," Faleh told reporters ahead of a meeting of the joint ministerial monitoring committee in the Azerbaijani capital Baku in response to a question whether he was under pressure from the United States to increase production .

Many Opec members say US President George W. Bush's sanctions policies have been a key factor behind price hikes if they remove more than 2 million barrels a day from Iranian and Venezuelan crude .

Brent crude prices hit a peak of 2019 at more than $ 68 a barrel last week.

OPEC and its allies agreed in December 2018 to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day (1.2 percent of global demand) in the first half of this year in an effort to boost prices .

The Joint Ministerial Control Committee, which also includes non-OPEC Russia, monitors the oil market and levels of compliance with production cuts .

Asked if he had any information on whether the US administration would extend the exemptions granted to Iranian crude buyers, which are due to expire in May, Al-Falih said: "So we see that they are hurting consumers ... so we see the impact on stocks ... we will not change course . "

Faleh said oil and oil levels were the key drivers of OPEC's moves, adding that oil sector estimates showed a need for $ 11 trillion in investments over the next two decades to meet demand growth .

"Our goal is to reduce the levels of global stocks to normal levels and, more importantly, prevent proactively from (occurrence) delinquency," he said .

"Another important indicator is the state of oil investments ... We do not see an investment trend that brings us closer to the required figures," he said.

[yota691]

The oil minister reveals the output of the OPEC meeting and the latest decision on production cuts

Release Date: 2019/3/18 16:43 • 107 times read

The Deputy Prime Minister for Energy and Minister of Oil Thamer Ghadhban, the consensus of producers from the "OPEC" and outside the commitment to the agreement to reduce production in support of oil prices and stability of the oil market, pointing to the signs of the rise in global stocks despite sanctions on some countries .

This came after the conclusion of the thirteenth meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee to monitor the reduction of production between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and major producers from outside, which was held in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. 
Al-Ghadhban said that the Ministerial Council for Production Control has listened to the reports of the relevant committees emanating from the producers' meetings, which included extrapolating the international oil market and reviewing the tables, reports and production data of the member countries. 
The ministerial meeting to be held next month in Vienna and the meeting in June this year will discuss the reduction of production and appropriate decision by the oil ministers, leading to more stability of the global oil market.
For his part, ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said that the meeting of the Ministerial Committee opened with a speech to the host country of the meeting "Azerbaijan" and then the words of the ministers of Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and then the Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC, The commitment of the producers to the agreement, which led to the achievement of positive steps and further stability of the oil market. 
Jihad said that the ministerial committee listened to a comprehensive report on the commitment of the members of the agreement to reduce the production and ratios of each country, pointing to Iraq's commitment to the stability of the world oil markets and support oil prices. 
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil Thamir Abbas al-Ghadhban met with the ministers of oil and energy in Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Azerbaijan. And discussed with them ways to strengthen bilateral relations and expand the prospects for cooperation and development and in the interest of common interests

[Butifldrm]

2019-03-19 BY SOTALIRAQ

Iraq announces joint decision on oil production

 

Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Abbas al-Ghadhban said there was consensus among producers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and abroad to abide by the agreement to reduce production in support of oil prices and the stability of the oil market. 
He pointed out in a statement on Monday, there are signs of rising global stocks despite sanctions on some countries. 
This came after the conclusion of the thirteenth meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee to monitor the agreement to reduce production between OPEC and the largest producers from outside, which was held in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. 
Thamer Abbas Al Ghadhban said that the Ministerial Council for Production Control listened to the reports of the relevant committees emanating from the producers' meetings and included an extrapolation of the international oil market and a review of the tables, reports and production data of the Member States.
Ghadban said that the ministerial meeting to be held next month in Vienna and the meeting in June this year will discuss the reduction of production and decision-making by the oil ministers and leading to more stability of the global oil market. 
As of last January, OPEC and Russia began cutting oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day. 
In February, OPEC cut production by 221,000 bpd. 
For his part, spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry Assem Jihad, said that the meeting of the ministerial committee stressed the importance of the commitment of producers agreement, which led to the achievement of positive steps and more stability of the oil market. 
Jihad said that the ministerial committee listened to a comprehensive report on the commitment of the members of the agreement to reduce the production and ratios prescribed for each country, pointing to Iraq's commitment and his concern for the stability of the world oil markets and support oil prices.

IRAQ

https://www.sotaliraq.com/2019/03/19/العراق-يعلن-قرارا-مشتركا-يخص-الانتاج-ا/

IRAQ

Edited March 19, 2019 by Butifldrm

[Half Crazy Runner]

3 hours ago, yota691 said:

Oil near its highest level in 2019 due to OPEC cuts and US sanctions

 

Arab and international Economy News _ Baghdad Oil prices are nearing their highest levels in 2019, supported by OPEC-led supply cuts. US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela are supporting prices, but dealers say rising US production may curb the market. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were $ 59.14 a barrel, up 5 cents from the previous settlement price and close to a high of $ 59.23 in 2019 reached in the previous session. Brent crude for the benchmark Brent rose 20 cents to $ 67.74 a barrel, also near the peak of 68.14 recorded late last week. In China, Shanghai crude futures, which opened last year, rose 4.5 percent from the previous close to 468.2 yuan ($ 69.71) a barrel, also close to the 2019 peak of 475.7 yuan a barrel in February. Thus, Shanghai crude is trading at a premium above Brent when calculating the dollar price. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Monday canceled its April meeting, effectively extending supply cuts in force from January to June at least when the next meeting is due. OPEC and a group of outside producers, including Russia, in the so-called OPEC + coalition, began curbing supplies to stem a sharp fall in prices in the second half of 2018, when markets were under pressure from rising production and an economic slowdown. Views 25   Date Added 19/03/2019

 

If that’s what it takes to trigger the RV then I’m all in favor of it. 

[Synopsis]

6 minutes ago, Half Crazy Runner said:

 

If that’s what it takes to trigger the RV then I’m all in favor of it. 

 

 Me, TOO!!!, Half Crazy Runner, AND The Very Best Of The Rest Of Your Week To You!!! 

 

Hey, Lookie HERE:

 

 

https://quotes.ino.com/charting/index.html?s=NYMEX_CL.J19&v=w&t=f&a=12&w=1

 

AND HERE:

 

 

https://quotes.ino.com/charting/index.html?s=NYMEX_CL.J19&v=d6&t=f&a=5&w=1

 

Looks like THIS is WTI Crude Oil Futures that APPEARS to be consistently LOWER than Brent or what is shown in Dubai OR Shanghai.

 

So, nominally $59.33/barrel WITH twelve (12) more days in March 2019. Kinda like the twelve (12) days of Christmas, eh?

 

Predictions are inaccurate at best AND misleading at worst. 

 

But, hey, WHO does NOT like the 5 day average trend on the second (2nd) chart???!!!

 

IF (NOTE: IF) THIS holds, we MAY just BUST $60/barrel CONSISTENTLY by the END of MARCH 2019!!!

 

NOW, WHO does NOT like THESE twelve (12) days of Christmas???!!!

 

ANYONE???!!!

 

QUOTE:

 

Predictions are inaccurate at best AND misleading at worst. 

 

END QUOTE:

 

      

 

So, we wait AND see if $60/barrel, WHATEVER $60/barrel is based on, holds for what WE are anticipating.

 

      

 

Also, the last pocket of ISIS North AND East of the Euphrates River in Syria near Iraq HAS BEEN reduced to a tiny, tiny, tiny sliver up against the Euphrates River. Maybe BABY THIS last bastion of ISIS will be FULLY cleared BY THIS weekend!!!

 

      

 

Seems like the more ISIS surrendered AND captured, the more wounded are taken. SO, THESE LAST ISIS fighters are LIKELY SEVERELY weakened, HIGHLY demoralized, AND EXTENSIVELY wounded. So, LIKELY THIS will go quickly to the NECESSARY end of ISIS North AND East of the Euphrates River in Syria near Iraq.

 

My gut feel is there maybe BABY more Good News coupled with the "ALL'S CLEAR" announcement.

 

In The Mean Time...........................................................................................

 

Go Moola Nova (YEAH AND YEE HAW, BABY, READY WHEN YOU ARE BROTHER (OR SISTER) - LET 'ER BUCK!!!)!!!

  

 

 

[10 YEARS LATER]

I’d like to express my keenness to see a swift & speedy ( 2 Concepts the GOI is unfamiliar with ) conclusion ( right now is fine ) to a successful RI/RV.

[Half Crazy Runner]

2 hours ago, 10 YEARS LATER said:

I’d like to express my keenness to see a swift & speedy ( 2 Concepts the GOI is unfamiliar with ) conclusion ( right now is fine ) to a successful RI/RV.

 

Me too!!! I’m so done with these goons 😖Can’t wait until I no longer have to read/hear/think or speak about Iraq or any other country in that particular region. 

Here’s to swift & speedy!!! 🥂