Oil dropped as traders shrugged off the risk to commodity ships in the Black Sea until disruptions materialized. West Texas Intermediate settled below $82 a barrel at the start of the week after rising more than 4% over the previous two sessions. In recent days, sea drones hit a Russian oil tanker and naval vessel, highlighting the threat to fuel flows on a key route to global markets. Still, exports are continuing from the region at a time when the market is relatively well supplied. “The crude market has a poor record of anticipating the impacts of supply disruptions” and…
Author: Automotivedealernews.com
Oil held on to recent gains in light trade, helped by tighter supplies and optimism that China’s government will boost the country’s economy. West Texas Intermediate settled above $79 as open interest hovered around January lows, while risk-on sentiment in equity markets bolstered gains. China, the world’s biggest crude importer, signaled more support for the real estate sector on Monday along with pledges to boost consumption. Despite light trading volumes, technical patterns and fundamentals show increasing signs of market tightness. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate and Brent closed above their 200-day moving averages for the first time in nearly a…
As the Amazon may face a catastrophic tipping point that is eroding its status as a major carbon sink, a new study charts which banks have pumped the most money into extracting oil and gas from the world’s largest rainforest. An analysis by Stand.earth, a non-profit organization with offices in Canada and the US, lists JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. like the two banks that have dominated the financial support for fossil fuels in the Amazon basin for the past 15 years. In total, JPMorgan and Citigroup were behind $3.8 billion in loans and bonds for oil and…
Proposed legislation in the US seeks to authorize the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate hydraulic fracturing to protect water resources. The FRAC Act is among five legislative proposals brought before the lower house last week to address the environmental and health risks of fracking, which typically involves injecting chemicals underground to release oil or gas. “The legislation, known as the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2023, or FRAC Act, would close a loophole in the Safe Drinking Water Act that prevents the EPA from regulating the notorious drilling process that involves injecting large volumes of toxic chemicals…
Tokyo-based Itochu Corporation plans to invest approximately $2 billion in renewable energy projects in North America by establishing a new Delaware-incorporated fund, Overland Capital Partners LP, Itochu said in a news release Monday. Overland Capital Partners will invest in renewable energy generation assets in the US and Canada, Itochu said. Fuyo General Lease Co. Ltd. and Tokyu Land Corporation have decided to invest in the fund. The first closure has been held, according to the statement. Kansas-based Tyr Energy Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Itochu, will manage the fund as general partner through its newly established subsidiaries. Working with…
Carlton Power of the United Kingdom (UK) has received planning permission for the world’s largest battery energy storage system (BESS) from Trafford Council, the company said in a press release on Monday. Carlton’s 1 gigawatt (GW) BESS, located at Greater Manchester’s Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park, is expected to cost $962 million (GBP 750 million). The planned BESS will “strengthen the security and resilience of the energy system in North West England and support the energy transition and growth of renewable energy generation in the region,” the company said in the press release. Formerly the site of Carrington Coal Station,…
Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) has announced the successful exploration of six oil and gas wells in five blocks on the island of Borneo. “Gedombak well in block SK306 and Mirdanga well in block SK411 (in Balingian province), Sinsing well in block SK313, Machinchang and Pangkin wells in block SK301B and Kalung Emas well in block SK315 (in West Luconia province) are from new and existing oil fields of gas companies and new and existing oil exposures in Malaysia,” he said. a press release. The discoveries were made by Petronas’ wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas Carigali Sendirian Bhd. Petronas had already confirmed success…
Most of the second wave of US LNG export projects will be located along a small stretch of the Gulf Coast, from Port Arthur on the Texas-Louisiana border to the Mississippi River in southeast Louisiana. Three of those projects—Golden Pass LNG, Port Arthur LNG and Plaquemines LNG—are under construction there and will add nearly 7 Bcf/d of new gas demand by 2028, and others could reach a final investment decision (FID) in the coming months or years. This has led to a frenzy of natural gas pipeline projects competing to serve this growing demand center, either by moving incremental supply…
Vitol Group doubled the amount its staff earned last year as it posted a record $15.1 billion profit thanks to wild swings in energy markets caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The trading house paid an average of just over $785,000 each in salary and bonuses to its 3,311 employees, compared with the previous year’s average of $394,000, according to the company’s audited annual accounts seen by Bloomberg News. That’s before factoring in shareholder payouts to the roughly 450 top executives and traders who also own the company, receiving $2.5 billion in 2022 and another $2.5 billion in the first…
Australian energy major Woodside has reported revenue of $3.08 billion in the second quarter, down 29% compared to the first quarter of 2023 due to lower realized prices and production. “The strong underlying operating performance in the second quarter was impacted by planned maintenance and maintenance activities, particularly at the onshore Pluto LNG facility and associated offshore facilities in Western Australia,” Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said. However, it noted that while production and sales were lower compared to the first quarter of 2023, they were higher than the corresponding period last year, reflecting the expansion of Woodside’s operations. Production declined…