Energy

President Donald Trump said on Monday that OPEC had not pressed him to ask U.S. oil producers to reduce their output to support global prices, which have been hard-hit by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump said U.S. oil production had already fallen, anyway. “I think it’s happening …

Energy ministers from the Group of 20 major economies will convene an extraordinary meeting by video conference on Friday “to ensure energy market stability”, according to an internal document seen by Reuters. The call was organised by G20 host Saudi Arabia, which is locked in an oil price war with …

Deep output cuts by OPEC and other oil producing nations will not prevent a huge build up of crude, the head of the IEA said on Friday, urging the world’s richest economies to discuss broader ways to stabilise oil markets. Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told …

President Vladimir Putin will meet the heads of Russia’s top oil companies for talks on Friday, the Kremlin said, describing the atmosphere on the global market as “unfavourable”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that the meeting would be held in the same format as one …

The world is about to run out of oil storage and U.S. shale producers are selling crude for almost nothing but they are still refusing to shut production, hoping to survive the storm, one of the world’s biggest oil traders said. The continuing production shows the challenges that Russia and …

The OPEC+ crude oil exporter group is debating cutting global supply by 10 million barrels per day (bpd), an OPEC source said on Friday, adding that any further cuts must include producers from outside the alliance. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had brokered a deal that could …

Recent negotiations involving leaders from major oil-producing nations and the United States will prove irrelevant for oil prices, which are low because of depressed demand, the chief executive of Brazil’s Petrobras said on Thursday evening. During an online event hosted by Brazilian brokerage XP, Petrobras CEO Roberto Castello Branco said …

The United States does not know formal details of Saudi Arabian and Russian plans to reduce oil supply yet and will not ask U.S. domestic oil producers to chip in with their own cuts, a senior administration official told Reuters on Thursday. President Donald Trump said in a tweet earlier …

U.S. President Donald Trump said he has invited U.S. oil executives to the White House to discuss ways to help the industry “ravaged” by slumping energy demand during the coronavirus outbreak and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Trump also said he had talked recently with the leaders …

The Trump administration plans to lease out space for energy companies to store oil in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, after a previous effort to buy millions of barrels for the emergency stockpile was canceled over a lack of funding, according to two people briefed on the matter. The new …

Top U.S. officials have for now put aside a proposal for an alliance with Saudi Arabia to manage the global oil market, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter, an idea one of them said came from White House national security advisers. That the concept was even considered …

Iran said on Tuesday its natural gas exports to Turkey have stopped after an attack on a pipeline inside the neighbouring country, an Iranian official told state TV. “This morning, terrorists attacked a natural gas pipeline inside Turkey near Iran’s Bazargan border with Turkey …Flow of gas has been halted,” …

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a phone call on Monday to have their top energy officials meet to discuss slumping global oil markets, the Kremlin said, as Trump called Russia’s price war with Saudi Arabia “crazy.” The agreement marks a new twist in global …

A Saudi Arabian energy ministry official said on Friday there had been no contact between the Saudi and Russian energy ministers over any increase in the number of OPEC+ countries, nor any discussion of a joint agreement to balance oil markets. The comments come after a senior Russian official said …

A new OPEC+ deal to balance oil markets might be possible if other countries join in, Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund said, adding that countries should also cooperate to cushion the economic fallout from coronavirus. A pact between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed in a phone call the need to maintain stability in global energy markets as the world responds to the deadly coronavirus pandemic, with Pompeo saying Saudi Arabia can reassure markets, the State Department said on Wednesday. …

In Russia’s battle for oil market share with Saudi Arabia, a sharp fall in the rouble has handed the Russians one advantage – they can now produce cheaper than the Saudis, according to Reuters calculations. The Russian currency has lost nearly a fifth of its value against the U.S. dollar …

Russia never sought a sharp oil price fall or an end to cooperation with Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the Gulf nations are to blame for the crisis on the global oil markets, a senior Russian official said. In early March, Russia and OPEC failed to agree how …

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday came close to blaming Iran for a rocket attack in Iraq last week in which two American troops and a British service member were killed. “Maybe we shouldn’t say yet,” said Trump when the question was posed to Pompeo …

Russia and Saudi Arabia need to maintain contact, Igor Sechin, chief executive with Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft, was quoted as saying by RIA news agency on Friday. “I have no doubts that contact should continue. These two (Russia and Saudi Arabia) are the largest oil producers, and of course, …

Texas oil regulator Ryan Sitton said in a tweet on Friday that he spoke with OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo about an international deal “to ensure economic stability as we recover from COVID-19.” Sitton is a commissioner at the Texas Railroad Commission, the agency that regulates that state’s oil and …

Russia and Saudi Arabia have good relations when it comes to oil markets and Moscow does not need anyone else to intervene, the Kremlin said on Friday, when asked to comment on a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump saying he planned to get involved. Trump said on Thursday he …

U.S. senators on Wednesday raised pressure on Saudi Arabia and Russia to stop the price war that is sinking global oil prices as they held talks with the kingdom’s U.S. envoy and separately urged President Donald Trump to impose an embargo on oil from the two countries. Oil prices plummeted …

India plans to take advantage of low prices for oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to top up its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR), two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. Global oil prices have fallen around 40% in March as the impact of the coronavirus …

Iran’s oil production capacity increased by 6,000 barrels per day after a platform was installed at the offshore Salman field in the Gulf, the official news agency IRNA reported on Saturday, citing Alireza Salmanzadeh, head of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company. “With the installation of the S1 platform at Salman …

Oil’s $30 price plunge this week has sharply increased strains on a number of pegged currencies in energy-exporting emerging markets, above all in Nigeria and Oman where currencies have come under pressure in forward markets. The coronavirus threat to an already fragile global economy and an oil price war between …

The United Arab Emirates joined Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in promising to raise oil output to a record high in April, as the two Gulf Arab oil producers in OPEC took a united stand in a standoff with Russia that has hammered global crude prices. The extra oil the two …

Tunisia is studying hedging fuel purchases after the sharp drop in oil prices following the coronavirus crisis, in order to reduce its energy deficit, the finance minister said on Tuesday. Nizar Yaich added that Tunisia would benefit from lower prices. The clash of oil titans Saudi Arabia and Russia sparked …

The Trump administration on Monday accused “state actors” of touching off an historic slump in global oil prices, and urged Russia’s ambassador to the United States to consider the importance of calming the markets. Oil prices suffered their biggest daily rout since the 1991 Gulf War on Monday as top …

Plunging oil prices have increased the urgency for Algeria to reform its economy, politicians and business leaders said on Monday. Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab said the country had been in “permanent consultations” with other oil producers after the collapse on Friday of an OPEC+ supply deal, which led Saudi Arabia …

The collapse in oil prices will put pressure on government finances in the Gulf, credit rating agency Fitch said on Monday. Fitch’s top Middle East and Africa sovereign analyst Jan Friedrich said a $10 drop in crude prices lowered fiscal revenues in the Gulf by 2-4% of GDP, depending on …

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, plans to raise its crude oil production significantly above 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, after the collapse of the OPEC supply cut agreement with Russia, two sources told Reuters on Sunday. State oil giant Aramco will boost its crude output …

Lebanon’s search for offshore oil and gas will begin on Thursday, President Michel Aoun said, as the country grapples with an unprecedented financial crisis. The results from the first exploratory well are expected in the next two months, the chairman of the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) said earlier on Wednesday. …

Former Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih, who was removed last year, was tapped to head the kingdom’s newly-created investment ministry in a cabinet reshuffle announced on Tuesday that also created new ministries for tourism and sports. According to royal orders published by state news agency SPA, the ministers of media …

Saudi Aramco is launching the biggest shale gas development outside of the United States to boost domestic gas supply and end the burning of oil at its power generation plants, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser told Reuters on Monday. The world’s top crude oil exporter has for years battled for …

Saudi Aramco plans to invest $110 billion to develop unconventional gas reserves in Saudi Arabia’s Jafurah field, the state news agency SPA said on Friday. It said the development plans were reviewed by the Saudi High Commission for Hydrocarbons in a meeting chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The …

By Emad Aysha According to a recently published report, ‘Middle East and Africa Solar Panel Market, 2019-2027’, the Middle East region had witnessed an increase in the total primary energy production from 77.964 quadrillion Btu in the year 2013 to 87.839 quadrillion Btu in the year 2016. The Middle East …

Israel said on Tuesday it will not issue new licenses for oil shale exploration and production as it moves towards cleaner energy sources. The decision was made due to concerns over the environmental impact and ecological footprint of oil shale projects, Israel’s energy and environmental protection ministries said on Tuesday. …

The United Nations has received conditions from tribesmen allied to eastern forces to lift a blockade of eastern oil export ports, its Libya envoy said on Tuesday. “The tribesmen have sent me their conditions but I have to say that these conditions are quite general and they will be dealt …

The United Arab Emirates has issued an operating license for the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant, a senior official at the nuclear regulator said on Monday, paving the way for it to start production later this year. The multi-billion-dollar Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi, which is being …

Egypt has reached initial agreements with five major energy firms to explore for oil and gas in deep waters in off its western coast on the Mediterranean, the petroleum minister said, the first such deals in that offshore region. The five companies are Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP, Total and …

The United States is not concerned by the prospect of further output cuts by OPEC and its allied oil producers, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said on Tuesday. A technical panel that advises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, led by Russia, have proposed an additional …

The United States has agreed to extend a waiver for Iraq to import Iranian energy supplies, including gas, two Iraqi government officials said on Monday. Washington has repeatedly extended the exemption for Baghdad to use crucial Iranian energy supplies for its power grid, for periods of 90 or 120 days. …

Qatargas signed a new long-term sale and purchase agreement with Shell to deliver 1 million tons per annum of liquefied natural gas to Kuwait, starting this year, the company said in a press release on Sunday. Source: Reuters