Archive for May, 2016

UAE oil minister says happy with oil market

UAE oil minister says happy with oil market

UAE Oil Minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui VIENNA, May 31 (Reuters) – UAE Oil Minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui said on Tuesday he was happy with the oil market, noting that prices had been correcting higher. “We are optimistic. We are seeing that the market is correcting upward,” Mazroui told reporters in Vienna. Oil ministers from […]

Oil glut means 1,300 offshore support vessels lying idle worldwide

Oil glut means 1,300 offshore support vessels lying idle worldwide

Oil glut, exploration slowdown a boom for ship preservation companies By Aradhana Aravindan and Keith Wallis SINGAPORE, May 31 (Reuters) – Not everyone in shipping is bemoaning the industry’s worst crisis in living memory: a cluster of companies that help preserve equipment and provide security for vessels parked around southeast Asia are busier than they have […]

Nigeria’s Barkindo frontrunner to become OPEC secretary-general

Nigeria’s Barkindo frontrunner to become OPEC secretary-general

Mohammed Barkindo former head of Nigerian state oil firm VIENNA, May 31 (Reuters) – A Nigerian oil technocrat has emerged as frontrunner to take the top job at OPEC, with members seeing Mohammed Barkindo as what would be a rare compromise candidate to lead the group amid rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Barkindo has been […]

Great Plains Energy to buy Westar for $8.6 billion

Great Plains Energy to buy Westar for $8.6 billion

Great Plains Energy hopes for competitive edge May 31 (Reuters) – Great Plains Energy Inc, the parent of regulated power utility Kansas City Power & Light, will buy rival Westar Energy Inc for $8.6 billion in cash and stock as it looks to gain scale to better compete in a challenging market. Westar shareholders will receive […]

Gazprom sees no need for Europe price war, no US LNG threat

Gazprom sees no need for Europe price war, no US LNG threat

EU looking for alternative LNG suppliers to Russia’s Gazprom   MOSCOW, May 31 (Reuters) – Russia’s Gazprom sees no need to wage gas price wars in Europe to squeeze out rivals, including expected liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev said on Tuesday. The company provides a third of the […]

China’s diesel exports grow, driven by changes in its economy, refining industry

China’s diesel exports grow, driven by changes in its economy, refining industry

 To alleviate over-supply, China increased export quota for all petroleum products in 2015 Chinese exports of diesel began to increase rapidly in 2015, driven by a structural shift in China’s economy—which is reducing diesel demand—and by reforms in China’s refining sector, which are contributing to increased refinery utilization and diesel production, according to the US […]

New Saudi energy minister shows he takes OPEC seriously

New Saudi energy minister shows he takes OPEC seriously

OPEC meeting in Vienna on Thursday By Alex Lawler, Rania El Gamal and Reem Shamseddine VIENNA, May 31 (Reuters) – For OPEC watchers, every little detail matters. When the oil producer group holds its half-yearly meetings, what time the ministers arrive in Vienna, how they speak and which hotel they stay in – anything will […]

Scotiabank misses estimates as energy loans turn sour

Scotiabank misses estimates as energy loans turn sour

Scotiabank to cut 4-5 per cent of branches in the next two years   By Matt Scuffham TORONTO, May 31 (Reuters) – On Tuesday, Scotiabank reported second-quarter results which were below market expectations and increased funds set aside to cover bad loans by 40 percent as lending to energy companies turned sour. Scotiabank, which has […]

Texas oil and gas production statistics for March 2016

Texas oil and gas production statistics for March 2016

Texas March 2016 crude oil production averaged 2,506,539 b/d, compared to 2,309,237 b/d of March 2015 AUSTIN, Texas – As American crude oil production drops in response to low prices and declining exploration, Texas bucked the trend by increasing March output compared to a year ago. Production for March 2016 as reported to the Railroad Commission […]

Dismay in oil Twitterverse upon @energyrosen abrupt exit

Dismay in oil Twitterverse upon @energyrosen abrupt exit

@energyrosen, A.K.A. Eric Rosenfeldt, quit after accusations of dishonesty By Devika Krishna Kumar May 31 (Reuters) – Oil traders keep a low profile. So when one of the most widely followed oil traders on Twitter abruptly closed his account last week, the outpouring of dismay among his thousands of followers was rare for the secretive […]