March 2016

From CNBC Hedge funds and other money managers have amassed a near-record number of bullish bets on increasing oil prices, helping push the main international benchmark well above $40 per barrel. By the close of business on March 22, money managers held a net long position equivalent to almost 579 million barrels in the three largest crude oil futures and

From Reuters Strong growth in consumption of gasoline while demand for other fuels remains more subdued is creating a headache for oil refiners in the United States and around the rest of the world. U.S. refineries are configured to turn just under half of the crude petroleum they process into motor gasoline, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

From Forbes The oil patch in 2016 resembles the sequel to “There Will Be Blood,” with massive layoffs and plummeting capital expenditures, such that expectations of a tightening market and renewed oil price surge are widespread. The chaos in the upstream sector, blindsided by a collapse in cyclically high oil prices, has some thinking that markets will be whipsawed in

From Bloomberg U.S. regional banks with large energy exposures including Comerica Inc. and Zions Bancorp could suffer higher losses than analysts predict if oil prices continue to fall, according to a Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services report. Only two of the 10 regional banks stress-tested by the ratings firm remained profitable before paying out dividends under the most adverse scenario,

From Bloomberg In the three months since the U.S. lifted its 40-year ban on crude oil exports, a curious thing has happened. Rather than flooding global markets, U.S. crude shipments to foreign buyers have stalled. At the same time, imports into the U.S. jumped to a three-year high in what looks to be a reversal of a yearslong decline in

From Bloomberg Even in a world awash with crude, buyers in the world’s biggest oil market can’t seem to escape their addiction to Middle East supplies. South Korea’s imports from the Middle East climbed last year to the highest level since at least 1980, while refiners in India say they are shunning shipments from distant ports and taking more cargoes