“Production from the North Slope of Alaska and the North Sea of Europe, burgeoning oil regions 20 years ago, is in decline. Unrest in Venezuela and Nigeria threatens the flow of oil. The Middle East remains the mother lode of crude, but war and instability underscore the perils of depending on that region.” The points above came from an archived
Forecast Pushed Back in 2016 Earnings season is underway, but you’d have a hard time believing we’re in the first week of quarterlies judging from a headline from Bloomberg this morning. It reads, “$6.5 Billion in Energy Writedowns and We’re Just Getting Started.” Investors and executives in search of good news didn’t get any from the industry’s two oil service
WTI closed higher for the first time in five sessions yesterday The front month West Texas Intermediate contract is up $1.25 from yesterday’s close of $47.98 per barrel. The 2.3% increase in WTI front month contracts marked the first time in five sessions that the price of the U.S. crude benchmark finished the day strong than when it started. The
Oil prices break the 100-day moving average Both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) saw a sharp fall on July 6, 2015, resulting from a variety of negative factors. WTI closed at $52.71, a 7.5% drop, while Brent tumbled 8.5% to $56.81. Both the international and U.S. benchmarks broke below the 100-day moving averages. The WTI drop is the
Baker Hughes (ticker: BHI) released its weekly rig count tally on Thursday, July 2 – one day earlier than normal in consideration of the July 4th Independence Day holiday. The United States added three rigs to its fleet in the latest report and now has 862 total. A total of 12 oil-focused rigs joined the fleet, breaking a 29-week decline
OPEC expects basket price to fall for third straight week The price of OPEC’s basket of twelve crudes stood at $60.73 per barrel today, down $1.30 from just a week ago when the basket sold for $62.03, according to information released by OPEC. OPEC’s crude oil basket has been trending downward since the beginning of the month when it reached
The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) maintained weeks of stabilization before falling below $44/barrel on March 16, 2015 – the lowest since a price of $42.33 on March 11, 2009. WTI exceeded $50/barrel earlier in the month as the falling rig counts and flat production forecasts seemed to assist in pushing up the price, but sky-high inventories and recent
The dust is settling on the first phase of the global oil market share war. Oil has been hovering around $50/barrel for nearly a week – a long-awaited relief to the industry which was wondering, exactly, where is rock bottom? The recent stabilization of oil prices has prompted some analysts to make the necessary adjustments to their respective models and
Magnum Hunter Jan. 23 Conference Call Gary Evans drew on some famous American humor to lead off this morning’s conference call “to discuss macro events affecting the energy sector and company specifics.” Evans paraphrased the famous quip from North American author Mark Twain after the author saw his own obituary. Crude Oil Prices and OPEC The Magnum Hunter Resources (ticker: MHR)
The oil and gas industry wasn’t given much of a respite following the unofficial ending to the holiday season. Oil prices continued their plunge on Monday, January 5, 2015, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent prices closing at $49.78 and $53.12, respectively. The sub-$4.00 differential first appeared in December 2014. The last time the market saw a sub-$4.00 differential
OPEC Cuts Demand Forecast OPEC cut demand forecast for its crude oil to a 12-year low, sending oil prices, energy shares and the overall stock market into a dive on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at a day low of $60.43. On top of the OPEC demand cut, U.S. inventories increased on a day when expectations were for a
Oil prices slid sharply in Monday trading, dropping by more than 4% to close at a five-year low of $63.02. Brent prices fell in similar fashion, ending the day below the $66.00 mark. Spot prices for WTI have dropped by 18.6% in the last month alone. The continuous price drop occurred the same day as three separate oil companies announced
