Reuters WINNIPEG/TORONTO – Shares of North America’s hard-hit oil and gas producers are climbing sharply as investors bet COVID-19 vaccine rollouts will ease the pandemic’s travel restrictions and revive fuel demand. The gains, which have pushed the Canadian Energy Sector Index up over 40% since Nov. 9, come as oil prices rise well above spring lows and big producers plan
Reuters Oil prices will struggle to gain upward traction next year as demand remains in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic despite growing optimism over vaccines and a likely extension of output cuts by top producers, a Reuters poll showed on Monday. The poll of 40 economists and analysts forecast Brent would average $49.35 a barrel next year, little changed
Reuters OSLO – The COVID-19 pandemic and a faster transition to renewable energy sources will have a permanent impact on global oil demand, Norway’s biggest independent energy consultancy Rystad predicted on Monday. Global demand will likely peak in 2028 at 102 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), down from a pre-pandemic forecast of a peak in 2030 at 106
Reuters BEIJING – China’s natural gas consumption is expected to grow at 4.2% in 2020, the slowest pace in five years, a government research report said, after the coronavirus pandemic slowed economic activity and dented demand for energy. Demand for natural gas grew just 1.5% in the first half, the report by the oil and gas department at the National
Reuters LONDON – Oil prices fell on Thursday as U.S. producers in the Gulf of Mexico prepared to resume output following Hurricane Sally, and amid concerns about the slow economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic as U.S. jobless claims remained high. Brent crude LCOc1 was down 24 cents, or 0.6%, to $41.98 a barrel at 1344 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate
Reuters SINGAPORE – The economic trauma caused by the coronavirus pandemic has pushed energy companies to step-up investment in renewables, hydrogen and other low carbon alternatives, but fossil fuels will be their dominant business for the foreseeable future, industry executives said. Reeling from the onset of the pandemic, global oil consumption shrank by more than 20% in the second quarter
Reuters SINGAPORE/LONDON/NEW YORK – Major oil industry producers and traders are forecasting a bleak future for worldwide fuel demand, due to the coronavirus pandemic’s ongoing assault on the global economy. The novel coronavirus hammered fuel demand in the spring, causing consumption to drop by more than one-third as billions of people worldwide restricted their movements. Consumption rebounded in the summer,
Reuters LONDON – Oil prices rose on Tuesday, supported by hurricane supply disruptions in the United States, but forecasts of a slower than expected recovery in global demand from the pandemic weighed. Brent crude LCOc1 was up 41 cents, or 1%, at $40.02 a barrel by 1341 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 47 cents, or 1.3%, at
Reuters LONDON – Oil prices slipped slightly on Monday amid concerns about a stalled global economic recovery and with Libya poised to resume production, but were supported by an impending storm which has disrupted U.S. oil output. Brent crude LCOc1 was down 12 cents, or 0.3%, at $39.71 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 8 cents, or
Reuters LONDON – High-frequency data from the United States has provided the first convincing indication of global oil market rebalancing, but it also underscore the market’s vulnerability to a COVID-19 resurgence and new lockdowns. Total stocks of crude and refined products in the United States fell by 9 million barrels last week, the first week-on-week decline since the end of
CNBC The International Monetary Fund revised its growth forecasts for the Middle East and North Africa downward again amid an “unusually high level of uncertainty,” according to its latest regional economic report. It now expects MENA economies to contract 5.7% in 2020. In April, it predicted that the region would shrink 3.3% for the year. “The unusually high level of uncertainty regarding the length of
Reuters LONDON – Iran has slashed crude oil production to its lowest level in four decades as storage tanks and vessels are almost completely full due to a fall in exports and refinery run cuts caused by the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed. Total onshore crude stocks surged to 54 million barrels in April from 15 million barrels in January,
