[EDITOR’S NOTE: this is the final installment of the OAG360 story in which Helen El Mallakh, director of the International Research Center for Energy and Economic Development (ICEED), discusses the changing political scene and the shifting geopolitical sands that are challenging the balance of oil producers in the Middle East. El Mallakh was keynote speaker at the Energy Finance Discussion
“The Middle East shapes energy politics, energy crises, and it has a huge impact on geopolitics” – Helen El Mallakh Ahead of the upcoming 174th OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria, (scheduled for Friday, June 22, and immediately followed by the fourth OPEC/non-OPEC ministerial meeting Saturday), Helen El Mallakh, director of the International Research Center for Energy and Economic Development (ICEED)
From Reuters Russia and Saudi Arabia are pushing OPEC and its allies to raise oil output steeply from July to meet growing demand and cover supply outages in Venezuela and Libya despite opposition from several members of the producer group including Iran. “Oil demand usually grows at the steepest pace in the third quarter … We could face a deficit
From CNBC Oil prices are continuing to hover around 2014 highs, with market watchers waiting to see what happens when U.S. sanctions are re-imposed on Iran. It remains to be seen whether major oil producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia will step into the breach to stop prices soaring after an expected dip in Iranian supply, a top analyst told
Could add to $10 billion in projects pending study From the Houston Chronicle Saudi Arabia’s premier energy companies are planning to invest billions of dollars in their Houston-area petrochemicals operations to take advantage of cheap natural gas feedstocks from West Texas shale fields. Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, signed two separate agreements with oil-equipment makers TechnipFMC, which has headquarters
From Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices slipped on Monday as Wall Street slid more than 1 percent and energy market investors remained wary of growing crude supply, although tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran gave prices some support. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 34 cents at $65.87 a barrel by 11:35 a.m. EST (1535 GMT). U.S. West
From Bloomberg From Franklin Roosevelt to George W. Bush, American presidents saw oil as the cornerstone of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. — a steady supply from the Middle East’s largest exporter was considered crucial to the economy’s well-being. As Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman travels to America this week, the Texas-to-North Dakota shale boom has
From Bloomberg Permian could boost crude output in days: Aramco’s former reservoir management chief The U.S.’s Permian Basin is looking like Saudi Arabia, with as much as 1 million barrels of spare oil capacity ready to go into production, according to Nansen Saleri, former head of reservoir management at Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest crude exporter. Oil producers in the
From Reuters Oil’s price rally this year to its highest since May 2015 may seem a source of glee for OPEC, but some in the producer group fear the gains could prompt shale companies to crank open their spigots and flood the market. Benchmark Brent crude rose further above $68 a barrel on Tuesday, supported by oil output cuts led
Saudi Arabia plans to spend $261 billion in 2018. The budget will set a record for Saudi Arabia, as it looks to reform the country’s economy and reduce reliance on oil revenues. Forbes reported that Saudi Arabia plans to cut gasoline subsidies, creating a 80% price jump in January 2018. The article notes that gasoline prices were very low –
From Dow Jones/Fox Business Saudi Arabia is hunting for an energy deal in American shale country. Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, has had initial conversations about either taking a stake in Tellurian Inc., a Houston-based liquefied-natural-gas developer, or agreeing to buy some of its fuel in the future, people familiar with the matter said. Separately, it has also
As production cuts fail to raise prices further, Saudi Arabia looks to influence U.S. data to strengthen commodity prices Crude oil prices hit a five-week low Wednesday as OPEC production rose and U.S. inventories showed smaller than expected draws. OPEC has been trying to bolster oil prices with a production cut deal, but increased output from Libya and Nigeria, both
