United States – Oil & Gas 360

Central banks, like the Fed or ECB, use interest rates to keep inflation in check. Lower interest rates reduce consumer borrowing costs and can boost economic growth and demand for oil. In China, the world’s second biggest economy, fiscal revenue dipped 0.3% in the first six months from a year earlier, the finance ministry said on Friday, maintaining the rate of decline seen between January and May. GROWING SUPPLIES? The U.S. is preparing to allow partners of Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA, starting with U.S. oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX), to operate with limitations in the sanctioned nation, sources said on Thursday. That could boost Venezuelan oil exports by a little more than 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), which would be welcome news for U.S. refiners, as it would ease tightness in the heavier crude market, ING analysts wrote. In the Middle East, Iran said it would continue nuclear talks with European powers after "serious, frank, and detailed" conversations on Friday, the first such face-to-face meeting since Israel and the U.S. bombed Iran last month. Venezuela and Iran are members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Any deal that could increase the amount of oil either sanctioned country could export would boost the amount of crude available to global markets. A meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, which includes top ministers from OPEC and allies like Russia, a group known as OPEC+, is scheduled for 1200 GMT on Monday.- oil and gas 360

Oil prices ease as negative economic news offsets trade optimism

July 25, 2025

(Investing) – NEW YORK -Oil prices eased on Friday on negative economic news from the United States and China and signs of growing supply despite optimism U.S. trade deals could boost global economic growth and oil demand in the future. Brent crude futures fell 32 cents, or 0.5%, to $68.86 a barrel by 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 GMT), while U.S. West Texas

Fossil fuels rise in Europe and U.S. despite soaring clean energy

July 24, 2025

(Oil Price)– Power generation from clean energy rose globally in the first half of the year, led by the renewables champion China, while power output from fossil fuels remained flat from a year earlier, due to rising gas and coal use in Europe and surging coal generation in the United States. China’s clean energy generation jumped by 14% to a

A note on the news: Game changed

April 22, 2025

(Oil & Gas 360) – The United States is in a worldwide competition with China. Until recently, considerations of this competition focused on the possibility of a war between the US and China in the Taiwan Straits. It is apparent a direct military confrontation in the Taiwan Straits is not in anyone’s best interest. This competition is about far more than

US Natgas prices edge up 1% on record flows to LNG export plants

March 21, 2025

(US News) – U.S. natural gas futures edged up about 1% on Friday on record flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants. Front-month gas futures for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 5.3 cents, or 1.3%, to $4.028 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 9:16 a.m. EDT (1316 GMT). On Thursday, the contract closed at

A note on the news – Decision time: For Europe – and others

March 11, 2025

(Oil & Gas 360) – After World War II, the US established a new “rules-based liberal international order” dominated by new “liberal democracies”. That system with its democracies is crumbling – right on schedule. As I have written previously, democracies vote for their own destruction; they typically last less than a century. The post-WWII democracies are now 75 to 80

A Thanksgiving Perspective- What a difference a decade makes

November 27, 2024

(Oil & Gas 360)- It was Thanksgiving Day 2014 when the U.S. oil industry was confronted with its biggest challenge in decades following Saudi Arabia’s attempt to leverage an oil glut of the time to preserve market share while squeezing American oil producers with their higher cost structure. The ploy worked…for a while. Not only did oil prices fall more

Global natural gas demand and inventories rose in September

November 18, 2024

(Oil Price) – Global natural gas demand rose by 6.1 billion cubic meters (bcm) in September from a year earlier, and inventories jumped to a record high, the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) said in its monthly oil and gas overview on Monday. Worldwide natural gas production also rose year-over-year by 7.65 bcm in September, according to the latest data after 52 countries

Bad policies leave U.S. vulnerable to Middle East oil crisis

October 7, 2024

(Oil Price) – The United States is the world’s largest oil producer, pumping some 13 million barrels every day. Yet the U.S. is also the biggest consumer of crude, a major exporter, and a country with an empty strategic petroleum reserve. Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm called the U.S. “unusually vulnerable” to an oil shock. Just a month ago, such

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