OIL PRICE JUMPS, NEARS $50 PER BARREL AS US INVENTORY DROPS

Crude oil prices on Tuesday surged about four per cent after the United States inventory data showed a drop in stocks to nearly a two-decade low as crude imports into the US Gulf Coast slid last week due to Tropical Storm Hermine.

This is coming as the Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mr. Mohammed Barkindo, will today in Paris, France, meet the oil ministers of Saudi Arabia and Algeria as part of the renewed efforts to secure a global agreement to cut crude oil production to ensure the recovery of prices.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

CRUDE OIL PRICES DROP TO TWO-MONTH LOW

Revenue from oil may further dip as crude prices declined to two months low yesterday.The development came as indications emerged that the United States shale producers have adapted to lower prices environment.

Specifically, August West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 24 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $45.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while the September contract for global benchmark Brent was down by 26 cents, or 0.6 per cent, at $46.50 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. WTI and Brent crude prices lost more than seven per cent last week.

Read more @ The Guardian

OIL RALLY ELUDES NIGERIA AS PIPELINE BREAKS SURGE 24%

Nigeria is currently unable to participate in the move to a 6 month high by crude prices, as what was once Africa’s largest producer sees its daily crude output slide by 36 percent to 1.4 million barrels per day (bd), due to sabotage by militants in the Niger Delta region.

Read more @ BusinessDay

LOCAL OIL FIRMS RISK COLLAPSE AMID LOW PRICE

The participation of local firms in the Nigerian oil and gas industry may have fallen significantly as the slump in global crude oil prices has left many of them without contracts.

 

The sharp drop in prices has forced oil companies, including the big ones, to cut capital expenditure budgets, lay off employees and suspend some projects.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

EU, OPEC WORRY AS LOW OIL PRICES CRASH INVESTMENTS

The European Union (EU) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) were apparently unconfortable with the current trends of crude oil prices which has significantly crashed major investments in the sector.

Arising from twelfth energy dialogue in Vienna Austria recently, the dou confirmed that there has been a growing challenge in energy markets, particularly for oil since the last energy dialogue meeting in June 2014.

Read more @ The Guardian

STAKEHOLDERS IDENTIFY OPTIONS BEYOND CRUDE OIL RESOURCES IN NIGERIA

Nigerian economy is mono-cultural, depending on a single commodity for revenue generation. Other sectors have been relegated to the background, while the management of oil revenues has proven inefficacious in driving the economy to bring about the needed level of development.

With the recent plummeting crude oil prices and drop in the country’s daily revenue by half, industrialists and experts who gathered at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)/
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) forum, called on the Federal Government to look beyond crude oil for economic development.

Read more @ The Guardian

NASS ADOPTS $36 OIL BENCHMARK FOR 2016 BUDGET

Indications emerged on Monday that the National Assembly may have finally adopted a $36 per barrel oil benchmark for the 2016 budget as against the $38 benchmark earlier proposed by the Executive in what is seen as a conservative stance on the recovery of volatile oil prices.

Read more @ BusinessDay Online

U.S. MAY RAISE SHALE PRODUCTION OVER RALLYING OIL PRICES

A gathering storm may soon hit economies of oil producing countries, as the United States of America (U.S.) has given indications of raising the production of its shale oil, sequel to the rising crude oil prices.

The Brent crude rose to $41.39 a barrel yesterday from 40 a barrel on Monday.

Read more @ The Guardian

NIGERIA LOSES $21BN OIL INVESTMENT, FACES STIFF COMPETITION

The Nigerian oil and gas industry, which saw a decline of about $21bn in capital investment in 2015, needs to be repositioned to be able to compete globally for shrinking investment occasioned by the sharp drop in oil prices.

 

Industry operators stated this in Lagos while discussing the issue of low oil prices, the challenges and opportunities.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

BUHARI TO VISIT SAUDI, QATAR TO DISCUSS OIL PRICE

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday (today) embark on yet another round of foreign trips that will take him to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

 

This time, Buhari, who returned to Nigeria on Saturday from Egypt where he participated in the Business for Africa, Egypt and the World Forum, will be away for about one week.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

KACHIKWU'S SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY MAY PAY OFF, RUSSIA, S'ARABIA AGREE TO FREEZE OIL OUTPUT

The push by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to get major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia to agree to production cuts in order to shore up oil prices, may pay off following news yesterday that the world’s two largest crude producers have agreed not to increase oil output.

Read more @ Thisdaylive

FEARS OF MASSIVE JOB LOSS GRIP OIL INDUSTRY

The persistent weakness in the price of crude oil in the international market has raised the prospect of massive job losses in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, our correspondent has gathered.

 

Oil prices have fallen in the last few days to their lowest levels since 2003, trading around $27 per barrel last week, before rallying to about $32.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

OIL PRICES MAY CRASH FURTHER BY 27% IN 2016, SAYS WORLD BANK

The oil producing countries with higher cost may need to brace up for further cost efficiency, as indications emerged that the crude oil prices may crash further by 27 per cent this year.

The latest report by the World Bank released and obtained by The Guardian yesterday, lowered its 2016 forecast for crude oil prices to $37 per barrel from $51 per barrel in its earlier (October) projections

Read more @ Guardian Online

OIL PRICES DROP BY 3.5 PER CENT, DEMAND SLIDES TO ONE-YEAR LOW

Oil prices fell by 3.5 per cent yesterday, as exceptionally mild temperatures in the early part of the winter in Japan, Europe and the United States – alongside weak economic sentiment in China, Brazil, Russia and other commodity-dependent economies, continue to affect demand.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down by $1.13, or 3.5 per cent, at $31.04 a barrel, losing more than two per cent from its closing price on Friday, when Brent surged by10 per cent.

Read more @ Guardian Online

HOW CRASH IN OIL PRICES TEARS OPEC APART

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may be wading through troubled waters resulting from the low crude oil prices and its curtailing strategies which have divided the interest of the 13-member cartel.

The seemingly uncontrollable fall in oil prices has largely affected the economic status of some members, including Nigeria since 2014, but the test of strength within OPEC appears to have overshadowed the need for urgent and strategic decision that could reduce the tension.

Read more @ Guardian Online

CRUDE PRICES STILL TRADE BELOW $30 PER BARREL

This is apparently not the best of time Nigeria and other crude oil producers as the commodity’s prices dropped below $30 a barrel for the first time in 10 years.

On a more worrisome note, a recent survey by Market Realist showed that the country is among those with highest cost of production among the 13 member of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with about $31.60 to produce a barrel of crude.

Read more @ Guardian Online

OIL PRICES REBOUND, LIFT STOCKS OF PETROLEUM FIRMS

World stock markets eked out small gains yesterday, lifted by a recovery in oil prices from 11-year lows as investors unwound some of their bearish bets on the battered commodity.

European stock markets followed Asia higher. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 gained 0.4 per cent after two days of falls while U.S. stock futures suggested Wall Street shares may build on Monday’s rally.

Read more @ The Guardian

LOW CRUDE OIL PRICE: NIGERIA LOSES ABOUT N10BN DAILY

Slide in crude oil prices since June 2014 means that Nigeria loses about N10 billion per day, says Victor Eromosele, board secretary, Centre for Petroleum Information (CPI), saying, 'people are under-estimating the size of the haemorrhage going on.'

Businessday Page 6

NIGERIA IN TROUBLE AS OIL PRICES PLUMMET TO $45 ON LIMITED BUYING INTEREST

The falling oil prices, which plummeted to $45 per barrel coupled with constant decrease in the value of Nigeria’s crude oil, may lead the economy to further run into crisis of a larger magnitude in the nearest future.

Read more @ BusinessDayNg

Drop in global investment to boost crude oil prices

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has expressed optimism that slash in global investment by $130 billion in 2015 from its level of $650 billion in 2014 would lead to increase in crude oil prices.
The projection was based on the fact that investment in new or expansion projects has plummeted, supply will tighten and as supply falls, prices inevitably rise.

Read more @ Guardian Online