Crude Oil

Wayne Cole gives us a look at what the markets will be like in Europe and around the world today. The week has started off quiet in the United States and Asia. The Nikkei was stung by Japanese data as the GDP missed expectations. The economy only grew 0.2% annually in the fourth quarter of 2012, while analysts expected a rebound to 1.6% following a contraction in Q3. The GDP also increased by just 0.1% on a year-on-year basis, which is a dramatic drop from the 2% growth rate of mid-2025. The nominal GDP was slightly better, at 3.4% for...

Valero Energy will buy up to 6.5 millions barrels of Venezuelan oil in March for its Gulf Coast refining plants, making it 'the top foreign refiner since the United States captured Nicolas Maduro, in January. Valero is one of the first U.S. oil refiners that resumed imports after the United States signed a landmark $2 billion oil deal with Venezuela's interim government, and started to ease sanctions. If Valero can buy 10 or more cargoes of Venezuelan crude next month, which is equivalent to 210,000 barrels a day, then it will surpass U.S. oil giant Chevron in the United States...

Presidents Day, which falls on February 16, will impact the schedule for the release of major economic, energy and commodities reports in Washington for the week beginning February 15. The schedule is below. The times are in GMT/EST. Treasury announcements may be subject to change. Monday, February 16, 2019 Presidents Day. Closed: Federal government offices, Federal Reserve and International?Monetary Fund, stock and Bond markets. Tuesday, February 17, 2019 National Association of Home Builders releases U.S. Housing Market Index, February, 1000/1500 Conference Board releases Employment Trends, January 1000/1500. Rescheduled event from February 9. Treasury Dept. Treasury Dept. The U.S. Department of...

Asian shares fell from record highs on Friday, as investors sought safe-haven bonds in anticipation of U.S. inflation data. The Nasdaq Composite, a technology-heavy index on Wall Street?slid?2% overnight after Cisco Systems reported a quarterly adjusted gross profit margin that was below expectations due to a surge in the cost of memory chips. This drove Cisco's shares down by 12%, wiping out $40 billion from its market capitalization. The selling spilled into the tech giants, like Apple. Apple fell 5% on a daily basis in April of last year after President Donald Trump’s "Liberation Day tariffs" spooked the markets. Transport...

Chris Wright, the U.S. secretary of energy, told NBC News that oil sales from Venezuela under U.S. control have reached a total of?over $1billion since President Nicolas Maduro was captured in January. In the coming months he expects to bring?in 'another $5billion. He added that the U.S. government under President Donald Trump had given Venezuela's interim administration the proceeds of sales from U.S. oil refineries. Wright, on the second day of his visit to Venezuela, said, "Sales are now over one billion dollars and we have some sort of short-term deals over the next couple of months that will bring...

Prices of oil?dropped Thursday as a result of falling?demand and easing fears about renewed Middle?East?conflicts. Brent crude oil futures settled on $67.52 per barrel, down $1.88 or 2.71%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate finished at $62.84 per barrel, down by $1.79 or 2.77%. The International Energy Agency announced on Thursday that global oil demand would rise slower than expected this year. However, it projected a large surplus despite the outages?that reduced supply in January. Brent and WTI benchmarks reversed their gains to become negative after the IEA monthly report. Earlier, they had been supported by concerns about the U.S. Iran backdrop....

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that Harry Sargeant III, a billionaire energy entrepreneur and Republican donor who is a Republican donor to the U.S. government has no authority to act for them. He also added that relations between Venezuela and?the U.S. had been "extraordinary." "He has no authority to act for the United States of America in any way, shape, or form. Neither does anyone else who is not approved by State Department." Trump stated in a Truth Social post that without this approval, nobody is authorized to represent the United States of America. He was apparently referring to...

On Thursday, the administration of Donald Trump plans to announce "the repeal" of a scientific conclusion that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human sanity. This will remove the legal basis of federal climate regulations. This is the biggest climate change policy rollback the administration has ever made. It follows a series of regulatory reductions and other actions designed to reduce the restrictions on fossil fuel development, and to stymie clean energy deployment. Trump believes that climate change is a hoax and has pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement. This leaves the United States, the largest contributor historically to...

Izvestia, a Russian newspaper, reported on Thursday that Russia was preparing to ship crude oil and fuel to Cuba within the next few months. Cuba has been hit by fuel shortages since the U.S. cut off its oil supply. The communist-run Island has informed international airlines that there will be no jet fuel available. This is the latest sign of rapidly worsening conditions. Venezuela has been a major supplier of jet fuel to the United States for many years. However, since Washington's 'blocking of Venezuelan exports in mid-December, it hasn’t received any crude or refined products. A Russian diplomat said...

Treasury yields increased and stock indices were mostly slightly higher Wednesday afternoon, after data showed that the U.S. created far more jobs than expected in the month of January. This could make it harder for the Federal Reserve to continue cutting rates. Labor Department data shows that 130,000 new workers were added to the nonfarm payrolls during January. This is well above the forecast of 70,000. November and December have been revised downwards. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in January from 4.4%, which was below the forecast of 4.4%. In an email, Eric Merlis said that the January employment...

The oil prices rose on Wednesday as a result of a heightened risk, despite the fact that U.S. Iran?talks remained tense. In addition, signs of easing surpluses, fueled by improved demand from India, also contributed to this increase. Brent crude oil futures rose 55 cents or 0.80% to $69.35 per barrel at 0356 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 57 cents or 0.89% to $64.53. LSEG analysts stated in a recent report that "oil maintains a bullish bid for tail risk as US-Iran negotiations continue, but remain fragile. This keeps the Strait of Hormuz premium at a high...

The price of oil held steady on Tuesday, as the'market waited to see what direction it would take while U.S. - Iran talks?continued. Brent crude oil futures were up 23 cents or 0.3% at $69.03 per barrel as of 0100 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude rose by 23 cents or 0.4% to $64.19 Iran's spokesperson for the foreign ministry said that the nuclear talks between Iran and the U.S. had allowed Tehran to gauge Washington’s seriousness, as well as a sufficient level of?consensus' to continue diplomatic efforts. Diplomats from Iran, the U.S. and Oman held talks last week to...

The world's shares were steady on Monday, after Friday's plunge triggered by AI concerns. In Asia, the Lunar New Year holiday was in place and in the U.S. President's Day. China, South Korea and Taiwan were among the markets closed. MSCI's broadest global index of shares rose 0.1% as currencies, bonds, and world shares steadied. Stock futures continue to be traded, but the U.S. bond and stock markets will not open. European shares opened higher on Monday, boosted by a recovery in the banking sector. The heavyweight sector was hit last weekend when AI-related concerns spilled over into the financials....

The Asian stock market quietly consolidated recent gains as the holidays led to thin trading and disappointing economic data from Japan cooled down that booming sector. China, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States are among the centers that were off, leaving?currencies and commodities, as well as bonds, all in a state of calm. The most important data for this week will not be released until Friday, when the U.S. releases its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the fourth quarter and surveys of global manufacturing are released. Median predictions are for an annualised growth rate of 3.0%. This is down...

Axios, citing U.S. officials who were briefed about the issue, reported that President Donald 'Trump' and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed at a White House meeting on Wednesday to work towards reducing Iran’s oil exports. Axios quoted a senior U.S. government official as saying, "We agreed that we would go full force and exert maximum pressure on Iran, such as regarding Iranian oil sales to China." China's Foreign Ministry did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Sunday, which was the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday. China is responsible for over 80% of Iran’s...

Asian shares fell from record highs Friday, as investors rushed to safe-haven bonds in anticipation of U.S. inflation data. Wall Street's technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell?2%? after Cisco Systems reported a quarterly adjusted gross margin that was below expectations due to the rising costs of memory chip. This drove Cisco's shares down by 12%, wiping out $40 billion from its market capitalization. The selling spilled into the tech giants, like Apple. Apple fell 5% on a daily basis in April of last year after President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day tariffs" spooked the markets. Transport companies were also affected by the fear...

Ankur Banerjee gives us a look at what the European and global markets will be like tomorrow. Investors will be focusing on a slate of European earnings after the U.S. jobs report surprised many with its strength. This has led to expectations that the Federal Reserve would likely keep rates steady at least until the second half. The future of policy is dependent on the labour market and consumer price trends. Investors are reducing their bets on a Fed move in the near future, and the focus is now shifted to Friday's inflation data. The U.S. employment data presented a...

Petrobras, the state-owned oil company in Brazil, posted record exports Tuesday of 1.2 million barrels per day?of crude oil and derivatives for its 'fourth quarter. This is an increase of 79% over the same period last year. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said that the record was achieved as oil production in Brazil increased by about 20% during the same time period, to 2.5 million bpd. This allowed the state-run firm to send more oil overseas. The company had announced previously that it had exceeded its own production guidance for the year. Petrobras also...

Asian stocks rose?for the second day on early Tuesday trading, led by a rally in Tokyo’s?benchmark following Prime Minister Takaichi’s decisive victory in the Japanese election over weekend. The broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan, MSCI, rose 0.4%. Nikkei's 225, however, jumped by 2.1%. It was the third day in a row that Nikkei has reached a new record high. After a two day rally, U.S. equity e-minis have cooled down, with S&P500 e-minis down by 0.1%. This partially reverses gains made on Wall Street over night. S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% on Monday as technology stocks...

The global equities market extended its losses to a third consecutive day on Friday, as the selloff on Wall Street intensified. Precious metals and cryptocurrency were also gripped by a ferocious volatility. MSCI's broadest?Asia-Pacific?"shares outside Japan fell 1%, marking a second consecutive day of losses. South Korea's Kospi plunged 5% and prompted a short trading halt just after the opening. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.2%, while Nasdaq futures were down 0.4%. Tony Sycamore is a market analyst with IG Sydney. He said that investors are reevaluating their commitment to three pillars which have supported markets for the past six-months: AI,...

Nigeria's NNPC, according to its chief executive on Wednesday, is in negotiations with a 'Chinese' company about one of the refineries owned by state-owned oil 'firm. Bayo Ojulari, NNPC's chief executive officer, said that the company is seeking experienced operators to become equity partners in order to revitalize its four refineries following years of underperformance and losses. A review of the refineries carried out soon after he assumed his role in April last year revealed that they were operating at a loss, with high operating costs and large expenditures on contractors. Meanwhile, processing volumes remained low. Ojulari stated that the...

Four trade sources reported?on Tuesday that the independent Chinese refiner Chambroad Petrochemical had purchased one Canadian crude cargo for May delivery. This follows a decrease in Venezuelan crude supply to China. According to sources, the refiner is one of the biggest buyers of Venezuelan crude oil. It also imports Canadian oil from the Trans Mountain pipeline for its bitumen manufacturing. Chambroad bought Canadian Cold Lake Crude exported?from TMX for a discount of close to $5 per barril compared to the July ICE Brent contract, according to two people. The crude was to be delivered to the eastern Shandong Province in...

Two factors are largely outside the control of OPEC+, and are likely to influence the price of crude in the next few weeks. First, we need to know if U.S. President Donald Trump decides to launch a shooting conflict with Iran. If he does, will both sides be able keep oil cargoes flowing and production infrastructure intact? Second, China, as the world's largest crude importer, will decide whether to reduce its recent strong imports, in light of January's 16% increase in Brent benchmark futures. It was only logical that the eight members with production quotas of OPEC+, given the uncertainty...

Chinese independent refiners have purchased discounted Iranian heavy oil to replace Venezuelan shipments which were halted after the U.S. Two people familiar with the matter said that last month, the U.S. claimed control over the OPEC producer. They said that the withdrawal of Iranian crude oil from storage makes up for the fall in Venezuelan supplies to the world’s largest crude buyer. Venezuelan shipments into China have dropped sharply since the middle of December after U.S. president Donald Trump imposed an embargo on ships sanctioned, as part of a larger campaign against President Nicolas Maduro that culminated with his capture...