Oil & Gas

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of Sudan (RSF), a group that is part of the Sudanese military, claimed on Monday to have taken full control over Babanusa. This transport hub in the oil-producing southern region was seized by the RSF. However, its rival, Sudanese Army, denied the claim. In a Monday statement, the RSF stated that it "liberated" Babanusa state in West Kordofan -- the latest frontline of the war in Sudan -- after it defeated "a surprise assault" by the Sudanese Army in what it termed "a clear breach of the humanitarian ceasefire." The army denied on Tuesday that...

The Russian President Vladimir Putin begins a two-day trip to India on Thursday. He will be promoting more Russian oil sales, missile systems, and fighter jets to restore the energy and defence links that have been damaged by U.S. sanctions against India. Russia has been supplying arms to India since the 1960s. New Delhi is now its largest buyer of oil by sea despite Western sanctions imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. India's crude oil imports will hit a low of three years this month after Russia was sanctioned for its increasing purchases of U.S. gas and oil....

The Russian President Vladimir Putin begins a two-day trip to India on Thursday. He will be promoting more Russian oil sales, missile systems, and fighter jets to restore the energy and defence links that have been damaged by U.S. sanctions against India. Russia has been supplying arms to India since the 1960s. New Delhi is now its largest buyer of oil by sea despite Western sanctions imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. India's crude oil imports will hit a low of three years this month after Russia was sanctioned for its increasing purchases of U.S. gas and oil....

The oil price held steady in the early trading of Tuesday, as participants weighed up risks arising from Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian energy sites and mounting tensions between the United States and Venezuela. They also pondered mixed expectations regarding U.S. gasoline inventories. Brent crude futures increased 7 cents or 0.1% to $63.24 per barrel at 0427 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude gained 10 cents or 0.2% to $59.42 per barrel. Both benchmarks rose more than 1% Monday, with WTI near its two-week high. In a client note, Saxo analysts stated that oil held gains while traders awaited the...

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of Sudan (RSF), a group that aims to protect the oil-producing South, announced on Monday it had taken full control over Babanusa. The RSF released a statement saying that it "liberated" Babanusa, in West Kordofan State -- the latest frontline of the war in Sudan. It did so by repelling "a surprise assault" from the Sudanese Army in what they called "a clear breach of the humanitarian ceasefire." Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said on November 19 that he would intervene in order to end the conflict which erupted in April 2023. In November, the...

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman stated on Monday that a new mechanism adopted by OPEC+ for assessing members' maximum production capacity will help stabilize markets and reward those investing in production. OPEC announced on Sunday that the OPEC+ group has approved a mechanism for assessing members' maximum production capacities to be used to set baselines starting in 2027 against which output targets will be set. Prince Abdulaziz claimed that the production level determination mechanism was "fair" and "transparent". He said, "Now, we have the most detailed and transparent approach to managing the market in the future, as well...

The Information reported Sunday that Databricks, a data analytics company, is in discussions to raise $5 billion. This would be at a valuation $134 billion. That's roughly 32 times the expected sales for this year of $4.1 billion. Investor documents and someone familiar with the situation were cited. Could not verify the report immediately. Databricks declined comment. The Information reported that Databricks increased its sales forecasts from $3.8 billion in September to $4 billion before slightly revising them upwards again. It expects sales growth of 55% in this year. The Information reported that the company told investors at the same...

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that on Saturday airspace surrounding Venezuela and above it should be "closed completely", but he did not give any details. Washington is continuing to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Trump has said repeatedly that U.S. attacks on alleged drugs boats in the Caribbean, Pacific and South America, which have claimed the lives of more than 80 people could lead to land action. He has also held a phone call with Maduro, and discussed the possibility of a U.S. trip by Venezuela's president. WHAT ARE VENEZUELA'S MILITARY CAPABILITIES? Six sources familiar with Venezuelan...

CME Group, one of the largest exchange operators in the world, suffered an outage lasting several hours on Friday. This affected trading on its currency platform, as well as futures including foreign exchange, commodities and Treasuries, and stocks. Market participants reported that the outage began early in Asia and ended mostly by morning U.S. trade. It was one of longest in recent years. Since the early 1980s, exchange outages caused by bugs in software, hardware failures and cyberattacks have caused disruptions to markets and undermined investor confidence. Check out some of the major outages that have occurred: A power outage...

A poll on Friday showed that oil prices will remain low in 2026 as a result of soaring supplies and modest growth in demand. Geopolitical risks may also limit further losses. In a survey of 35 economists, analysts and other experts, it was predicted that Brent crude will average $62.23 per barrel by 2026. This is down from the October forecast of $63.15. According to LSEG, the benchmark has averaged 68.80 dollars per barrel in 2025. The average price of U.S. crude oil is expected to be $59.00 per barrel. This is lower than the $60.23 expectation from last month....

A CME Group outage on Friday stopped trading in its popular currency platform, as well as futures covering foreign exchange, commodities and Treasuries. CME stated in a press release that the problem at CyrusOne's data centres was caused by a cooling issue. It added it was working on a "near-term" resolution, but did not provide any further details. The CME is a great place to trade. Futures are an important part of the financial markets. They're used by traders, speculators, and businesses who want to hedge their positions or take positions on a variety of assets. CME reported earlier this...

CME Group, the exchange operator, announced on Friday that it had halted currency, stock futures, and commodity trading due to an issue with cooling in data centres. This has frozen major market benchmarks. CME issued a statement saying that markets were currently suspended due to an issue with cooling at CyrusOne's data centres. Support is working on a solution to the problem in the short term. Clients will be informed of Pre-Open information as soon as it becomes available. CyrusOne has not responded to a comment request immediately. CME's notice stated that the EBS foreign exchange platform was also shut...

OPEC+ said that members of the group will be assessed annually for their oil production capacities starting in 2020. This assessment is to be used by 2027. The goal is to align output quotas with each country's actual capacity. The agreement was reached on Sunday, which is a significant step forward in resolving a thorny problem for OPEC+ that has plagued the group for many years. It will also boost its credibility with investors and other oil market participants. Some members, such as the United Arab Emirates, have increased their production capacity and want to increase their targets. Others such...

The Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit India for a summit this week with Indian Prime Minister Narendra modi. The meeting will focus on boosting energy, defense and economic ties as Moscow tries to secure oil sales despite tighter Western sanctions. Energy exports from Moscow are a major source of revenue, but sanctions that were imposed following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have started to impact its oil sales. India and Russia are likely to discuss the following issues: OIL PURCHASES Moscow wants India to continue buying more oil after Indian refineries stopped importing due to sanctions....

Five Iraqi sources who are directly involved in the matter confirmed that Exxon Mobil had approached the Iraqi Oil Ministry to express their interest in purchasing the majority stake of Russian company Lukoil in the West Qurna 2 giant oilfield. Exxon is expanding its presence in Iraq, as the U.S. company returns to the country after sanctions imposed by the U.S. Exxon refused to comment, while Lukoil did not respond to the request for comment. The U.S. Treasury has given potential buyers permission to speak to Lukoil up until December 13 but will require approval for specific transactions. Last month,...

U.S. officials and Ukrainian officials had what both sides described as productive talks about a Russia-Peace Deal on Sunday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed optimism about the progress made despite challenges in ending the war that has lasted more than three years. Rubio met a Ukrainian delegation headed by a newly appointed chief negotiator at his home in Florida. He said the talks were to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. Rubio, after the end of the talks, told reporters that "we continue to be realistic about how difficult this situation is but optimistic." "It's about securing Ukraine’s...

Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, reported a 70% drop in net income from January to September, falling by $3.57 billion or 277 billion Russian roubles. The company attributed the decline to high interest rates and cheaper oil, as well as a stronger rouble. Shell and TotalEnergies have seen their quarterly profits fall due to lower oil prices. Rosneft stated that the increased "anti-terror" security was putting additional pressure on its results. The company didn't elaborate on specific security measures. Ukraine has increased drone attacks against Russia's energy infrastructure. Rosneft reported that its revenues dropped 17.8% to 6.29 trillion rubles in...

Two delegates and a source with knowledge of OPEC+ meetings said that OPEC+ will likely leave oil production levels unchanged during its Sunday meeting and agree on a method to measure members' maximum capacity to produce. Two delegates stated that the eight OPEC+ nations who have gradually increased output in 2025 will keep their policy of halting hikes in the 1st quarter of 2026. OPEC+, a grouping of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, led by Russia and pumping about half the oil in the world, has been discussing production capacity figures for years, against...

India's oil exports to Russia are expected to reach their highest level for five months in November, according to preliminary data from Kpler, as refiners scrambled to secure barrels before a U.S. date to stop transactions with Russian oil producers sanctioned by the United States. India, which is the third largest oil importer in the world, was the biggest purchaser of discounted Russian crude shipped by sea after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit South Asia next month. His last visit was in December of 2021, just a few months after...

The oil prices fell on Tuesday, as fears that Russian shipments would remain under sanctions despite the inconclusiveness of talks to end Ukraine's war outweighed concerns about supply exceeding demand. Brent futures dropped 27 cents or 0.4% to $63.10 per barrel at 0500 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), which is a blend of crude oil from Texas, fell 23 cents or 0.4% to $58.61. The two crude benchmarks both gained 1.3% Monday, as rising doubts over a peace agreement to end the Russia/Ukraine conflict reduced expectations of an unrestricted flow of Russian fuel and crude oil supplies. These are...

Five sources familiar with this process said on Monday that the U.S. oil giant Chevron was examining options to purchase global assets from sanctioned Russian oil company Lukoil. Last week, the U.S. Treasury cleared potential buyers to speak to Lukoil regarding foreign assets. Chevron will join Carlyle, and other firms to compete for Lukoil's portfolio of at least $20 billion. Last month, the United States imposed sanctions against Russia's two largest oil companies, Lukoil & Rosneft, in an effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to force Moscow to peace talks with Ukraine. Five sources confirmed that Chevron was looking at...

JPMorgan reported on Thursday that around 1.4 million barrels of Russian oil per day, or about a third, of the country's potential seaborne exports, are still in tankers due to the U.S. sanction against Rosneft, and Lukoil. In the first sanctions that President Donald Trump has imposed directly on Russia since his second term began, the U.S. gave itself a deadline of November 21 to end all business with Rosneft or Lukoil. The sanctions have caused Lukoil to struggle, forcing the company to sell foreign assets, and disrupting operations in Iraq, Finland, and Bulgaria. According to trading sources, the overall...

International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the global oil market will have a surplus of up to 4,09 million barrels a day next year as OPEC+ and its rivals increase production and demand slows. In its November monthly report, the IEA stated that "global oil market balances look increasingly lopsided as global oil supply continues to grow while oil demand remains modest by historic standards." The Agency expects the global oil supply to increase by approximately 3.1 million barrels a day (bpd), and 2.5 million bpd in 2020, both up around 100,000 bpd per month. The IEA's 2026 implied surplus...

The foreign assets of Russian oil giant Lukoil, which are located in Egypt and Kazakhstan, are attracting bidders. Time is running out for the deals to be completed before U.S. sanctions can be enforced. As part of their efforts to get the Kremlin into peace talks on Ukraine, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Lukoil. They have already blocked Lukoil’s attempts to sell foreign assets before the deadline of November 21, sanctions. Lukoil has also been affected by the sanctions in Iraq, Finland at pump stations and Bulgaria in a refinery. Governments and partners want to buy its foreign assets...