Energy

  Reuters Royal Dutch Shell signed a provisional agreement on Wednesday to develop Iranian oil and gas fields, an Iranian official said, the first deal by the world’s second biggest listed oil firm in Iran since sanctions were lifted. The Anglo-Dutch company confirmed it had signed a memorandum of understanding with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on Wednesday “to further …

  Bloomberg Oil traded near $51 a barrel amid speculation a production boost from U.S. shale producers will counter the first output cuts from OPEC in eight years. Futures fell 0.2 percent in New York after falling 1.7 percent on Tuesday, the first drop in five days. The Energy Information Administration increased its U.S. oil output forecast for this year …

  Reuters State-run Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) said it signed a contract with the world’s top exporter Saudi Aramco on Wednesday to extend a crude oil storage deal on the island of Okinawa by three years. Under the agreement, Saudi Aramco can store up to 1 million kilolitres (6.3 million barrels) of crude oil on the …

  Bloomberg Opposition from South Africa’s state power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and government infighting threatens to sabotage the world’s fastest-growing green energy program. Eskom is stalling on signing government-brokered deals to buy renewable energy from private producers, encouraged to develop capacity after outages over the past eight years hobbled Africa’s most industrialized nation. With the economy in the …

  Bloomberg Oil retreated from the highest close in 16 months as OPEC pumped a record amount of crude in November, partly led by members exempt from cutting output as part of last week’s deal to curb supply. Futures slid as much as 1.7 percent in New York after advancing 15 percent over the previous four sessions. The Organization of …

  Reuters Kuwait Energy plans to close by the end of this year a reserve-based lending (RBL) loan facility of up to $100 million, sources familiar with the situation said. The Kuwaiti oil and gas exploration and production company, with assets in Egypt, Iraq, Oman and Yemen, is likely to obtain the financing on a bilateral basis from the European …

  Bloomberg Pemex’s chance to enter the modern oil era hangs in the balance of the country’s Dec. 5 auction. Mexico will hold its first-ever deep-water auction on Monday — part of an effort to attract investment from international oil giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and BP Plc to help develop the country’s offshore oil properties. The …

  Bloomberg OPEC’s work isn’t done yet. Oil traders and investors cheered Wednesday’s landmark deal to curtail oil production. But history shows compliance with past accords to be patchy at best. Even if countries stick to their output caps, those that won exemptions could make the collective target all but unreachable if they boost production. The difficulty of monitoring non-OPEC …

  Bloomberg Brent oil capped its biggest weekly gain since 2009 after OPEC approved its first supply cut in eight years, with attention now shifting to compliance with the deal and how other producers will react to a price rally. Futures closed at the highest in more than a year in London and New York. OPEC’s three largest producers — …

  Bloomberg No matter where you look in the oil market, key markers watched by traders have been going haywire since Wednesday — and they show little sign of letting up. Whether it’s a futures curve suddenly suggesting concerns that supply is shrinking or record trading of contracts designed to protect against price fluctuations, OPEC’s first output cut in eight …