Regional News

Angola joins long list of oil nations in ditching dollar peg

Bloomberg Angola is poised to become the latest emerging nation to abandon its currency peg as it seeks to rescue an economy still reeling from the oil-price crash four years ago. The southern African nation, an OPEC member, said this week it would let the kwanza trade within a new band. The rate at which it’s been fixed against the ...

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Trump seeks to open most US coastal waters to oil drilling

Bloomberg The Trump administration is proposing to open almost all US coastal waters to oil drilling, including those off California and Florida where activists have fought for decades to spare delicate ecosystems from oil spills. The proposal will go far beyond President Donald Trump’s April order directing the Interior Department to consider auctioning oil and gas leases in the Arctic ...

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OPEC oil cut adherence rises in December as Venezuela output slides

LONDON / Reuters OPEC deepened compliance with an oil supply-cutting deal in December due to a further decline in Venezuelan output and extra cuts by Gulf exporters, a Reuters survey found, showing strong commitment to the deal despite higher prices. Adherence to the curbs rose to 128 percent from 125 percent in November, the survey found. The Organization of the ...

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Aramco cuts February oil pricing to US

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia cut February pricing for most of its crude sales to the US for a second month even as the world’s largest oil exporter ships record-low volumes to American buyers in an effort to help trim a global glut. While producers often reduce prices to stimulate sales, Saudi Arabia is cutting shipments to the US market to help ...

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Key oil market indicator shows industry tightest in 3 years

Bloomberg One of the key gauges of oil market strength hasn’t looked this good for bulls since 2014. West Texas Intermediate futures closest to expiry are trading at the biggest premium to the next month in more than three years, as inventories plunge at the key storage hub of Cushing, Oklahoma. Stockpiles at Cushing — the delivery point for WTI ...

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Natural gas in US soars 60-fold amid icy squeeze in Northeast

Bloomberg Natural gas surged to 60 times the going rate as howling blizzard conditions stoked demand for the furnace fuel across the US Northeast. Spot prices for the fuel used to heat homes and generate power reached a record $175 per million British thermal units in New York, according to Consolidated Edison Inc. That’s a far cry from the $2.93 ...

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Russia-China oil friendship makes fuel costlier for Europe

Bloomberg Europe’s set to be stuck with a higher oil bill as Russia shifts more of its supply to the Chinese oil market. As the world’s second-biggest economy buys more, crude shipments from the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk will be cut, according to industry consultant FGE. The reduction will push up the price of varieties available for sale to ...

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Oil’s famous five: People who could define market in 2018

Bloomberg Will Saudi Arabia and Russia maintain their grip on production, or could they succumb to another surge in US shale? Is it possible for the economic collapse of a major producer to send crude prices soaring, or perhaps Silicon Valley will usher in the end of the combustion engine? After ending 2017 at a two-year high, oil prices could ...

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Russia achieves record oil output in 2017 despite cuts

Bloomberg Russia’s oil industry continued its long-term expansion last year, with production hitting a record even as President Vladimir Putin joined forces with OPEC to clear a global glut and lift prices. The nation’s oil output increased to an average 10.98 million barrels a day in 2017, up 0.1 percent from the previous year, according to data published on Tuesday ...

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Oman’s 2018 state budget lifts spending

DUBAI / Reuters Oman’s state budget for 2018, approved by ruler Sultan Qaboos, boosts spending at the expense of running a large deficit, despite increasing concern among credit rating agencies about the health of the country’s finances. The budget projects spending of 12.5 billion rials ($32.5 billion) this year, up from 11.7 billion in the original budget for 2017, local ...

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