Regional News

Bloomberg Crude edged higher as near-record Chinese orders for foreign crude signaled stronger demand in the world’s second-largest economy. Futures climbed 1.2 percent in New York. A rebound in China’s crude imports last month from a one-year low defused some of the pessimism among investors fanned by a US government report earlier this week showing bearish increases in fuel inventories …

Bloomberg After spending years building up its gas-power business, General Electric Co. is trying to figure out how to keep pace in a world that’s no longer all that interested in fossil fuels. The plan to cut 12,000 jobs, or almost one-fifth of the power division’s global workforce, underscores GE’s bad bet on an old-school industry as natural gas loses …

Bloomberg Cheniere Energy Inc., looking to help global customers meet climate goals under the Paris Accord, is turning to a former Obama administration energy expert as it expands its liquified natural gas exports. Christopher Smith, who helped develop the US Energy Department’s so-called life cycle emissions analysis for natural gas and coal, has joined Cheniere’s Washington office. The analysis was …

Bloomberg A 1,000-foot ship will likely pull up to a buoy floating in the Gulf of Mexico next year, hook up its hoses and usher the US into a new era as a major oil exporter. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which already handles imports from similar large ships known as Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs, will likely be …

Bloomberg Investor exhaustion with poor returns from the oil and gas industry may mean less financing to expand the US shale boom next year, and less of a drive for consolidation. After nearing a record in 2016, equity issues from US oil and gas companies are on pace for an eight-year low this year, amid doubts about the stability of …

Bloomberg Oil exploration in Norway’s Arctic seems to have lost some of its appeal after a disappointing drilling campaign. Only 11 companies applied for exploration licenses in the latest round — the nation’s 24th — which focused heavily on the Barents Sea, the Petroleum and Energy Ministry said in a statement on its website. That’s down from 26 in the …

JUBA / Reuters South Sudan still owes neighbouring Sudan $1.3 billion from a 2012 deal that ended a dispute over oil payments between the two nations, the deputy finance minister told Reuters before he was sacked last week. The previously undisclosed amount is equivalent to eight years worth of oil revenues for South Sudan at current prices, according to former …

Bloomberg Oil analysts have raised their forecasts for the crude price next year after major producers agreed to extend output cuts, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday. Production disruptions in Libya and Nigeria and economic depression in Venezuela that has cut crude output will also support oil prices, the analysts said. Benchmark Brent crude futures are now forecast to average …

Bloomberg Statoil ASA gave the final go-ahead to a flagship Arctic oil project after slashing costs by half. While expected, the move by Norway’s biggest oil company is a boost to a region seen as key to arresting a decline in the country’s production. In a striking illustration of how oil companies have adapted to lower prices, Statoil cut estimated …

Bloomberg Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s South African unit, Engen, and Vivo Energy Holding BV agreed to a deal worth as much as 3.5 billion rand ($256 million) to combine some of their African fuel-retail assets, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal represents about 20 percent of Engen’s equity value, said the people, who asked not to be identified. …