Oil Market News, OPEC+, sanctions and price shocks

• Gazprom's years of work on exporting Russian gas have been "flushed down the toilet," an ex-official said.
• An ex-manager at the gas giant bemoaned the impact of the Ukraine war to Reuters after gas prices fell close to two-year lows.
• Gazprom's overseas revenues are nearly $3 billion lower than they were a year ago, per Reuters.

searcher said:

Finland replaces Russian Urals with oil from Norway, UK and US

Finland, previously one of the EU states most dependent on Russian oil, halted Urals crude imports last year while increasing purchases from Norway and sourcing barrels from the UK and the United States, Refinitiv Eikon data shows.

www.reuters.com

Click to expand...

Diesel prices at the pump have fallen to their lowest in over a year. That’s good news for consumers, but the decline in prices for the fuel suggests a gloomy outlook when it comes to the U.S. economy.

“Diesel fuel is ubiquitous in our economy,” says Brian Milne, product manager, editor, and analyst at DTN. It’s a “critical component in industrial production and…supply-chain dynamics.”

Weaker demand, however, has led to lower diesel prices. U.S. government data show diesel demand in the first 10 weeks of this year down 12.6% from the comparable period in 2022, says Milne, with the steep drop in demand due to slowing growth in parts of the economy, especially for heavy industry and construction. This slowdown is further pressured by higher interest rates and the recent bank failures increasing expectations for a recession, he says.

On March 22, U.S. retail diesel prices averaged $4.279 a gallon, down from $5.04 a year ago, according to AAA.

Diesel has been dropping “far longer than gasoline…so while the price of gasoline has been occasionally rising, diesel, for the entirety of 2023 has been in decline” — a trend that could continue “until diesel eventually falls below $4 per gallon in the weeks ahead,” says Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
...

Click to expand...

Oil prices rally, lifting U.S. prices to a gain for the month​

Early this morning, Saudi Arabia announced it will extend its voluntary, unilateral oil production cut by one month, at least through August (the output cut can and likely will be extended further), keeping a ceiling on supply even as the market is expected to tighten further.

Moments later, its OPEC+ ally Russia announced it will "voluntarily" extend a reduction of its oil exports in August by 500K bbl/day to ensure the oil market remains balanced, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak says in statement.

The Saudi output reduction of 1 million barrels a day that started this month — which comes in addition to existing curbs agreed by OPEC+ — will continue into August and could be extended further, according to a statement published by state-run Saudi Press Agency.
...

Click to expand...

• Big Oil companies have urged governments to focus on reducing demand for energy rather than limiting supply, suggesting it is more beneficial for the long-term goal of a net-zero world.
• OPEC officials disagree with the notion of reducing production and investments in oil and gas, and emphasize reducing emissions instead.
• While some perceive this stance as Big Oil's attempt to preserve its focus on oil and gas during a period of record profits, others see it as a pragmatic response to the realities of energy demand and security

• Traders question the sudden surge in U.S. oil production reported by the EIA.
• The EIA's revised reporting method has raised production estimates, challenging industry expectations.
• U.S. oil exports are on the rise, impacting global markets and reducing reliance on Saudi-Russian supply.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday extended its 1-million-barrels-per-day voluntary crude oil production cut until the end of the year, according to the state-owned Saudi Press Agency.

The reduction will put Saudi crude output near 9 million barrels per day over October, November and December and will be reviewed on a monthly basis.

Riyadh first applied the 1 million-barrels-per-day reduction in July and has since extended it on a monthly basis. The cut adds to 1.66 million barrels per day of other voluntary crude output declines that some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have put in place until the end of 2024.
...

Click to expand...

The Commodities Feed: Oil holding firm heading into the FOMC​

The Commodities Feed: Oil resists risk-off move​

Oil prices to remain well supported​

Power of Siberia 2: Moving beyond a pipe dream?​

Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's top two oil exporters, on Wednesday discussed the situation on the oil market and prices amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas, President Vladimir Putin's top oil official said.
...
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak greeted Saudi Arabia's Minister for Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman in Moscow on Wednesday ahead of the "Russian energy week" conference in Moscow, which Putin will address.

Novak said he and Prince Abdulaziz discussed the oil market and cooperation within the OPEC+ group of oil producers.

"Of course, (cooperation within OPEC+) was (considered) at our internal meeting, one of the most important topics that we discussed today," Novak said, according to Interfax news agency.

"We are in constant contact and used this opportunity in our meeting to discuss the market situation," Novak said.

It was not immediately clear what, if any, concrete conclusions were reached. Novak said earlier that the oil price would be discussed.
...
Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to continue with voluntary oil supply cuts of a combined 1.3 million barrels of oil per day, or more than 1% of global demand, to the end of the year.

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it was working with regional and international partners to prevent the escalation of the situation in Gaza and neighbouring areas, and reaffirmed that it supports efforts to stabilise oil markets.

Israel produces very little crude oil, but markets are worried that the conflict could escalate and disrupt Middle East supplies, worsening an expected deficit for the rest of the year.

Click to expand...

Crude Oil Prices Surge As Investors Price In Possibility Of Wider Conflict In West Asia | CNBC TV18​