Author: intent

Oil Prices Rise On Improving Market Sentiment

Oil & Gas‚ Oil and Gas Industry | intent | March 28, 2025 | Comment off

According to the latest Baker Hughes data, U.S. rig counts have continued their sideways move, falling by one w/w to 486. Rig count has remained in the 472-488 range for 41 consecutive weeks. The Permian Basin rig count fell by one w/w to 300, having previously been below 300 for just one week in the past three years. The main change was in the Texas portion of the Delaware Basin where drilling fell by three w/w to a three-year low of 62 rigs. In contrast, the U.S. gas rig count rose by two w/w to 102, with the Haynesville and Marcellus rig count unchanged at 30 and 26, respectively. Likewise, positioning across the energy complex remains mainly negative, with traders concerned about Trump’s tariffs as well as a potential return of Russian oil flows.

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Traders Want Back In on Russian Crude—but the Door’s Still Shut

Oil & Gas‚ Oil and Gas Industry | intent | March 28, 2025 | Comment off

Traders have booked more non-sanctioned tankers to deliver crude to India, while the price of Russia’s flagship Urals grade has dropped to below the $60 per barrel price cap by the G7, allowing shipments involving Western companies, Reuters reported earlier this month, citing ship-tracking data and trading sources. Daily rates for non-sanctioned tankers on the western Russia to India route have spiked to the highest in a year, incentivizing more shippers to offer such cargoes.

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Russia’s Central Bank Warns of Prolonged Oil Price Slump

Oil & Gas‚ Oil and Gas Industry | intent | March 28, 2025 | Comment off

It is quite unsurprising to get such a warning from a central bank that, like other state financial institutions, quite unsurprisingly follows commodity market forecasts. Such behavior is even less surprising from the central bank of one of the world’s largest oil producers. Moreover, Russian budget drafters tend to be conservative in their oil price estimates traditionally, so the central bank is likely to also err on the side of caution. In fact, the bank forecast the average price of Brent crude this year at $60 per barrel in a recent update. That’s down from $68 per barrel for 2024 and $60 for both 2026 and 2027.

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Cnooc Profit Rises on Increased Oil and Gas Drilling Output

Oil & Gas‚ Oil and Gas Industry | intent | March 28, 2025 | Comment off

Cnooc’s focus on extraction leaves its earnings heavily dependent on global oil prices, which averaged about 3% less in 2024 on-year. But it also means the company is relatively unaffected by headwinds to demand faced by downstream peers. Earlier this week, China’s biggest top, Sinopec, reported a tumble in profits as the electric-vehicle boom weighs on fuel consumption.

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Kolibri Sees Earnings Slip despite Production, Revenue Growth

Oil & Gas‚ Oil and Gas Industry | intent | March 28, 2025 | Comment off

“The Company increased production by 24 percent, which was in line with our forecast, while only spending $31.3 million on capital expenditures, which was less than we had forecasted and a 41 percent decrease from the prior year. The cost efficiencies that our field operations team has achieved have allowed us to continue to grow production and revenue and drill 50 percent longer laterals while spending 12 percent less per well than we had forecast to spend in our 2023 drilling program”, Regener said.

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U.S. Sanctions on Iran Threaten Global Energy Markets

Oil & Gas‚ Oil and Gas Industry | intent | March 27, 2025 | Comment off

The latest round of US sanctions on Iran, which now targets Chinese so-called ‘teapot’ oil refineries—small, independently owned facilities—signals a growing determination to tighten the economic noose around the Tehran administration. With potential consequences reaching far beyond Iran itself, these moves could reshape geopolitics, disrupt the global economy and send shockwaves through energy markets.

While there is not yet a “maximum pressure” situation—where Iranian oil exports could drop from 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) to near zero—Washington is stepping up efforts to push Tehran back to the negotiating table for a new nuclear deal. However, escalating pressure could drive oil prices higher, conflicting with US President Donald Trump’s goal of lowering energy costs to fight inflation, as he promised in his January inauguration speech. Rystad Energy’s data on oil trade flows shows that almost all Iranian crude exports make their way to China, so achieving effective maximum pressure would require cooperation from the Chinese government.

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TotalEnergies CEO Not Ruling Out Return of Nord Stream Gas Pipelines

Oil & Gas‚ Oil and Gas Industry | intent | March 27, 2025 | Comment off

The mothballed Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany may return to service at some point as Europe’s industry would need some Russian gas to stay competitive, TotalEnergies’ chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday.

“I would not be surprised if two out of the four (came) back to stream, not four out of the four,” Patrick Pouyanne said at an industry event in Germany’s capital city, Berlin, as carried by Reuters.

“There is no way to be competitive against Russian gas with LNG coming from wherever it is,” the executive added.

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