Crude has slid since Trump took office on concerns that his global trade war will dent economic growth and slow energy demand. Adding to the bearishness, OPEC+ has decided to revive idled output faster than expected. Already, the drop in oil prices is spurring American shale producers to cut spending in the Permian Basin.
Devon separately said it will receive about $375 million in proceeds. “Proceeds from the divestiture will be used to further strengthen the company’s investment-grade financial position”, it said in its quarterly report. “The monetization of Devon’s equity ownership will not change the terms or conditions of the company’s secured capacity on the pipeline”.
Oil futures curve has formed a rare “smile” shape, a structure Morgan Stanley says was last seen briefly in February 2020 just before the infamous oil price crash. On Wednesday, Brent futures’ July contract was trading at a premium of 74 cents to the October contract, a market structure known as backwardation, foreshadowing immediate tight supply. However, prompt prices from November have formed a contango, with forward prices flipping to a discount, indicating oversupply as traders predict Trump’s tariffs will eventually weaken oil demand. Having backwardation and contango together leads to the rare “smile” shaped curve.
Hungary and Slovakia are currently getting their Russian natural gas supply via the TurkStream pipeline that runs under the Black Sea to Turkey and then on to Eastern Europe. According to one Bulgarian energy analyst from the progressive think-tank Center for the Study of Democracy, the existence of this pipeline can prolong the European Union’s reliance on Russian gas. Indeed, it has already increased Russian gas imports to Central and Southeastern Europe from some 30% back in 2021 to over 50% as of last year, Martin Vladimirov wrote in an op-ed for Reuters.
In Southern Africa, the South Africa–Mozambique gas-to-power integration illustrates the value of cross-border energy ties. South Africa imports natural gas from Mozambique’s Pande and Temane fields via the ROMPCO pipeline, co-owned by Sasol. This gas fuels both industrial applications and power stations, forming one of the region’s most integrated energy corridors and strengthening economic ties through energy interdependence.
The European Union is preparing to impose up to €100 billion ($113 billion) in tariffs on US goods if trade talks fail, according to a new report by Bloomberg this morning.
The draft list of retaliatory measures will be circulated to member states as early as Wednesday, with a one-month consultation period before finalization.
Crude oil inventories in the United States saw a decrease of 2 million barrels during the week ending May 2, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released on Wednesday.
Russia saw its budget revenues from oil and gas drop by 12% in April from a year earlier, due to the oil price rout last month, the Russian finance ministry said on Wednesday.
Oil and gas revenues for the Kremlin dipped to $13.45 billion (1.09 trillion Russian rubles) in April, from $15.2 billion (1.23 trillion rubles) in the same month of last year.
For the first four months of the year, oil and gas revenues fell by 10.3% to $46 billion (3.73 trillion rubles), according to the ministry’s data.
US ship classification society ABS has issued an approval in principle for SBM Offshore’s concept design of a low-emissions FPSO, SBM Offshore announced on Thursday.
Dräger Marine & Offshore (DMO), a global leader in the field of safety technology, has secured a long-term deal with a major North Sea oil and gas operator.
Due to run for five-years, with a further two one-year extension options, the extension of the existing supply contract means more than 10 UK North Sea assets will continue to benefit from Dräger’s industry leading portable gas detection and breathing apparatus systems.