Global oil prices settled lower Friday for a third day in a row as the US dollar rose to the highest level in more than a month in the wake of the move by the Fed to pencil in three possible rate cuts this year, dovish remarks from the Bank of England and the surprise rate cut from the Swiss National Bank.
China’s largest oil refiner Sinopec (0386) saw its net profit fall about 13 percent to 58.3 billion yuan (HK$63.87 billion) in 2023 from a year ago due to decreased energy prices, and announced a final dividend of 0.2 yuan apiece.
Oil prices rose on Monday after three days of declines, driven by tightening supplies amid escalating geopolitical tension in the Middle East and an intensifying Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The US Energy Information Administration raised its Brent crude price forecast due to OPEC+ production cuts and falling oil outputs. Still on falling oil outputs, Ghana is facing an economic crisis because of diminishing foreign exchange reserves and high fuel prices. Meanwhile, S&P Global Commodity Insights editors are focusing on the price hikes for hot-rolled coil amid multiple mill outages.
Day 2 of CERAWeek by S&P Global kicked off in Houston, Texas, with a discussion between Dan Yergin, Vice Chairman of S&P Global, and Mike Wirth, CEO of Chevron. The two touched on several oil and gas industry hot topics, including artificial intelligence, Biden’s LNG ban, Chevron’s dispute with ExxonMobil regarding its stake in the oil-rich Stabroek block offshore Guyana, and more.
Multinational energy company Eni has closed a deal for the sale of some of its upstream assets with oil and gas company Perenco in the Republic of Congo.
Nigerian oil margins per barrel increased slightly in London trade on Monday, continuing the upward trend that began last week when prices surged by almost 4% on the belief that supply was contracting and the possibility of additional attacks on Russian energy infrastructure was raising concerns
Kazakhstan extends the ban on export of liquefied petroleum gas for six more months, Kazinform News Agency reports.
Azerbaijan saved the EU from the energy crisis, former Deputy Prime Minister of Romania Ana Birchall said at the XI Global Baku Forum, Azernews reports.
“As we approach the election in the European Union, it’s fair to remind my colleagues and friends from the EU that during the energy crisis, President Ilham Aliyev actually helped our region,” she noted.
Singapore’s onshore fuel oil stockpiles rose to a three-week high despite a sharp decline in imports into landed tanks, data showed on Thursday. The inventories climbed 11.4% to 21.33 million barrels (3.36 million metric tons) in the week to March 13, latest data from Enterprise Singapore showed. This came despite a 79.2% drop in total imports, which were at about 297,000 tons in the week.