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https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Yergin-Oil-Prices-Could-Break-120-If-China-Overcomes-Covid.html

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After unexpectedly rising 7.8 billion barrels last week, ending a four-week streak of drawdowns, crude oil inventories this week went back to draws, with the American Petroleum Institute (API) reporting inventories down by 3.069 barrels.

Analysts anticipated a 0.167 million barrel draw.

Meanwhile, crude stored in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves sunk by 211 million barrels, now at its lowest level since January 1984.

In the week ending December 9, the Department of Energy released 4.7 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, leaving the SPR with just 382 million barrels. On Monday, the DoE’s Office of Petroleum Reserves announced it would start repurchasing crude oil for the SPR in a good deal for American taxpayers.

The DoE will repurchase crude at lower prices–currently in the $77-$80 range–than the average of $96 barrels for which it sold SPR reserves this year.

In the week prior, the API reported a large draw in crude oil inventories of 7.819 million barrels, while the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a crude inventory increase of 10.2 million barrels for the week to December 9. At 424.1 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were at 6% below the seasonal average for the last five years, the EIA noted in its report last Wednesday.

WTI prices rose on Tuesday as the market reacted to OPEC’s falling crude production in November, per the organization’s Monthly Oil Market Report.

At 4:35 p.m. EST, WTI was trading up slightly over a percentage point on the day to just over $76 per barrel. Brent crude was trading down slightly, having trouble breaking the $80 mark.

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34.15 USD +0.20 (0.59%)

Jefferies raises BP price target to 500 (490) pence - 'hold'

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https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Russias-Response-To-The-Oil-Price-Cap-Is-Nearly-Ready.html

atar has threatened the European Union with withholding gas exports amid an investigation of the Belgian authorities into allegations of corruption in the European Parliament that led to the suspension of Qatar’s access to the EP.

Euractiv reports that, according to a statement made by a diplomatic representative of the Qatari government, the Belgian authorities were acting on “inaccurate” information in their investigation.

Last week, the Belgian authorities charged four people with corruption, alleging they received money and gifts from a Gulf state in order to influence decisions made by the European Parliament.

One of those charged was reportedly Greek MEP Eva Kaili, who was quickly dismissed from her position as vice president of the European Parliament and ousted from her party, Greece’s PASOK.

The prosecutors, Reuters reported, said that they had been harboring suspicions about a Gulf state was trying to influence EP decisions but never named the state. An unnamed Reuters source said it was Qatar.

"Any association of the Qatari government with the reported claims is baseless and gravely misinformed," a Qatari government source said at the time.

Now, the Qatari government’s statement said the Gulf state rejected all accusations of any involvement in the corruption scheme and noted that “Qatar was not the only party named in the investigation, yet our country has been exclusively criticised and attacked.”

“The decision to impose such a discriminatory restriction that limits dialogue and cooperation on Qatar before the legal process has ended, will negatively affect regional and global security cooperation, as well as ongoing discussions around global energy poverty and security,” the statement also said.

“Qatar has strong and longstanding ties with many countries in the European Union, and we extend our gratitude to those who have demonstrated their commitment to these relationships during this current wave of attacks against our country,” the diplomat also said.

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Onwards and upwards:))))

34.13 USD +0.45 (1.34%)

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/The-Era-Of-Cheap-Oil-Has-Come-To-An-End.html

https://www.livecharts.co.uk/MarketCharts/brent.php
Onwards and upwards

The U.S. EIA reported that 4.7 million barrels of crude oil left the Strategic Petroleum Reserves in the week ending December 9, but now the United States has started the process of refilling the nation’s SPR.

While 3 million barrels is a far cry from the 211 million barrels released so far this year, the gesture could be seen by some in the industry as proof that the Biden Administration intends to keep its work to refill when prices fall below $70 per barrel—on a consistent basis, energy security advisor Amos Hochstein said earlier this month.

The Administration said at the beginning of this month that it was looking to halt all sales from the SPR that were mandated by Congress in order to make way for refilling. There are 147 million barrels set to be released, per a Congressional mandate between 2024 and 2027.

“It doesn’t make sense for us to be releasing oil while we’re trying to refill the SPR,” Doug MacIntyre, the Department of Energy’s Deputy Director for the Office of Petroleum Reserves, said in testimony before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier this month. “We can’t fill and release from the same site at the same time.”

The purchase of the 3 million barrels will be for a February delivery. While oil isn’t trading at $70 per barrel, WTI has slipped to $74.66 per barrel as of Friday.

U.S. oil drilling activity has fallen for two weeks in a row, according to the most recent Baker Hughes data, with 620 oil rigs in operation in the United States. It is about 100 rigs more than what was in operation when Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, but more than 220 rigs shy of what was in operation before the pandemic started in 2019.

Friday, December 16th, 2022 Oil prices have rebounded slightly from last week's crash, but the downside pressures are still very much present. The interest rate hikes from both the Bank of England and the ECB on Thursday halted the upward momentum in oil prices that had been building. The ongoing halt in Keystone deliveries, however, should provide some hope to bulls as it has brought supply tightness to a continent that has had a relatively secure year so far. With uncertainty remaining over China’s post-Covid reopening, we might see more of the traditional 2022 volatility in the remaining weeks of this year.Central Bank Hikes Scare Investors. Global stocks and bonds have dropped to a one-month low on Friday as the 0.5pp US Fed hike was followed through by central bank interest rate increases in the EU, UK, Switzerland, Mexico, Norway, and Taiwan (all in just one day), triggering a new whirlwind of bond/stock selling. Dilbit Bad News for Keystone Cleanup. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the oil spilled from the ruptured Keystone pipeline operated by TC Energy (TSE:TRP) was diluted bitumen which tends to sink in water, complicating efforts to clean the impacted water bodies, especially with a cold snap coming up.IEA Forecasts 2023 Oil Demand Growth. The International Energy Agency believes next year will witness further oil demand growth of 1.7 million b/d, driven mostly by China rebounding from this year’s contraction and adding 1 million b/d, taking it to a new all-time high of 101.6 million b/d. Canada Sanctions Turbine Maintenance Again. According to Bloomberg reports, the Canadian government will revoke the waiver that exempted Nord Stream turbines from the country’s Russia sanctions, which will greatly complicate future maintenance of Siemens’ equipment there. Egypt Discovers Huge Gas Field. Egypt’s petroleum minister Tarek El Molla announced that US oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) has discovered a large natural gas field in the Nargis offshore exploration block in the eastern Mediterranean, with reserves potentially up to 3.5 TCf. There’s No Stopping Aramco’s Petchem Drive. Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) and French energy major TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) will join forces to build an $11 billion petrochemicals complex in Jubail, on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast next to the SATORP refinery, with commercial operation targeted for 2027.Norway Warns of Gas Price Cap Consequences. Norway’s state-controlled energy firm Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) has warned that the European Commission’s proposed gas price cap risks greatly reducing liquidity as trading will move away from exchanges into bilateral over-the-counter deals. Egypt Moves All Its Gas to Exports. Egypt has maximized its intake of fuel oil in power stations across the country to move as much natural gas to its LNG export terminals as possible, buying most of the residue f

11,212.70 -132.52 (1.17%)tod

33.30 USD -0.99 (2.87%)tod

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I am in Cheltenham lots of snow :)

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