Oil Prices News

Stocks Nearing Record Highs on Trade Hopes

World shares made another push for an all-time high on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington and Beijing were in the final throes of inking an initial trade deal.European trading was restrained, with MSCI's all-country world index now within 0.4%, or 2 points, of its record high from January 2018.London, Frankfurt, Paris and Wall Street futures all rose, and though Shanghai had struggled after Chinese industrial company profits shrank, Australia had set its…

Asian LPG Market to Cross $109Bln by 2024

The Asian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market stood at over $81.4 billion in 2018 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 5% to cross $109 billion by 2024, as increasing demand for LPG  as a fuel for power generation in remote and off-grid locations in comparison to its less environment-friendly alternatives like coal, diesel and fuel oil.Increasing demand for LPG used to run vehicles (Autogas)  is being witnessed as it is a comparatively cheaper automotive fuel and can be used in vast applications related to transportation…

Oil surges as China Pushes Tariff Rollbacks

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Tuesday on hopes for a U.S.-China trade agreement and optimism that Washington could roll back some tariffs on Chinese imports.Brent crude futures rose 74 cents, or 1.2%, to $62.87 a barrel by 12:56 p.m. EST (1756 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 68 cents, or 1.2%, to $57.22 a barrel.China is pushing U.S. President Donald Trump to remove more tariffs imposed in September as part of a so-called Phase 1 deal, which would…

Bullet Dodged? Markets Bet on Global Economy

World shares climbed back towards record highs and safe-haven bonds tumbled on Tuesday, as hopes that Washington may roll back some of the tariffs it has imposed on Chinese imports rekindled optimism about the global economic outlook.A year-end rally looked to be building. Wall Street's main markets were expected to add to their 20% gains and best year since 2013. MSCI's 49-country world index was just 1.4% shy its early 2018 peak.Europe had galloped to a 21-month high on Monday before retreating on Tuesday. Asia had raced to its highest since May.

Vessel Op Costs to Rise in 2019 and 2020

International accountant and shipping adviser BDO said total operating costs in the shipping industry are expected to rise by 2.5% in 2019 and by 2.7% in 2020.Responses to the firm’s latest annual Future Operating Costs Survey revealed that insurance is the cost category likely to increase most significantly in both 2019 and 2020. In the case of protection and indemnity insurance, the predicted increase is 2.0% for each of the years under review, while hull and machinery insurance…

E&P Companies Struggle on RoI

International  exploration & production (E&P) are struggling to make money from offshore investments made during the latest investment upturn, according to a new study by Rystad Energy.Rystad Energy has evaluated all offshore oil fields sanctioned since 2010 and ranked them by estimated value per barrel of oil (boe) under various oil price scenarios. The return on investment (RoI) figures were not up to the mark.The sanctioning activity was record-high during the strong investment cycle from 2010 to 2014…

Venezuelan State Imports Surge Despite Sanctions

Venezuela's public-sector imports, which include subsidized food for the poor, surged in the first quarter of this year despite U.S. sanctions that President Nicolas Maduro describes as a full blockade, a recent release of central bank data shows.Government-linked entities handle the bulk of international trade in the crisis-stricken socialist country, and both imports and exports have declined dramatically since 2014, when a drop in oil prices sent the OPEC nation's economy into a tailspin marked by hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine.But in the first three months of 2019…

Oil Stockpiling Builds Ahead of IMO 2020 Rules

S-Oil, South Korea's third-largest refiner, said on Wednesday that regional refining margins are expected to improve in the fourth quarter on the back of inventory build-up ahead of implementation of stricter rules on marine fuels in 2020.The refiner, whose top shareholder is Saudi Aramco, said in an earnings statement, strong demand for heating oil was also expected to support refining margins, along with the International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s stricter shipping fuel…

Iranian Tanker Hit by Missiles, Oil Rises

Oil prices jumped more than 2% on Friday, October 11, 2019, after Iranian media said a state-owned oil tanker had been struck by missiles in the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia, raising the prospect of supply disruptions weeks after attacks on Saudi oil plants.The Suezmax crude tanker Sabiti was ablaze and suffered heavy damage after being hit by two missiles, Iranian media reported.Both oil benchmarks recorded their biggest daily rise since Sept. 16, the first trading day after the…

Drewry Cuts Global Port Throughput Forecast

Drewry Shipping Consultants has revealed that it now expects global port throughput to rise by 2.6% in 2019, down from the previous 3.0% expectation.The mood-music surrounding the container market has deteriorated further in the last three months, resulting in Drewry downgrading its outlook for world container port throughput for the current year and the rest of the five-year horizon in the Container Market Annual Review and Forecast.The weight of risks pressing down on the container market seems to be getting heavier by the day…

Oil Prices: Chinese Data Eases Concerns

Oil prices rose today (Monday, September 30) after China’s factories unexpectedly increased production over the past month, easing concerns about demand amid the ongoing trade war with the U.S. Brent crude futures rose 9 cents to $62 a barrel by 0300 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 13 cents to $56.04 a barrel.The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for September increase for the second month in a row as Chinese factories increased production and new orders rose ahead of market expectations…

Trust and Independence:

Key metrics for a consolidating market of Multi-Purpose Vessels.The multipurpose sector has experienced a tough first half of 2019, following a trend of difficult market conditions spanning over a decade. Fallout from ongoing global political trade discussions is taking its toll on both project and commodity trades, cutting down volumes at a time when external competition from non-MPV carriers is at its most fierce and the MPV fleet is still struggling with overcapacity. Still…

Saudi Aramco, World’s Most Profitable Co, Again

Saudi Aramco announced that its net income was $46.9 billion for the first half 2019, compared to $53.0 billion for the same period last year. That easily outstripped corporate titans such as Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and other big oil producers, many of which suffered larger declines in profit as output and crude prices fell. Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin H. Nasser, said: “Despite lower oil prices during the first half of 2019, we continued to deliver solid earnings and strong free cash flow underpinned by our consistent operational performance…

China Trade Data Calms Jittery Investors

Stronger-than-expected Chinese export data helped push global stock markets higher on Thursday following a volatile week that had investors scrambling for safety on fears of a worldwide economic pullback.Investors were encouraged by data showing Chinese exports rose 3.3% in July from a year earlier, beating an expected decline of 2%. Chinese imports fell less than forecast, despite the U.S.-China trade war.Markets reacted sharply on Monday after China let its currency weaken beyond 7 yuan per dollar, a surprise move that investors took as retaliation for U.S.

Trade Fears Drag Stocks, Yuan at 10-Year Low

NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Stock markets around the world fell hard on Monday on fears that China's willingness to let the yuan slide in response to the latest U.S. tariff threat could further aggravate trade-related tensions between the world's two largest economies.China on Monday let the yuan tumble beyond the 7-per-dollar level for the first time in more than a decade, in a sign Beijing might be willing to tolerate further currency weakness after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed last week to impose 10% tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese imports from Sept.

Canadian Natural Resources eyes Rail Contracts

Canadian Natural Resources, the country's biggest oil and gas producer, is looking at taking on the Alberta provincial government's contracts to move crude by rail, a senior company executive said on Thursday.Shipping more crude by rail is seen as critical for Canadian oil producers due to congested pipelines that forced Alberta to order mandatory oil curtailments this year.Alberta's United Conservative Party government said in June that it would divest rail contracts amounting to 120,000 barrels of crude per day (bpd) to the private sector this fall.

Oil slumps 7% as More Tariffs Loom

Oil prices plummeted more than 7% on Thursday, with the U.S. benchmark posting its worst day in more than four years, after President Donald Trump said he would impose additional tariffs Chinese imports starting Sept. 1.The drop in Brent crude was the steepest in more than three years, undoing a fragile oil rally built on steady drawdowns in U.S. inventories even as global demand looked shaky due to the U.S.-China trade dispute.Trump's announcement of an additional 10% levy on…

Maersk, Major Shippers Hike Gulf-bound Box Rates

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Hopes for U.S.-China Trade Truce Boost Markets

Risk appetite returned to world markets on Thursday following a media report the United States and China have tentatively agreed to a truce ahead of a highly-anticipated weekend meeting of the two nations' leaders in Tokyo.The South China Morning Post (SCMP), citing sources, said Washington and Beijing were laying out an agreement that would help avert the next round of tariffs on an additional $300 billion of Chinese imports.On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said a trade deal with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was possible this weekend…

Trump Warns Tehran of Possible Attack, Calls for Talks

Iranian officials told Reuters on Friday that Tehran had received a message from U.S. President Donald Trump warning that a U.S. attack on Iran was imminent but saying he was against war and wanted talks on a range of issues.News of the message, delivered through Oman overnight, came shortly after the New York Times said Trump had approved military strikes against Iran on Friday over the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, but called them off at the last minute."In his message…

Two Tankers Attacked in Gulf of Oman

Two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, leaving one ablaze and both adrift, shipping firms said, driving oil prices as much as 4% higher over worries about Middle East supplies.The Front Altair, carrying petrochemical feedstock, was on fire in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran after an explosion that a source blamed on a magnetic mine. The Norwegian owner said its crew were safe.A second Japanese-owned tanker was abandoned after being hit by a suspected torpedo, the firm that chartered the ship said.

U.S. Urges Response "short of war" to Tanker Attack

The U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia said Washington should take what he called "reasonable responses short of war" after it had determined who was behind attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.Iran was a prime suspect in the sabotage on Sunday although Washington had no conclusive proof, a U.S. official familiar with American intelligence said on Monday. Iran has denied involvement."We need to do a thorough investigation to understand what happened, why it happened…

Saudi Tankers Among Those Hit off UAE Coast

Saudi Arabia said on Monday that two of its oil tankers were among those attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and said it was an attempt to undermine the security of crude supplies amid tensions between the United States and Iran.The UAE said on Sunday that four commercial vessels were sabotaged near Fujairah emirate, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs lying just outside the Strait of Hormuz, but did not describe the nature of the attack or say who was behind it.The UAE had not given the nationalities or other details about the ownership of the four vessels.

Kirby Posts 2019 Q1 Results

Kirby Corporation announced net earnings attributable to Kirby for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 of $44.3 million, or $0.74 per share, compared with earnings of $32.5 million, or $0.54 per share, for the 2018 first quarter. Excluding certain one-time charges, 2018 first quarter net earnings attributable to Kirby were $37.9 million, or $0.63 per share. Consolidated revenues for the 2019 first quarter were $744.6 million compared with $741.7 million reported for the 2018 first quarter.David Grzebinski…

World Shares Higher on US-China Deal Hopes

Global shares rose on Monday amid growing optimism the United States and China will reach a trade agreement as soon as this month.U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping might seal a formal trade deal around March 27, given progress in talks between the two countries, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.The two nations have imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each others' goods, roiling financial markets, disrupting manufacturing supply chains and shrinking U.S.

World Shares Higher on US-China Deal Hopes

Global shares rose on Monday amid growing optimism the United States and China will reach a trade agreement as soon as this month.U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping might seal a formal trade deal around March 27, given progress in talks between the two countries, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.The two nations have imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each others' goods, roiling financial markets, disrupting manufacturing supply chains and shrinking U.S.