Brazil's domestic crude oil output rose for the first time in five months in October as production from the subsalt region continued to grow and fewer floating production units were idled by maintenance shutdowns during the month.
Qatar said it will quit OPEC to focus on gas in a swipe at Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the oil exporting group which is trying to show unity in tackling an oil price slide. Doha, one of OPEC’s smallest oil producers but the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, is embroiled in a row with OPEC members Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Over the past few years, Brazil has held several very successful oil auctions under production-sharing contracts in its pre-salt layer, attracting major oil companies to its prized offshore oil area.
Crude prices hit their lowest level since 2017 on Tuesday, sliding further into a bear market after President Donald Trump signaled the US would not punish Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, over the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate.
Premier Oil said it expected full-year production to come in at the low end of a previously announced 80,000 to 85,000 barrels per day range. The company, with interests in the Falkland Islands and which has been focusing on cutting debts, also said its debt pile would shrink to US$ 2.4 billion by the year-end.
They call it production adjustments, but in reality most major oil extracting countries agreed Sunday new strategies regarding crude output were needed in light of the surplus accrued over the past few months.
Oil markets on Friday remained weak as rising supply and concerns of an economic slowdown pressured prices, with U.S. crude now down by 20% since early October. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at US$ 61.63 per barrel.
The retail price of fuel went up around seven percent this weekend in Argentina, for an aggregate 65 percent yearly rise that led impoverished consumers to use other transport means to make up for it.
Saudi Arabia has no intention of unleashing a 1973-style oil embargo on Western consumers and will isolate oil from politics, the Saudi energy minister said on Monday amid a worsening crisis over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Tesla's competition is about to get more crowded next year with many legacy automakers and luxury brands launching a record number of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.