The first of five Iranian tankers carrying much-needed gasoline and oil derivatives docked in Venezuela on Monday, Caracas announced amid concern in Washington over the burgeoning relationship between countries it sees as international pariahs.
The first of five Iranian tankers carrying fuel for gasoline-starved Venezuela entered the country's exclusive economic zone on Saturday, despite a US official's warning that Washington was considering a response to the shipment. The tanker, named Fortune, reached the country’s waters at around 7:40 pm local time (1140 GMT) after passing north of the neighboring dual-island Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, according to vessel-tracking data from Refinitiv Eikon.
French oil trader Pierre Andurand was catapulted into the spotlight this year after correctly betting that the deadly novel coronavirus would spark a sub-zero oil market collapse. Andurand, the 43-year-old founder of London-based Andurand Capital who runs two multi-million-dollar funds, bet in February that the deadly COVID-19 outbreak could represent a rare black swan event that would send prices into reverse.
Oil prices slumped on Friday after China's decision to omit an economic growth target for 2020 renewed concerns that the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will continue to depress fuel demand in the world's second-largest oil user.
Oil companies in Argentina are obligated to maintain production, payrolls, and investment and cannot repatriate profits under a decree that establishes above-market prices for domestic crude. The decree published on Tuesday sets a minimum price of US$ 45/bl for domestic sales of light sweet Medanito crude.
OPEC again slashed its forecast for global oil demand this year as the coronavirus outbreak causes a global recession, although it said record supply cuts by the group and other producers were already helping rebalance the market.
The Trump administration on Thursday issued guidelines to help ship owners and insurers avoid the risks of sanctions penalties, standards that maritime players and a senior State Department official said were modified following months of discussions with industry.
UK-based oil and gas operator Premier Oil has said it has suspended the Sea Lion-1 oil project offshore the Falkland Islands. The company said the US$1.8 billion offshore oil project would be suspended to minimize ongoing spend in light of the current market conditions.
Liza Unity, an under-construction FPSO that will be Guyana's second offshore facility in production, remains on schedule for first oil in 2022, Hess Corp. announced. Guyana became an oil-producing nation in December 2019, when Exxon brought online the Liza Destiny FPSO.
Saudi Arabia said on Monday it had asked oil giant Aramco to cut an additional one million barrels per day from June, to support prices that have crashed during the coronavirus crisis.