While Mexico and Saudi Arabia fought over a deal to bring the oil-price war to an end, Mexico has a powerful defense: a massive Wall Street hedge shielding it from low prices. The Mexican sovereign oil hedge, which ensures the country against low prices and is considered a state secret, is a factor that may make the country less inclined to accept the OPEC+ agreement.
Argentina’s state-held energy firm YPF slashed by 50% the oil production from its key development area in the vast Vaca Muerta shale play this week due to tumbling fuel demand in Argentina’s lockdown, local news outlet Rio Negro reports.
OPEC, Russia and other allies outlined plans on Thursday to cut their oil output by more than a fifth and said they expected the United States and other producers to join in their effort to prop up prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis.
Rockhopper Exploration is responding to market developments by reducing staffing levels and activity related to the Sea Lion development in the offshore North Falkland basin. The company plans to maintain a smaller team, mainly focused on regulatory, fiscal and financial issues, pending a recovery in the external macro-environment.
Crude oil benchmarks opened the month mixed on Wednesday, following their biggest-ever quarterly and monthly losses, overshadowed by fears of global oversupply as data showed a bigger-than-expected rise in inventories in the United States.
Saudi Arabia said on Monday it will raise its oil exports to a record 10.6 million barrels per day starting from May despite a global supply glut, escalating a price war with Russia. Oil prices are languishing at 17-year lows as the coronavirus pandemic threatens a painful global recession that could further sap demand.
Russian oil production giant Rosneft said it had ceased operating in Venezuela and transferred its assets to a company own entirely by the Russian government. The move is apparently intended to shield the company from US sanctions aimed at punishing entities that do business with the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
S&P downgraded Mexico’s credit rating on Thursday as the coronavirus pandemic and a hit to state oil firm Pemex from plunging crude prices battered the growth outlook and piled pressure on the government to lift the struggling economy.
Argentine state-run oil company YPF has already seen a drop in energy consumption because of a nationwide mandatory quarantine over the coronavirus announced last Friday, a company executive said in an internal video obtained by La Nacion on Tuesday and confirmed by the company.
Oil rose over 3% on Tuesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would take steps to bolster the economy and on growing hopes the United States will soon reach a deal on a US$ 2 trillion coronavirus economic package.