Saturday 9 March 2019

#Iran Court Tries 13 in $7 Billion Petrochemical Fraud Case: Mehr - Bloomberg

Iran Court Tries 13 in $7 Billion Petrochemical Fraud Case: Mehr - Bloomberg:

The trial has started in an Iranian court for 13 petrochemical industry executives charged with embezzling 6.6 billion euros ($7.4 billion) in one of the nation’s biggest corruption cases, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. 

The defendants, most either chief executives or board members of Iranian petrochemical producers and exporters, are accused of “causing a great economic disturbance” by establishing shell companies overseas to circumvent sanctions imposed while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was president, judge Assadollah Masoudi Magham said, according to IRNA.

Reading from a 700-page indictment, another judicial official added that billions of euros worth of sales from petrochemical exports were funneled to the companies as purchases, the Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.

Oil Optimists Stay the Course Even as Demand Headwinds Loom - Bloomberg

Oil Optimists Stay the Course Even as Demand Headwinds Loom - Bloomberg:

Hedge funds keep betting on an oil rally, even with prices stuck in neutral.

Investors pushed bullish wagers on West Texas Intermediate crude prices to their highest in a month and cut short-selling bets to the lowest since October, apparently convinced that dwindling global supplies will be more than enough to withstand a weaker economy.

Futures in New York ended the week up by a mere 0.5 percent, with disappointing reports on U.S. jobs, Chinese exports and global economic growth clouding the outlook for energy demand. But money managers appear to be focusing on the impact of OPEC output cuts, a pipeline explosion in Nigeria and U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

Exclusive: #Saudi's Falih - U.S., China driving oil demand; no April OPEC policy change | Reuters

Exclusive: Saudi's Falih - U.S., China driving oil demand; no April OPEC policy change | Reuters:

Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday that China and the U.S. would lead healthy global demand for oil this year but that it would be too early to change OPEC+ output policy at the group’s next meeting in April.

He said total global oil demand is set to grow by around 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd).

“If you look at Venezuela alone you would panic, if you look at the U.S. you would say the world is awash with oil. You have to look at the market as a whole. We think 2019 demand is actually quite healthy,” Falih told Reuters.

Exclusive: Saudi court approves detained tycoon Sanea's bankruptcy filing | Reuters

Exclusive: Saudi court approves detained tycoon Sanea's bankruptcy filing | Reuters:

A Saudi court has approved an application by detained and indebted billionaire Maan al-Sanea and his company, Saad, to have their case resolved through the kingdom’s new bankruptcy law, the company’s financial adviser and two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The ruling in February could provide a resolution to one of the kingdom’s longest-running debt sagas.

Saad, with interests from banking to healthcare, defaulted together with another conglomerate, Ahmad Hamad al-Gosaibi and Brothers (AHAB), in 2009, leaving banks with unpaid debts of about $22 billion.

The week in energy: Big Oil getting bigger in shale | Financial Times

The week in energy: Big Oil getting bigger in shale | Financial Times:

In December 2009, ExxonMobil agreed a $41bn deal to buy XTO Energy, one of the largest operators in the newfangled US shale gas business. The acquisition was the definitive proof that shale was something that the rest of the industry was going to have to take seriously. Rex Tillerson, then Exxon’s chief executive, made it clear that the deal marked a shift of strategic direction. “This is not a near-term decision; this is about the next 10, 20, 30 years,” he said on a conference call.

A decade later, Exxon has demonstrated the truth in that assertion, announcing plans for a dramatic increase in shale oil and gas production in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, where the group still operates under the XTO Energy name. The plan was discussed in detail at Exxon’s investor day in New York on Wednesday, but was announced the day before, just as Chevron was holding its presentation for analysts and setting out a similar strategy for rapid growth in the Permian.