Oman to Impose 100% Tax on Tobacco, Alcohol Starting Next Week - Bloomberg:
Oman will introduce 100% tax on tobacco, alcohol and pork meat from June 15, as the sultanate follows other Gulf governments in trying to pare its reliance on oil revenue.
Energy drinks will also be subject to a 100% levy and there will be a 50% tax on carbonated drinks, according to the Secretariat General for Taxation website. The new taxes could generate about 100 million Omani rial ($260 million) annually, Saleh bin Said Masan, head of the economic and financial committee at the Shura Council, said in November.
Oman delayed the introduction of the taxes by at least 18 months, even as the largest Arab crude producer outside OPEC contends with lower oil prices and dwindling reserves. The country’s slow progress in making fiscal reforms has contributed to it slumping into junk grades at credit-rating providers, as well as fueling concerns that it may need to follow Bahrain in seeking a bailout from wealthier neighbors.
Saturday, 8 June 2019
A 24-Million Barrel Question: Where Is All the Missing U.S. Oil? - Bloomberg
A 24-Million Barrel Question: Where Is All the Missing U.S. Oil? - Bloomberg:
Oil traders and analysts closely watching weekly U.S. inventory figures have been scratching their heads in the last few weeks wondering one thing: Where are the missing barrels?
U.S. Energy Information Administration data Wednesday showed a crude supply adjustment factor -- the difference between reported stockpiles and those implied by production, refinery demand, imports and exports -- of more than 800,000 barrels a day. While that doesn’t seem like that much, it’s added up to more than 24 million barrels over the past four weeks, and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in trading opportunities.
The figure tends to swing back and forth, depending on irregularities in various surveys the EIA pulls from for its reports. It’s the only time since records going back nearly two decades that reported stockpiles have been so much higher than the implied figure for so long, which has surprised traders and investors.
Oil traders and analysts closely watching weekly U.S. inventory figures have been scratching their heads in the last few weeks wondering one thing: Where are the missing barrels?
U.S. Energy Information Administration data Wednesday showed a crude supply adjustment factor -- the difference between reported stockpiles and those implied by production, refinery demand, imports and exports -- of more than 800,000 barrels a day. While that doesn’t seem like that much, it’s added up to more than 24 million barrels over the past four weeks, and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in trading opportunities.
The figure tends to swing back and forth, depending on irregularities in various surveys the EIA pulls from for its reports. It’s the only time since records going back nearly two decades that reported stockpiles have been so much higher than the implied figure for so long, which has surprised traders and investors.
Oil Optimism Slumps to 12-Week Low as Price Dips to Bear Market - Bloomberg
Oil Optimism Slumps to 12-Week Low as Price Dips to Bear Market - Bloomberg:
Hedge funds kept running away from oil as prices tumbled into a bear market.
They cut bets on West Texas Intermediate crude’s rally to the lowest level in 12 weeks, according to data released Friday. Optimism on Brent crude, the global benchmark, declined by the most this year.
WTI reached bear territory on Wednesday, dropping more than 20% from its April high amid escalating disputes between the U.S. and its trading partners. Prices rebounded toward the end of the week as Saudi Arabia and Russia reiterated their commitment to supply cuts, leaving it unclear whether investors had made the right call.
Hedge funds kept running away from oil as prices tumbled into a bear market.
They cut bets on West Texas Intermediate crude’s rally to the lowest level in 12 weeks, according to data released Friday. Optimism on Brent crude, the global benchmark, declined by the most this year.
WTI reached bear territory on Wednesday, dropping more than 20% from its April high amid escalating disputes between the U.S. and its trading partners. Prices rebounded toward the end of the week as Saudi Arabia and Russia reiterated their commitment to supply cuts, leaving it unclear whether investors had made the right call.
New U.S. sanctions show offer of talks with #Iran not genuine: Foreign Ministry - Reuters
New U.S. sanctions show offer of talks with Iran not genuine: Foreign Ministry - Reuters:
Additional sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States show that Washington’s offer of talks is not genuine, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Saturday.
The United States sanctioned Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group on Friday for indirectly supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a step it said aimed to dry up revenues to the elite Iranian military force but that analysts called largely symbolic.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that he would be willing to talk to the Islamic Republic.
Additional sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States show that Washington’s offer of talks is not genuine, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Saturday.
The United States sanctioned Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group on Friday for indirectly supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a step it said aimed to dry up revenues to the elite Iranian military force but that analysts called largely symbolic.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that he would be willing to talk to the Islamic Republic.
#Iran has no plans to leave OPEC: Iranian oil minister - Reuters
Iran has no plans to leave OPEC: Iranian oil minister - Reuters:
Iran has no plans to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in an interview published by the Iranian parliament news site ICANA on Saturday.
“Iran has no plans to leave OPEC...and regrets that some members of OPEC have turned this organization into a political forum for confronting two founding members of OPEC, meaning Iran and Venezuela,” Zanganeh told ICANA.
“And two regional countries are showing enmity towards us in this organization. We are not their enemy but they are showing enmity towards us...and (they) use oil as a weapon against us in the global market and world.”
Iran has no plans to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in an interview published by the Iranian parliament news site ICANA on Saturday.
“Iran has no plans to leave OPEC...and regrets that some members of OPEC have turned this organization into a political forum for confronting two founding members of OPEC, meaning Iran and Venezuela,” Zanganeh told ICANA.
“And two regional countries are showing enmity towards us in this organization. We are not their enemy but they are showing enmity towards us...and (they) use oil as a weapon against us in the global market and world.”
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