Friday 9 August 2019

Oil rises on European stock draw despite demand slowdown forecast - Reuters

Oil rises on European stock draw despite demand slowdown forecast - Reuters:

Oil prices rose more than $1 a barrel on Friday, supported by a drop in European inventories and OPEC output cuts despite the International Energy Agency reporting demand growth at its lowest since the financial crisis of 2008.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures gained $1.15, or 2%, to settle at $58.53 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose $1.96, or 3.7%, to settle at $54.50 a barrel.

“Despite a further cut in oil demand growth by the IEA, oil prices are trading marginally higher, as the demand growth cut was already announced previously by the head of the IEA and the agency still expects larger inventory draws for 2H19,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

Oil rises on European stockdraw despite demand slowdown forecast - Reuters

Oil rises on European stockdraw despite demand slowdown forecast - Reuters:

Oil prices rose by about 3% on Friday, supported by a drop in European inventories and expectations of more OPEC output cuts despite the International Energy Agency reporting demand growth at its lowest since the financial crisis of 2008.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures gained $1.40, or 2.4%, to $58.78 a barrel by 10:55 a.m. EDT (1455 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were up $1.84, or 3.5%, to $54.38 a barrel.

“Despite a further cut in oil demand growth by the IEA, oil prices are trading marginally higher, as the demand growth cut was already announced previously by the head of the IEA and the agency still expects larger inventory draws for 2H19,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

#Saudi Aramco IPO: Here are Three Burning Questions - Bloomberg

Saudi Aramco IPO: Here are Three Burning Questions - Bloomberg:

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, will hold a public investor-relations call on Monday, even though the company is private and has only one shareholder. Many analysts expect that, for the first time, the Saudi Arabian behemoth will speak openly about its finances, including its earnings from the first half of 2019. But the call is also being seen as a potential staging for a long-delayed initial public offering that has recently received renewed vocal support from the royal family. Aramco is restarting the IPO process, and is in talks with banks over it, although shares of the company may not hit markets until 2021.

There is no immediate need for equities investors to be interested in an Aramco investor-relations call, because the company’s shares are not available for purchase. If an IPO happens, it will be preceded by a roadshow and other opportunities for potential investors to learn more about the firm. At this point, an open call serves more to satisfy curiosity and perhaps help sell-side analysts begin to familiarize themselves with the giant firm that up until now no one had a reason to follow.

Oil Set for Weekly Loss as Traders Weigh Trade War, #Saudi Output - Bloomberg

Oil Set for Weekly Loss as Traders Weigh Trade War, Saudi Output - Bloomberg:

Oil is poised for a second weekly loss as investors weigh the deteriorating U.S.-China trade dispute against the latest steps from Saudi Arabia to stabilize the market.

Brent crude rose 1.1% in London, but is down 6% for the week. The deepening spat between Beijing and Washington and a surprise gain in U.S. stockpiles helped drive prices to a seven-month low on Wednesday. The International Energy Agency on Friday called the demand outlook “fragile.” Saudi Arabia has responded to the rout with a plan to limit output and exports in September.

Brent has dropped into a bear market as growing fears that the trade spat will expand into a currency war overshadow the risk of supply disruptions in the Middle East. The IEA in its monthly report trimmed forecasts for oil-demand growth this year and next, and warned that it may lower the estimates further as the U.S.-China conflict drags on.

Brent for October settlement rose 64 cents to $58.02 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange as of 8:46 a.m. in New York. The global benchmark crude traded at a $4.90 premium to West Texas Intermediate for the same month, having reached $4.75 on Thursday, the narrowest since July 2018.

#Saudi Tadawul to start last phase of MSCI inclusion on August 28 | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Saudi Tadawul to start last phase of MSCI inclusion on August 28 | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) will start the second and last phase of MSCI inclusion on Wednesday, 28 August, based on closing prices of 27 August, according to MSCI Equity Indexes August 2019 Index Review issued late Wednesday.

The inclusion will increase the weight of Saudi Arabian securities from 1.45% to 2.83% in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

Earlier in May, MSCI noted that it will add 30 Saudi securities, representing an aggregate weigh of 1.42%, in the MSCI EM Index as of the close on 28 May.

IEA says oil demand growth at lowest since 2008 - Reuters

IEA says oil demand growth at lowest since 2008 - Reuters:

Mounting signs of an economic slowdown and a ratcheting up of the U.S.-China trade war have caused global oil demand to grow at its slowest pace since the financial crisis of 2008, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.

“The situation is becoming even more uncertain ... global oil demand growth has been very sluggish in the first half of 2019,” the IEA said in its monthly report.

The Paris-based agency said that compared with the same month in 2018, global demand fell by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May - the second year-on-year fall of 2019.

Oil edges up on expectations of more OPEC output cuts, but trade worries linger - Reuters

Oil edges up on expectations of more OPEC output cuts, but trade worries linger - Reuters:

Oil prices inched higher on Friday as expectations of more OPEC production cuts provided some support, although concerns over the long-running U.S.-China trade dispute kept a lid on gains.

International benchmark Brent crude futures, were at $57.54 a barrel by 0646 GMT, up 16 cents, or 0.3%, from their previous settlement.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $52.68 per barrel, up 14 cents, or 0.3%, from their last close.

Both contracts jumped more than 2% on Thursday to recover from January lows, buoyed by reports that Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, had called other producers to discuss the recent slide in crude prices.

#AbuDhabi Can’t Afford to Keep #Iran Out of #Dubai – LobeLog

Abu Dhabi Can’t Afford to Keep Iran Out of Dubai – LobeLog:

As the world teeters on the edge of another financial crisis, few places are being gripped by anxiety like Dubai. Every week a new headline portends the coming crisis in the city of skyscrapers. Dubai villa prices are at their lowest level in a decade, down 24 percent in just one year. A slump in tourism has seen Dubai hotels hit their lowest occupancy rate since the 2008 financial crisis, even as the country gears up to host the Expo 2020 next year. As Bloomberg’s Zainab Fattah reported in November of last year, Dubai has begun to “lose its shine,” its role as a center for global commerce “undermined by a global tariff war—and in particular by the U.S. drive to shut down commerce with nearby Iran.”

Dubai, an entrepĂ´t where the workers are migrants and where property is king, is especially vulnerable to global recessions. In the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2009, Dubai’s real estate market collapsed, threatening insolvency for several banks and major development companies, some of them state-linked. Abu Dhabi, which controls the UAE’s vast oil wealth, threw Dubai a lifeline with an initial $10 billion bailout, later expanded to $20 billion.

But there was a second, hidden “bailout” that helped keep Dubai afloat. When the Bush administration enacted the Iran Sanctions Act in 2006, deepening Iran’s economic turmoil under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, there was a significant increase in the already significant volume of capital flight from Iran, most of which landed in Dubai. One 2009 estimate places the total value of Iranian investments in Dubai at $300 billion.