Oil falls 3%, posts weekly drop on demand concerns - Reuters:
Oil prices fell more than 3% on Friday and posted their biggest weekly decline since June as fears of a slow economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic compounded worries about weak oil demand.
Brent crude LCOc1, the international benchmark, fell $1.41, or 3.2%, to settle at $42.66 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 fell $1.6, or 3.9%, to settle at $39.77 a barrel.
Brent fell 5.3% from last week, while WTI lost 7.4%.
Prices were pressured by extended declines in the U.S. equities market and by a report showing U.S. job growth slowed further in August as financial assistance from the government ran out.
Friday, 4 September 2020
China's Sinopec awards 10-year gas tender to Qatargas: sources - Reuters
China's Sinopec awards 10-year gas tender to Qatargas: sources - Reuters:
China’s Sinopec Corp has awarded a 10-year tender to buy 1 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually from Qatargas, two industry sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday, to take advantage of current low prices.
Sinopec has agreed to pay at a slope of 10.19% to Brent crude on a delivered ex-ship basis, said one of the sources.
The deal shows how some buyers are taking advantge of the heavily oversupplied market, with industry sources saying many producers were taking part in the tender.
The Chinese state oil and gas producer issued the tender in July, seeking supplies starting 2023, after prices dropped due to the COVID-19 pandemic hammering global demand for the fuel.
China’s Sinopec Corp has awarded a 10-year tender to buy 1 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually from Qatargas, two industry sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday, to take advantage of current low prices.
Sinopec has agreed to pay at a slope of 10.19% to Brent crude on a delivered ex-ship basis, said one of the sources.
The deal shows how some buyers are taking advantge of the heavily oversupplied market, with industry sources saying many producers were taking part in the tender.
The Chinese state oil and gas producer issued the tender in July, seeking supplies starting 2023, after prices dropped due to the COVID-19 pandemic hammering global demand for the fuel.
Oil Prices; Covid: Russia Sees Economy, Oil Recovering on Vaccine - Bloomberg
Oil Prices; Covid: Russia Sees Economy, Oil Recovering on Vaccine - Bloomberg:
Russia sees oil prices averaging $50 to $55 a barrel in 2021 as the development of Covid-19 vaccines spurs an economic recovery, said Energy Minster Alexander Novak.
That would be an improvement from this year and enough to cover Russia’s budget, but still well below pre-pandemic levels and too low for many of Moscow’s OPEC+ allies.
“Globally, big work on vaccination is being done” and the global economy is rebounding as countries relax their restrictions, Novak said in a speech at the online Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit on Friday. “Demand will be growing” even as uncertainties remain on the oil market, he said.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, has traded near $45 for several months, rebounding from a deep slump after Russia and its allies in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries made historic production cuts.
Russia sees oil prices averaging $50 to $55 a barrel in 2021 as the development of Covid-19 vaccines spurs an economic recovery, said Energy Minster Alexander Novak.
That would be an improvement from this year and enough to cover Russia’s budget, but still well below pre-pandemic levels and too low for many of Moscow’s OPEC+ allies.
“Globally, big work on vaccination is being done” and the global economy is rebounding as countries relax their restrictions, Novak said in a speech at the online Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit on Friday. “Demand will be growing” even as uncertainties remain on the oil market, he said.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, has traded near $45 for several months, rebounding from a deep slump after Russia and its allies in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries made historic production cuts.
Deal News: Louis Dreyfus, #AbuDhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund ADQ in Talks - Bloomberg
Deal News: Louis Dreyfus, Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund ADQ in Talks - Bloomberg:
Louis Dreyfus Co., the storied agricultural trader controlled by billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, is in talks to sell a stake in the firm to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, potentially opening the family company to outside ownership for the first time in its 169-year history.
A successful deal would give the trading house an injection of much-needed cash as its controlling shareholder seeks funds to pay down loans, according to people familiar with the talks.
For ADQ, formerly known as Abu Dhabi Development Holding Co., acquiring a minority stake in one of the four largest traders of grains, oilseeds and sugar could boost food security for the United Arab Emirates, amid concerns brought on by disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Louis Dreyfus Co., or LDC, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for ADQ wasn’t immediately available to comment.
Louis Dreyfus Co., the storied agricultural trader controlled by billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, is in talks to sell a stake in the firm to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, potentially opening the family company to outside ownership for the first time in its 169-year history.
A successful deal would give the trading house an injection of much-needed cash as its controlling shareholder seeks funds to pay down loans, according to people familiar with the talks.
For ADQ, formerly known as Abu Dhabi Development Holding Co., acquiring a minority stake in one of the four largest traders of grains, oilseeds and sugar could boost food security for the United Arab Emirates, amid concerns brought on by disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Louis Dreyfus Co., or LDC, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for ADQ wasn’t immediately available to comment.
Breakingviews - Review: #MbS, #SaudiArabia’s sharpest prince - Reuters
Breakingviews - Review: MbS, Saudi Arabia’s sharpest prince - Reuters:
Mohammed bin Salman has spent the five years since his elderly father became king of Saudi Arabia surprising in ways good, bad, and downright ugly. From the rumble in the Ritz to unleashing a sovereign fund to the silencing of dissidents, the story of his rise through one of the largest royal families to a position of unprecedented power is astonishing.
As crown prince, the 35-year-old is set to be the first monarch from the third generation of Al Saud. But the Twitter-obsessed millennial stands apart from the family’s ranks of overseas-educated, heavily Westernised princes – “MbS”, as he is universally known, stayed in the kingdom to study. In “Blood and Oil”, Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck have gone to painstaking lengths to lift the veil on the character of a young man shaking up the country, and beyond. The result is a gripping page-turner.
Hope and Scheck portray a wily palace operator with a dazzling memory and work ethic rare in the royal court, an individual who honed his cut-throat instincts well before he started wielding his power on the global stage. MbS helped his now 84-year-old father beat an addiction to painkillers and leverage relationships to outmanoeuvre would-be usurpers when King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died in January 2015. By doing so, he forged his own – far from given - path to power.
Mohammed bin Salman has spent the five years since his elderly father became king of Saudi Arabia surprising in ways good, bad, and downright ugly. From the rumble in the Ritz to unleashing a sovereign fund to the silencing of dissidents, the story of his rise through one of the largest royal families to a position of unprecedented power is astonishing.
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| Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed |
As crown prince, the 35-year-old is set to be the first monarch from the third generation of Al Saud. But the Twitter-obsessed millennial stands apart from the family’s ranks of overseas-educated, heavily Westernised princes – “MbS”, as he is universally known, stayed in the kingdom to study. In “Blood and Oil”, Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck have gone to painstaking lengths to lift the veil on the character of a young man shaking up the country, and beyond. The result is a gripping page-turner.
Hope and Scheck portray a wily palace operator with a dazzling memory and work ethic rare in the royal court, an individual who honed his cut-throat instincts well before he started wielding his power on the global stage. MbS helped his now 84-year-old father beat an addiction to painkillers and leverage relationships to outmanoeuvre would-be usurpers when King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died in January 2015. By doing so, he forged his own – far from given - path to power.
Oil holds near $44, heads for weekly drop on demand concerns - Reuters
Oil holds near $44, heads for weekly drop on demand concerns - Reuters:
Oil held around $44 a barrel on Friday and was heading for its biggest weekly decline since June, as weak demand figures added to concerns of a slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A U.S. government report showed domestic gasoline demand fell in the latest week [EIA/S]. Middle distillates inventories at Asia’s oil hub Singapore have soared above a nine-year high, official data showed.
Brent crude LCOc1, the international benchmark, was up 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $44.12 at 0745 GMT, heading for a 2.3% drop this week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 fell 3 cents to $41.34, set for the first weekly drop in five weeks.
In focus on Friday will be U.S. payrolls figures at 1230 GMT, which could be a selling trigger if an expected slowdown in hiring is steeper than forecast. The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 9.8% from 10.2%.
Oil held around $44 a barrel on Friday and was heading for its biggest weekly decline since June, as weak demand figures added to concerns of a slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A U.S. government report showed domestic gasoline demand fell in the latest week [EIA/S]. Middle distillates inventories at Asia’s oil hub Singapore have soared above a nine-year high, official data showed.
Brent crude LCOc1, the international benchmark, was up 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $44.12 at 0745 GMT, heading for a 2.3% drop this week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 fell 3 cents to $41.34, set for the first weekly drop in five weeks.
In focus on Friday will be U.S. payrolls figures at 1230 GMT, which could be a selling trigger if an expected slowdown in hiring is steeper than forecast. The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 9.8% from 10.2%.