The Pandemic Has Broken Shale and Left Oil Markets in OPEC Hands - Bloomberg

The Pandemic Has Broken Shale and Left Oil Markets in OPEC Hands - Bloomberg

OPEC’s oil ministers have a few challenges to consider at a crucial summit next week, but for the first time in years the shale boom won’t be at the top of the list.

A devastating global pandemic and a reckoning with Wall Street appear to have broken the resolve of the shale wildcatters who turned the U.S. into the world’s biggest oil producer. Years of breakneck growth, at the expense of crude kingpins in the Middle East and Russia, have come to an end. If there was ever any doubt, it’s now abundantly clear who has the upper hand in the global oil market.

“In the future, certainly we believe OPEC will be the swing producer — really, totally in control of oil prices,” Bill Thomas, chief executive officer of EOG Resources Inc., the biggest independent shale producer by market value, said earlier this month. “We don’t want to put OPEC in a situation where they feel threatened, like we’re taking market share while they’re propping up oil prices.”

The shale industry’s prudence, also echoed by the CEOs of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Occidental Petroleum Corp., means that production will probably flatten after a steep plunge this year. U.S. oil output will end 2021 close to 11 million barrels a day, about the same as it is now, according to forecasters IHS Markit, Rystad Energy, Enverus and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

#Dubai raises a glass to social changes in the Gulf | Financial Times

Dubai raises a glass to social changes in the Gulf | Financial Times

When Patrick went to a media launch for a new smartphone in Dubai, the Gulf’s tourism and commercial hub, the expatriate never imagined that the evening would end in a police station. 

After an enthusiastic embrace of the free bar that so often graces such marketing events, a verbal altercation with a taxi driver led to his arrest. 

His contrite response to police questioning over his non-existent liquor licence — the official permission residents and visitors need to drink alcohol in the United Arab Emirates — helped secure his release after a night in the cells. A friend, who went through a similar experience, was “mouthy and aggressive”. He faced a different fate. 

“They threw the book at him,” said Patrick, who declined to give his surname. “He went to court, paid a fine and left Dubai as soon as he got his passport back.” 

Boozy brunches, high-end restaurants and seedy nightclubs have long formed part of Dubai’s allure for expatriates putting down roots in the conservative Gulf and tourists seeking winter sun. But for decades, consuming alcohol without a licence left people liable to a fine or jail term, generating headlines in the western press about legal jeopardy in Dubai.

Oil prices post weekly gain ahead of OPEC+ meeting | Reuters

Oil prices post weekly gain ahead of OPEC+ meeting | Reuters

Oil prices were mixed on Friday but posted a fourth straight week of gains ahead of an OPEC+ meeting early next week.

Brent crude January futures rose 38 cents to settle at $48.18 a barrel, while the more active February contract gained 46 cents to $48.25.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 18 cents to settle at $45.53 a barrel.

Brent rose 7.2% over the week, while WTI gained 8% for the week. Encouraging news on potential COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and others have lifted the markets. However, questions have been raised over AstraZeneca’s “vaccine for the world,” with several scientists sounding caution over the trial results.