Saturday 2 January 2021

#Oman Expected to Add $779 Million in Revenue From VAT This Year - Bloomberg

Oman Expected to Add $779 Million in Revenue From VAT This Year - Bloomberg

The implementation of a 5% value-added tax in Oman this year is seen bringing in 300 million rials ($779 million), the Oman News Agency reported Saturday, citing the Gulf nation’s finance minister.

Oman’s 2021 budget, announced Friday, forecasts a 14% drop in spending and a 19% decline in revenue after finances were ravaged by lower crude prices and the coronavirus pandemic. The country last year announced it would impose a 5% VAT in an effort to bolster the economy and curb its widening budget deficit.

Russia 2020 Output at Lowest in Nearly a Decade Amid OPEC+ Deal - Bloomberg

Russia 2020 Output at Lowest in Nearly a Decade Amid OPEC+ Deal - Bloomberg

Russia’s crude oil and condensate output fell to a nine-year low in 2020 as the nation took part in historic OPEC+ production curbs.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies implemented unprecedented output cuts from May as global lockdowns to contain the spread of Covid-19 crushed demand. Russia shouldered the biggest burden of cutbacks along with OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia.

Over the year as a whole, Russia produced 512.7 million tons of crude and condensate, according to preliminary data from the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit. That equates to daily output of 10.27 million barrels, based on a 7.33-barrel-per-ton ratio. The decline followed 11 consecutive years of growth.



Oil Drilling in U.S. Ends Fraught 2020 at Pre-Shale Levels - Bloomberg

Oil Drilling in U.S. Ends Fraught 2020 at Pre-Shale Levels - Bloomberg

The crisis that enveloped the oil industry in 2020 can be measured in various ways, but in the U.S. there may be no better single gauge than the tally of drilling rigs operating across the world’s largest producer.

The weekly data shows at a glance the level of confidence from hundreds of companies that sink shale wells from Texas to North Dakota. As the price of crude plunged amid the pandemic, those operators slashed spending and cut drilling crews.

The result was a rig count that collapsed to levels not seen since the advent of the shale era 15 years ago, as crude demand and prices plunged. And while the data has rebounded since August, it still remains far below where it began 2020. Next year isn’t expected to get much better with U.S. oil prices widely expected to be stranded between $40 and $50 a barrel, forcing explorers to make hard choices about whether new drilling is worth it.



OPEC+ Emerges From Chaos of 2020 to Face Delicate Balancing Act - Bloomberg

OPEC+ Emerges From Chaos of 2020 to Face Delicate Balancing Act - Bloomberg

As one of the most tumultuous years in oil’s history ends, a delicate task now confronts OPEC+.

The alliance of producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia must decide whether it can continue to restore crude supplies without capsizing the price recovery they spent most of 2020 working to achieve.

Moscow believes that the group -- which slashed output during the pandemic -- can revive another 500,000 barrels a day of idle capacity in February, on top of an increase scheduled for this month. Riyadh, which has favored greater caution, is keeping its own views under wraps.

“It feels like OPEC+ is trying to steer a giant oil tanker through a narrow straight,” said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS Group AG in Zurich.

Whatever they ultimately decide, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners are leaving nothing to chance.