The Oil Bulls Are Back as Brent Breaks $80
Bullish sentiment is well and truly back in oil markets, with Brent breaking $80 and WTI trading at $77.46.
Oil prices have started the year rallying aggressively, with Brent breaking $80 per barrel for the first time since October 7 last year.
The rally has been driven by the Biden Administration’s eleventh-hour sanctions on Russia, cold temperatures across the Atlantic Basin, widening backwardation in all crude futures, and continued concerns about inflation. For the first time in months, the oil market is feeling very bullish.
Yakuza Sells Nuclear Fuel to Iran. A top-tanking member of Japan’s Yakuza mafia pleaded guilty to trafficking uranium and plutonium from Myanmar to Iran after being arrested by an undercover DEA agent, just as recent reports indicate Tehran is now able to enrich uranium up to 60% purity.
China Loses Interest in Saudi Crude. Shortly after Saudi Aramco hiked formula prices for Asian term buyers by $0.50-0.60 per barrel for February, Chinese consumers have nominated 43.5 million barrels of Saudi barrels next month, down by 2.5 million barrels from the current month.
US Drillers Ignore Alaska Licensing Round. The US Interior Department received no bids in the latest government auction for drilling rights in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, potentially hinting at the end of drilling there as all leases sold in the 2021 auction were eventually forfeited.
Iraq Crude Output Hampered by Power Outages. Disruptions in natural gas imports from Iran have led to power outages across Iraq that limited the latter’s oil production rates, with intermittent electricity supply lowering output at the supergiant Rumaila field that normally pumps some 1.2 million b/d.
Shandong Ports to Ban Sanctioned Tankers. The Shandong Port Group operating most of the ports that feed the province’s ‘teapot’ refiners announced it would ban all US-sanctioned tankers from calling into its terminals, despite accounting for 78% of all Iranian imports into China last year.
Norway Sold Record Levels of Gas in 2024. Norway’s Offshore Directorate reported that the country supplied record levels of natural gas last year, totaling 124 billion cubic meters compared to 116 bcm in 2023, whilst this year should see slightly lower production volumes at 120.4 bcm.
Chile Rejects Multi-Billion Iron Ore Project. Chilean officials have rejected a $3 billion mining and port project that was already approved back in 2021, but the Supreme Court annulled the decision two years later, saying incremental iron and copper mining would be overshadowed by environmental risks.
Venezuela Rekindles Fire Over Disputed Region. Tensions are running high across South America again after Venezuelan President Maduro is planning to elect a governor for the disputed oil-rich Essequibo province, historically part of Guyana but reclaimed by Caracas since ExxonMobil’s Guyanese discoveries.
Namibian Discoveries Might Not Be as Rosy. UK-based energy major Shell (LON:SHEL) has dampened expectations about Namibia’s oil bounty after writing off almost $400 million on wells drilled in its PEL-39 in the South African country, citing their sub-commercial nature due to a high gas-to-oil ratio.
Canada Threatens Orange Juice Tariffs on US. According to Canadian media, in case Donald Trump does impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from north of its border Canada could implement a retaliatory tariff on US orange juice, paper, steel products, glassware, and an array of plastic products.
Norway Sold Record Levels of Gas in 2024. Norway’s Offshore Directorate reported that the country supplied record levels of natural gas last year, totaling 124 billion cubic meters compared to 116 bcm in 2023, whilst this year should see slightly lower production volumes at 120.4 bcm.
Chile Rejects Multi-Billion Iron Ore Project. Chilean officials have rejected a $3 billion mining and port project that was already approved back in 2021, but the Supreme Court annulled the decision two years later, saying incremental iron and copper mining would be overshadowed by environmental risks.
Venezuela Rekindles Fire Over Disputed Region. Tensions are running high across South America again after Venezuelan President Maduro is planning to elect a governor for the disputed oil-rich Essequibo province, historically part of Guyana but reclaimed by Caracas since ExxonMobil’s Guyanese discoveries.
Namibian Discoveries Might Not Be as Rosy. UK-based energy major Shell (LON:SHEL) has dampened expectations about Namibia’s oil bounty after writing off almost $400 million on wells drilled in its PEL-39 in the South African country, citing their sub-commercial nature due to a high gas-to-oil ratio.
Canada Threatens Orange Juice Tariffs on US. According to Canadian media, in case Donald Trump does impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from north of its border Canada could implement a retaliatory tariff on US orange juice, paper, steel products, glassware, and an array of plastic products.