OPEC, for some quiet moments..

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Iran will start sending 300,000 bpd of crude to Europe, 54% of the total it shipped before authorities on the continent put an embargo in place. Paris-based Total SA has agreed to buy about 160,000 bpd starting on Feb. 16, the ministry of oil’s Shana website reported, citing Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. The company also expressed interest in developing the South Azadegan oil field in western Iran near the border with Iraq and in a liquid natural gas project, Shana reported. Total asked for the necessary information to submit a proposal for the LNG plant.

Iran sees oil exports to Europe at 54% of pre-sanctions level

Total has started production from the Laggan and Tormore gas and condensate fields, located in 600 m of water in the West of Shetland area. The fields will produce 90,000 boed. “Laggan-Tormore is a key component of our production growth in 2016 and beyond. The innovative subsea-to-shore development concept, the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, has no offshore surface infrastructure and benefits from both improved safety performance and lower costs,” said Arnaud Breuillac, president of E&P at Total.

Total starts production at Laggan-Tormore in the West of Shetland

Oil prices will stay low for as long as 10 years as Chinese economic growth slows and the U.S. shale industry acts as a cap on any rally, according to the world’s largest independent oil-trading house. "It’s hard to see a dramatic price increase," Vitol Group CEO Ian Taylor told Bloomberg in an interview, saying prices were likely to bounce around a band with a mid-point of $50/bbl for the next decade. "We really do imagine a band, and that band would probably naturally see a $40 to $60 type of band," he said." I can see that band lasting for five to ten years. I think it’s fundamentally different."

World’s largest energy trader sees a decade of low oil prices

On the bullish side of things, the current oil price level is untenable, something that has been true for some time. An estimated 3.4 million barrels per day (mb/d) of oil production is currently “cash negative,” a situation that cannot carry on indefinitely. With the glut in oil production estimated to be only somewhere around 1 mb/d, today’s prices are clearly not sustainable.

In Spite Of Oil Price Slump, Speculators Drive Bets To Record Levels | OilPrice.com