11-28-2016, 11:54 PM
Saudi Arabia pulled out of planned talks with non-OPEC nations including Russia as disagreements about how to share the burden of supply cuts stood in the way of a deal to boost prices just days before a make-or-break meeting in Vienna. OPEC officials were scheduled to meet with non-members including Russia on Monday before a ministerial meeting in Vienna two days later. The meeting was later canceled entirely after the Saudis decided not to take part.
Saudis sink Russia oil talks as OPEC deal hangs in the balance
As OPEC prepares for talks on eliminating a global crude glut, Nigeria’s oil minister says he’s more concerned about the potential for U.S. shale suppliers to replace the lost barrels by ramping up their own output, quelling any price rally the producer club might achieve. “The challenge is less with OPEC and more with the outer forces we don’t control,” Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, the country’s minister of state for petroleum, said Thursday in an interview in Tokyo. “The U.S. is beginning to ramp up volumes again.”
Nigeria eyes U.S. shale as OPEC readies oil cuts
The CI-GNL (Ivory Coast LNG) consortium led by Total has been awarded the rights to build and operate a liquefied natural gas re-gasification terminal in the Ivory Coast with a capacity of 3 mtpa. The decision was followed by the signature of the shareholders’ agreement in Abidjan between Total, which will operate the project with a 34% interest, PetroCI (11%), CI Energies (5%), SOCAR (26%), Shell (13%), Golar (6%) and Endeavor Energy (5%). Total will use the terminal to supply LNG volumes from its global portfolio in proportion to its participating interest in the project. The re-gasification terminal project'>project is expected to become operational by mid-2018.
Total to operate Ivory Coast re-gasification project
Now, in a recent report, analysts including Damien Courvalin at Goldman have turned “tactically bullish,” forecasting $55 a barrel for the first half of 2017, up from their earlier forecast of a range-bound market between $45 and $50 a barrel for that period. However, they have not upgraded their annual average of $52.5 a barrel for next year.