04-06-2017, 10:38 PM
Oil climbed on forecasts that U.S. crude inventories have dropped from a record high as refineries boosted operating rates. Futures in New York erased earlier losses to gain as much as 0.9%. U.S. crude supplies probably fell by 700,000 bbl last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts before an Energy Information Administration report Wednesday. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute will release its weekly data Tuesday. OPEC output fell by 200,000 bpd in March, helped by cuts in Nigeria and Libya that aren’t part of a production-curbing agreement, according to a Bloomberg News survey.
Oil advances on speculation U.S. crude, fuel stockpiles declined
Saudi Arabia is to tweak the benchmark it uses to sell its crude in Europe, in a concession to refiners in the region that have long complained about their ability to hedge using the current measure. Saudi Arabian Oil Co., as the country’s state-owned company is formally known, will sell crude into Europe, Africa and Latin America based on ICE Brent Settlement, a one-day close for the benchmark, rather than the current system of using the daily weighted average of Brent trades. Both are published by ICE Futures Europe Ltd.
Saudi Arabia to switch crude oil pricing for Europe
Canadian crude shipments to the U.S. are poised to shrink just as the effects of OPEC-led output cuts are being felt in the Caribbean. That’s good news for Mexico and other local oil producers. Syncrude Canada told customers they wouldn’t receive any supply in April from its 350,000 bpd upgrader, according to people familiar with the matter. The plant, which turns bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands into light synthetic crude, moved forward maintenance following a fire last month. Light crude and condensate jumped to the highest level in more than a year last week, and Western Canadian Select on Monday was the strongest since June 2015, when wildfires in Alberta disrupted production.
Canadian oil disruption, OPEC output cuts open door for Mexico
When militants in Nigeria’s southern Niger River delta started attacking oil installations, President Muhammadu Buhari promised to crush them by force. A year and $7 billion in lost oil exports later, his decision to switch tack by negotiating with the fighters seems to be working. All but one force majeure, a clause that gives oil producers the right to miss supply obligations, have been lifted since peace talks were initiated in November with militants. Shipments at Forcados, the nation’s third-largest export terminal, are on course to restart in the second quarter. Nigeria rivals Angola as Africa’s biggest oil producer.