OPEC, for some quiet moments..

[admin]

Oil approached a four-week high as refiners revved up plants pounded by Hurricane Harvey, sparking demand for crude. Futures rose as much as 1.4% in New York while gasoline dropped, extending a three-day, 23% decline. Motiva Enterprises LLC’s refinery 90 mi east of Houston, which processes more crude than any other North American plant, was on track to reach 40% of its normal working rate within days. Dozens of tankers that had been stranded offshore when Harvey shut every major Texas port began delivering cargoes of crude to refiners that had been in danger of running dry last week.

Oil heads for four-week high as demand for crude rises

Europe’s biggest energy company is investing in projects to boost global gas demand and aims to continue feeding the market it’s nurturing with new liquefied natural gas export plants. Royal Dutch Shell Plc is supporting the development of gas use in heavy transport such as shipping and is also helping smaller and less credit worthy customers begin importing LNG, Maarten Wetselaar, the company’s director of integrated gas and new energies, said at an event at Bloomberg’s Sydney office Wednesday. As new LNG customers enter the market, that will open a window for Shell and others to develop new low-cost export plants.

Shell seeks to boost LNG demand to build new plants

France will stop granting new exploration permits next year as it seeks to end all oil and gas production by 2040, according to a draft bill presented at a cabinet meeting Wednesday. The move would allow the government to turn down more than 40 exploration requests already made, while some existing permits may be extended to respect contracts, the presentation showed. That includes the Guyane Maritime license off French Guiana, in which Total SA has a stake, according to an adviser to Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot, who briefed reporters in Paris.

France plans to end oil output by 2040 with exploration ban

The world’s second-biggest liquefied natural gas exporting nation will probably curb shipments next year to avoid a domestic shortfall of the fuel, according to the Australian head of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The Australian Energy Market Operator is likely to declare a shortage for eastern states in the next two to four weeks, Shell Australia Chairwoman Zoe Yujnovich said at a Bloomberg event Wednesday in Sydney. That would trigger the country’s domestic gas security mechanism, a policy announced in June that could limit LNG exports from plants that draw more gas from local markets than they supply.

Shell sees gas shortage risk triggering Australia LNG export cut