OPEC, for some quiet moments..

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The rally in oil will dissipate and prices will decline to $39/bbl in New York, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said, maintaining an earlier forecast. Continued equity issuance by oil explorers in the past week will “exacerbate” a global oversupply as a necessary pullback in U.S. production is delayed, Jeff Currie, the bank’s New York-based head of commodities research, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. Oil’s rebound over the past month was driven by demand from retail investors, Currie said.

Goldman Sachs sticks to call for $39 oil as rally to reverse

It's a painful time to be in the oil business. With the price of crude oil about half what it was six months ago, companies large and small are being pressured to cut costs. On the front lines are oil services companies that do everything from drilling to providing electrical power at well sites. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are threatened as companies try to adjust.

As Oil Prices Tank, Firms Large And Small Feel The Pain : NPR

Oil is the lifeblood of the Libyan economy. Prior to the 2011 revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, Libya produced some 1.6 million barrels a day, exported mostly to Italy, Germany, Spain, and France. Natural gas and oil revenues made up nearly 96% of government revenue, propping up a vast public sector and providing millions of Libyans with their main source of income.

The Battle for Libya’s Oil - Al Jazeera English

New signs of surging U.S. oil supplies have further bolstered the view that after an eight-month rout for the oil price, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has lost its grip on the oil market. But Saudi Arabia's tactics mark a shift in policy rather than an irreversible loss of market share according to Barclays, who say the top OPEC exporter is shaping up to be the "most flexible oil supplier on the planet".

How Saudi Arabia can withstand the shale oil boom

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Rigs targeting oil in the U.S. dropped by 37 to 1,019, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website Friday. In the 11 weeks, 556 have been taken offline, bringing the oil total to the lowest level since July 2011. Rigs seeking gas slipped by 11 to 289, the Houston-based field services company said. The total U.S. count declined by 48 to 1,310, including two miscellaneous rigs.

Oil drillers extend record retreat, idling rigs for 11th week

Sempra Energy announced Thursday that its IEnova and Sempra LNG units have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a subsidiary of Pemex for cooperation and coordination in developing a natural gas liquefaction project at the site of the Energía Costa Azul receipt terminal in Ensenada, Mexico.

Pemex, Sempra ink MOU for Mexico liquefaction project

The deluge of Canadian oil that’s adding to a global glut and driving prices lower is showing few signs of slowing. Even with crude down 52% since June, output will grow 3.5% this year from the world’s fifth-biggest producer. The Canadian dollar is near a six-year low and materials cost less, helping oil sands producers cut costs and keep pumping.

Canadian oil sands output growth defies price plunge

Oman, the biggest Middle Eastern oil producer that’s not a member of OPEC, is boosting crude output to as much as possible with the global price rout over, Salim Al Aufi, undersecretary of the oil and gas ministry, said.

Oman calling for maximum oil production, saying "oil price rout over"

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Oil prices slid Monday, extending last week's sharp decline as the dollar strengthens on eurozone strains and record supplies in the United States add further downward pressure.

Oil prices extend slide - Yahoo Finance

Oil and gas giant Chevron is giving up on its shale gas plans for Romania, marking the end of its European efforts for the resource. And it's not alone in scrapping European plans.

Chevron withdraws from Romania shale gas projects

New signs of surging U.S. oil supplies have further bolstered the view that after an eight-month rout for the oil price, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has lost its grip on the oil market. But Saudi Arabia's tactics mark a shift in policy rather than an irreversible loss of market share according to Barclays, who say the top OPEC exporter is shaping up to be the "most flexible oil supplier on the planet".

How Saudi Arabia can withstand the shale oil boom

Bill Gross is among a number of investors licking their wounds from the steep plunge in oil prices. Gross’s $1.46 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund JUCAX, -0.10%  lagged behind its benchmark in the fourth quarter of 2014. The fund returned a negative 0.56% in the fourth quarter on a net asset value basis compared with a 0.06% return for three-month dollar-denominated Libor, or London interbank offered rate.

Add Bill Gross to list of plunging oil’s victims - MarketWatch

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Oil’s gains will accelerate in the second half of this year with prices averaging $85/bbl for Brent crude in 2015, Standard Chartered Plc forecast. Rising U.S. production will slow in April, helping to balance supply with strengthening demand in the final six months this year, Marios Maratheftis, Standard Chartered’s global head of research, said at a conference in Dubai. Brent has averaged $53.56/bbl so far in 2015.

Standard Chartered looks for rebound in oil on stronger demand

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has no plans to hold an emergency meeting amid falling oil prices, according to a delegate from the group.

OPEC said not to plan emergency meeting amid falling oil prices

The amount of oil recoverable from reservoirs in deep rock formations could be improved, following a new discovery by scientists at the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt. The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was carried out by scientists and engineers as part of the International Centre for Carbonate Reservoirs (ICCR) program, which is sponsored by Petrobras and BG Group.

New insight into oil flow could pave the way for improved recovery

The Papua, the first PNG LNG Project custom-built ship, arrived at the PNG LNG marine facilities on Sunday to begin cool down and loading of its first LNG cargo. Recently christened as the Papua by Mrs Lynda Babao O’Neill, the 172,000 m3, 290-meter-long LNG carrier has entered service on a long-term charter with the PNG LNG Project, providing LNG transportation to major customers in Asia. The Papua is the largest LNG carrier ever to be built in China.

Custom-built carrier arrives in Port Moresby for first PNG LNG cargo

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Oil prices are unlikely to go back to $100/bbl because new technology is driving down the cost of production, said Larry Fink, CEO and co-founder of BlackRock Inc.

Oil-price rebound to $100 seen as unlikely by BlackRock CEO

Egypt, with Africa’s third-largest reserves of natural gas, plans to receive its first cargo of foreign liquefied fuel next month, a government official said. The country is set to import at least 76 shipments of LNG to help meet domestic needs until it can boost its own gas production and restore exports after halting them last year, said Hamdy Abdel Aziz, head of the Petroleum Ministry’s media department. He didn’t identify the supplier of the shipment due in March at a floating regasification terminal in Ain al-Sokhna on the Gulf of Suez.

Egypt to get first LNG cargo in March amid plans to sell gas

Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Wednesday that oil demand is growing and markets are calm, in some of his first public comments since the price of crude rebounded from a near six-year low. Oil prices fell by 60 percent between June and January to a post-2009 low of $45 a barrel, before international benchmark North Sea Brent recovered to around $60 a barrel this month.

Saudi's Naimi says oil demand is growing, markets calm

Since economies drive commodity prices, not the other way around, the collapse in oil is more of a demand issue than it appears, said Stephen Schork, founder and editor of The Schork Report newsletter. The influential oil analyst told CNBC on Friday that there's an "absolute glut" in crude, but the demand side of the equation can't be overlooked. "When you have such a sharp fall in commodity prices, that's because of economic demand. And I think that's a very worrisome telltale."

Why oil is the 'canary in the coal mine': Analyst

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Predicting the oil price is a bit of a mug's game. There are simply too many variables involved to make any kind of meaningful, definitive forecast. What we do know is that, despite a recent upturn, the price of oil has slumped almost 50% since last summer following the longest-running decline for 20 years. And we know why - US shale oil, and to a lesser extent Libyan oil returning to the market, has pushed up supply while a slowdown in the Chinese and EU economies has reduced demand.

BBC News - Are low oil prices here to stay?

Crude oil in storage in the U.S. has jumped to the highest levels in at least 80 years, according to a Bloomberg Industries analysis. The EIA this week reported that U.S. inventories rose 7.7 million barrels to 425.6 million. That's more than 20 percent higher than the five-year average.

Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon - Bloomberg Business

As private equity turns its attention to the oil and gas sector amid a slide in oil prices, one executive at the SuperReturn industry conference in Berlin stressed caution. "The question is: when do you engage? Markets have a history of jumping in too soon," Mitch Truwit, co-CEO of private equity and venture capital firm Apax Partners, told CNBC.

Why it pays to be cautious on oil

Oil rose above $62 a barrel on Thursday as indications of a coming recovery in demand offset a further jump in U.S. crude stockpiles which underlined currently ample supplies.

Oil rises above $62 after Saudi comments on demand

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The operational cost of extracting bitumen from Canada's oil sands tops out at $37/bbl for in-situ projects and $40/bbl for mining projects, according to Wood Mackenzie's latest analysis. Callan McMahon, principal analyst for Wood Mackenzie, says this is amongst the highest of all project types globally. "With low oil prices, the oil sands region's cash flows will fall by $23 billion in 2015 and 2016 combined," he adds.

Oil sands cash flows to fall by $23 billion, Wood Mackenzie says

A raft of small LNG facilities in China including some developed by Xinjiang-based Guanghui Energy Co., demonstrated construction costs as low as $500 per metric ton of LNG capacity, compared with the $1,500 typical of megaprojects, Stoppard said. “The industry is scratching its head and trying to understand why small, peaking LNG plants in China appear to cost so much less,” Stoppard said.

Small LNG is in as oil price collapse crimps megaproject spending

Three months after Saudi Arabia made clear it was going to let oil prices keep tumbling, the strategy is showing signs of working. U.S. drillers are idling rigs at a record pace, gutting investment plans and laying off thousands of workers.

Saudis’ Oil Price War Is Paying Off - Bloomberg Business

Alberta’s energy producers are pivoting toward developing gas reserves rather than oil after crude lost half its value last year. The number of gas development rigs in Canada’s biggest energy producing province almost doubled in December to 157, the most for that month since at least 2010

Alberta energy drillers pivot to natural gas as oil plunges

Bear Head LNG Corp. and Bear Head LNG (USA), LLC, both wholly owned subsidiaries of Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (LNGL), have filed an application with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requesting authorization to export up to 440 Bcf per year of U.S. natural gas to Canada, and up to 8 mtpa of LNG from Canada to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Non-FTA nations.

Bear Head LNG files application with DOE to export gas to Canada

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Brent crude oil prices were poised on Friday for their biggest monthly gain since 2009, lifting the outlook for the battered commodity. U.S. crude oil was set to end February with its first monthly rise in eight months, with signs of a pick-up in Chinese demand and supply outages in the North Sea lifting sentiment in oil markets.

What rout? Oil on track for best month since 2009

The Saudis say explicitly that they believe non-OPEC producers must now balance world oil supply by cutting back production rather than relying on OPEC--meaning mostly Saudi Arabia--to do so. And, those cutbacks in the form of drastically reduced investment are already taking place in the United States, Canada and around the world as low prices are forcing drillers to scale back their drilling plans dramatically. It is not well understood, however, that almost all of the growth in world oil production since 2005 has come from high-cost deposits in the United States and Canada which has made the two countries easy and tempting targets for the Saudis' low-price strategy.

Saudi Arabia's oil reserves may be its best kept secret - Business Insider

[T]he Saudis could probably have absorbed all U.S. fracking increases in output (from today’s four million barrels a day to seven or eight) and never have been worse off than producing half of their current production for twice the current price … not a bad deal. Only if U.S. fracking reserves are cheaper to produce and much larger than generally thought would the Saudis be right. It is a possibility, but I believe it is not probable.

Saudi Arabia's oil reserves may be its best kept secret - Business Insider

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With production and inventories at record levels despite the total collapse in rig counts, all eyes remain on Baker Hughes data for any signal the algos can use to mount a run. The total rig count fell for the 12th week, down 43 to 1267. This 3.3% decline is the slowest drop in 6 weeks and oil prices are sliding on this news. The key level to watch for WTI is $48.24 which moves it into the red for the 8th month in a row.

Oil Prices Tumble As Pace Of Rig Count Decline Slows

Oil prices have stabilized somewhat around the $60 per barrel mark, and over the past few weeks oil has shown less volatility than what we have grown used to in the preceding six or seven months. But another swoon could be just over the horizon. That is because oil producers are starting to run out of storage. As production has soared and global demand has failed to keep up, oil producers have been diverting oil into storage tanks at a remarkable rate since last summer.

This Week In Energy: Data Pointing To Another Huge Fall In Oil Prices

LNG landings in Europe are now twice as high as they were last year, according to a Reuters report. Tankers are coming from all directions – from Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, and Norway. They are destined to dock in Belgium, the UK, and the Netherlands. The NBP marker – a price for LNG arriving in the United Kingdom – has actually surpassed the spot price in Asia, and has recently traded at $1.20-per-million-Btu premium. “Some trading companies are also trying to divert cargoes away from the east towards Europe,” an oil and gas trader told Reuters in an interview.

Europe Overtakes Asia As LNG’s Hottest Market

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The tide may be turning in the retreat of the U.S. oil explorers. Rigs targeting oil fell by 33 to 986, the smallest decline since Jan. 2, Baker Hughes said on its website. Energy rigs in the Permian basin dropped by seven to 355 after dropping by as much as 49 earlier in the month. The Eagle Ford in Texas lost three rigs.

U.S. oil drilling retreat slows as fewest rigs shut in eight weeks

The oil market will rebalance in the next several months as a price collapse boosts consumption and curbs supplies, the International Energy Agency said, a day after Saudi Arabia’s oil minister told reporters demand is rising. An oil price as low as $45/bbl is unsustainable, said Fatih Birol, the chief economist for the Paris-based adviser to 29 nations. Investment cuts in the U.S., Russia and Brazil will curtail output growth, bringing supply and demand back in line, he said.

IEA echoes Saudi view on oil-demand boost balancing market

YPF SA is defying the oil industry trend after crude prices collapsed by keeping last year’s capital budget intact without laying off workers. Its secret? Argentine government support. While oil majors including BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have announced spending cuts of more than $40 billion, Argentina’s state-run producer nationalized in 2012 will keep its $6 billion capital budget intact from last year, Chief Executive Officer Miguel Galuccio said. YPF is counting on government support to increase earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization this year, he said.

YPF defies oil industry with same budget amid price slump

Now, in what a report from Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm, calls an "anxiety attack", new investment has stalled. No big, new LNG projects have been announced for months. The business is so capital-intensive that long-term contracts, which account for three-quarters of global trade, are essential. Such contracts mean that weak spot prices are less of a problem for gas-producing countries than for oil states. But for energy firms, contracts are no longer providing the comfort cushion needed for big investments. Buyers are taking advantage of the weak market, and driving hard bargains.

The golden age of gas is arriving - Business Insider