OPEC, for some quiet moments..

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OPEC has cut nearly one million barrels a day of oil output in the past year. But that isn’t how the global crude market sees it. Oil exports from member countries have also declined, but by a significantly smaller margin than production cutbacks. The unusual discrepancy is muting the impact of a November 2016 deal aimed at curtailing oil supplies in a bid to lift prices, traders and analysts say.

Saudi Arabia Pushes OPEC on New Tack to Curb Oil Supplies - WSJ

Renowned short-seller Jim Chanos is betting against a number of U.S. shale oil and gas drillers. Chanos says Wall Street is overly focused on certain valuation metrics, which hide problems with the fundamental business model in the American oil patch. Investors are taking for granted accounting methods that will create problems for drillers in the future, Chanos said.

US shale oil and gas investors are on 'road to ruin,' warns Jim Chanos

As Hurricane Irma continues to leave destruction in its wake across Florida, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says Harvey, the storm that struck Texas more than two weeks ago, remains a bigger concern for the oil market. While Irma, which made landfall in the Keys late Sunday as a Category 4 storm before weakening, will hurt oil demand, Harvey’s damage is far greater, the bank’s analysts including Damien Courvalin said in a Sept. 11 note. That’s because Texas is home to twice the oil consumption per capita of Florida. Together, the storms will impact about 600,000 bpd in demand, according to the bank.

Goldman sees spent Harvey hurting oil use more than raging Irma

our objective was to leverage our systems and scale and become an industry leader in shale and then replicate the opportunity around the world. However, following a global endowment study about 2 years ago, it became apparent to us that the opportunities to replicate U.S. shale oil elsewhere did not exist.

BHP Billiton's (BHP) CEO Andrew Mackenzie on Q4 2016 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha

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As the U.S. and its allies look to impose even stricter measures against North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un could find inspiration from oppressive regimes of yesteryear in Nazi Germany and Apartheid-era South Africa. Both managed to survive oil blockades with the help of liquefying coal, a technology that dates back to the 1920s. North Korea has ample reserves of the fuel, at one point leading the world in anthracite coal exports.

North Korea may copy Nazi Germany if total oil ban takes effect

Two weeks after Hurricane Harvey flooded the U.S. Gulf Coast, brought shipping to a halt and knocked out power to millions, the only company sending U.S. shale gas overseas is back in business. In fact, Cheniere Energy Inc.’s flagship Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana is liquefying more natural gas for export than ever.

Cheniere's Sabine Pass to "push the limits" after Gulf Coast flooding

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma demonstrate the importance of keeping the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said, in a not-so-subtle rebuke to President Donald Trump. "This is a good example of why we need an SPR," Perry said at a press conference Friday morning. The reserve, run by the federal government, is a stockpile that can hold more than 700 MMbbl of crude. Trump’s budget proposal this year called for selling half the reserve, saying it was no longer useful in a time of U.S. oil surpluses.

Perry highlights need for U.S. oil reserve in rebuke of Trump's plan to sell

A dearth of new investment in oil production is stoking a risk of tighter crude supply and unstable prices, even as demand growth is expected to slow over the next five years, a senior International Energy Agency official. The worldwide cushion of spare production capacity will shrink without further investment in exploration and output, Neil Atkinson, the head of the IEA’s oil markets and industry division, said Sunday at a conference in Manama, Bahrain.

IEA sees risk of volatile oil prices on weak upstream investment

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Oil hit a wall again, failing to sustain a rally above $50/bbl for a third straight session. That’s partly because demand typically drops this time of year as many crude-processing plants shut down in the fall for maintenance. But it’s also because producers are coming to the futures market whenever West Texas Intermediate prices approach $50 to lock in profits. While that protects them against a slump, it also makes it more difficult for futures to rise further. Meanwhile, for the third time this month, a hurricane is heading toward the Caribbean.

Oil hits another wall, fails to sustain rally above $50

The world’s energy producers are reducing their carbon emissions on a year-over-year basis. Sixty-two of the world’s 100 largest companies consistently cut their emissions on an annual basis between 2010 and 2015, with an overall 12% decline during that period, according to a report from Bloomberg New energy finance released ahead of its conference in London on Monday.

Major energy companies reducing emissions without government oversight

Hunting’s Titan Division and ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co. entered into a joint agreement in 2015 to develop autonomous tool technology that creates a revolutionary step change in well completion and P&A. After meeting several development milestones, Hunting and ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co. announced that field trials for the autonomous tools will begin in late 2018. Commercialization is expected to follow shortly thereafter.

Hunting, ExxonMobil move to next phase of Autonomous Project for field testing

The oil market has been awash in crude for more than three years, and OPEC has struggled to accelerate the rebalancing effort, but the world could be heading for a supply crunch in a few years due to the sharp fall in industry spending.

IEA: Price Spike Coming In 2020 | OilPrice.com

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Iraq and some other oil producers taking part in global output cuts think they should reduce supply by an additional 1% to help re-balance the market, according to Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi. Some also favor extending cuts until the end of 2018, he said. Producers are talking about what to do next regarding the cuts, al-Luaibi said at a conference in the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. There is “no firm decision yet” on further cuts or any extension of the current reductions, he said.

Iraq says OPEC mulls deeper, longer oil cuts to end 2018

Saudi Aramco plans to expand its trading business by buying and selling non-Saudi crude as the world’s biggest exporter prepares for what could be a record initial public offering. The state-owned company is putting crude marketing and refined-product trading under the same management, according to Ibrahim Al-Buainain, chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco Products Trading Co. The enlarged unit will trade crude that it doesn’t own, helping Saudi Aramco supply refineries more efficiently and make more profit, he said.

Aramco plans to buy non-Saudi crude in global trading expansion

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's latest International Energy Outlook 2017 (IEO2017) projects that world energy consumption will grow by 28% between 2015 and 2040. Most of this growth is expected to come from countries that are not in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and especially in countries where demand is driven by strong economic growth, particularly in Asia.

EIA projects 28% increase in world energy use by 2040 - Today in Energy - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Energy stocks posted their first four-week winning streak of 2017, and some portfolio managers believe the sector can keep rallying. The Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund surged an additional 2.2 percent this week to post the best weekly gain of 2017. Over the last month, the energy ETF has risen 3.7 percent, tracking just behind the 5 percent rally in U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures. Beyond gains in the underlying commodity, analysts pointed to some tailwinds for energy stocks.

Energy stocks post biggest weekly rise in nearly a year

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Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Director Scott Angelle is moving the Outer Continental Shelf energy program toward energy dominance for America. Angelle discussed the work underway at BSEE with industry members at the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association Fall Meeting Tuesday in Lafayette.  “We are in a time of change,” explained Angelle. “Now is the time to move beyond the goal of energy independence to energy dominance.”

BSEE director charts path for robust offshore U.S. energy production

Ministers from OPEC and its allies look set to keep everyone waiting longer for confirmation of further action to rebalance the oil market, sending conflicting signals on whether they’ll discuss extending or deepening supply cuts in Vienna on Friday.

OPEC keeps oil market guessing over further production cuts

Oil held above $50 a barrel as a decline in U.S. fuel inventories countered a bigger-than-forecast increase in crude stockpiles. November futures dropped 0.5% in New York after climbing 1.6% Wednesday. Gasoline supplies dropped a third week to the lowest level since November 2015, while distillate stockpiles fell by the biggest amount since 2011, according to government data. Crude inventories expanded by 4.59 MMbbl last week, more than the 3.9 MMbbl gain projected in a Bloomberg survey. U.S. oil production also rose a second week.

Oil above $50 as fuel-stockpile drop counters crude-supply gain

Iraq’s Kurdish provinces plan to vote in a referendum on independence on Sept. 25, a poll that regional and Western powers, not to mention the central government in Baghdad, have decried as a catalyst for greater instability in a region gutted by war. At stake are the petrodollars that have helped sustain the Kurdish Regional Government’s semi-autonomous rule after a budgetary deal with the federal government fell apart. Some of this oil wealth lies in disputed areas where the referendum will be held.

Iraq's Kurds seek independence, impact oil markets

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A dearth of new investment in oil production is stoking a risk of tighter crude supply and unstable prices, even as demand growth is expected to slow over the next five years, a senior International Energy Agency official. The worldwide cushion of spare production capacity will shrink without further investment in exploration and output, Neil Atkinson, the head of the IEA’s oil markets and industry division, said Sunday at a conference in Manama, Bahrain.

IEA sees risk of volatile oil prices on weak upstream investment

Oil futures in New York have been stuck in glut mode, but that may be starting to change for the first time in years as backwardation, one of those big words used by traders, begins to replace contango. After prices collapsed in 2014, WTI gradually started selling at a discount to its longer-dated futures. That’s what contango means. This occurs when buyers are willing to pay more for future deliveries as a way to limit their storage costs. Meanwhile, those who have the ability to store crude gain an advantage by buying it cheaply, then selling it for later delivery at a profit.

Two words show why U.S. oil may finally be turning a corner

When OPEC and its allies gather this week, they’ll have the best evidence yet that their efforts to clear a global oil glut are succeeding. It may prove short-lived. Crude prices have rebounded to a three-month high and the world’s bloated fuel inventories are shrinking, signaling that nine months of production cuts by OPEC and nations including Russia are at last paying off. Yet as U.S. shale oil continues to thrive and seasonal demand wanes, the surplus that has weighed on markets for three years looks set to come back.

OPEC has success at last, but oil revival may be short-lived

Wood Mackenzie has released Positioning for the Future, the first comprehensive study ever carried out into carbon emissions in the upstream oil and gas sector. Dr. Gavin Law, head of Gas & Power Consulting, Wood Mackenzie, said: “The carbon emissions targets set by the Paris Agreement, together with potential policy changes, are starting to influence investors’ capital decisions and shape companies’ long-term corporate strategies. “More countries are placing a price on carbon or imposing carbon-related regulations. This increases cost. It has never been more important to understand the value at risk.”

Wood Mackenzie study weighs cost of carbon on upstream sector

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Billionaire oilman Harold Hamm says the government was way too optimistic with its prediction of more than 1 MMbopd in new U.S. production, and the snafu is “distorting" global crude prices. This year’s rise is likely to be closer to about 500,000 bpd, far off an initial forecast by the U.S. EIA, according to Hamm, the chairman of Continental Resources and a pioneer in the shale industry. The EIA projection is "just flat wrong,” failing to take into account a new discipline among U.S. drillers, Hamm said in an interview Thursday on Bloomberg TV. "We have capability of producing a whole lot, but you have to get a return on investment,” he said, adding, “that’s where people have been this last quarter and this year."

Shale billionaire Harold Hamm slams “exaggerated” U.S. oil projections

Oil barely moved after an OPEC gathering concluded with no decision on an extension or deepening of supply cuts. Futures toggled within a 49-cent range in New York on Friday, heading for a third weekly gain, while the global benchmark traded in London rose close to a seven-month intraday high. As an OPEC committee meeting wrapped up, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the cartel and allied producers can wait until at least January to consider prolonging the output limits. The next key event will be a Nov. 30 meeting of OPEC ministers.

Oil treads water as OPEC prolongs decision to extend, deepen output cuts

Total announced that its subsidiary, Total E&P USA, has entered into an agreement to capture seven prospects operated by Chevron U.S.A. in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The agreement covers 16 blocks.

Total signs agreement with Chevron on exploration in deepwater Gulf of Mexico

The developer of a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Oregon that has already twice been denied permits by U.S. regulators is giving it another shot. Veresen Inc. said late Thursday that it filed another application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the $10 billion Jordan Cove LNG terminal that would ship gas to Asia. The agency said the project wasn’t needed in March 2016, and rejected Veresen’s appeal in December. In its latest request, the Calgary-based company proposed route changes for a pipeline to feed the terminal and eliminated plans for a power plant.

Twice-rejected U.S. LNG exporter gives Oregon project another shot

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Steve Pruett has seen more than his share of booms in three decades in the oil business. None, though, as strange as the one gripping the Permian basin right now. The telltale signs are the same as always, with companies like his desperate for skilled workers to man the drilling rigs that pierce the horizon in west Texas. What’s unusual, and unnerving, is that the Permian is still thrumming with activity after prices cratered for the stuff it pumps out. Crude is trading for around $50/bbl, but this is the hottest oil patch anywhere on earth, a swing producer influencing the trajectory of global markets and threatening OPEC.

In Permian basin, jitters mount that a bust is near

The Permian basin of Texas and New Mexico holds 60 to 70 Bbbl of yet-to-be pumped crude oil, according to a study by IHS Markit Ltd. The Permian region’s so-called recoverable resources would be enough to supply every refinery in the U.S. for 12 years and have a market value of about $3.3 trillion at current prices for West Texas Intermediate oil, the domestic benchmark.

Permian `super basin' holds up to $3.3 trillion in untapped oil

Iran will persist with exporting its oil to global customers, unfettered by Donald Trump’s intensifying offensive against the country, according to the Middle East nation’s state-run producer. The OPEC member is shipping a combined 2.6 MMbpd of crude and the ultra-light oil known as condensate, and expects to export more at the end of 2017, said  S. Khoshrou, director of international affairs at National Iranian Oil Co. The country is “not worried” about its ability to send cargoes overseas to Asia and Europe despite rising tensions with the U.S., he said in an interview in Singapore.

Iran vows to sustain oil exports despite Trump's threat

Turkey can choose to “close the valves” on oil exports from Iraq’s Kurdish region through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned as Kurds voted Monday in a referendum on independence from Iraq.

Turkey warns Iraq's Kurds it can `close the valves' on oil exports

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Those in the oil market fearing a flood of OPEC supply next year will probably be better off preparing for a shortage, according to Citigroup Inc. Five countries in the group -- Libya, Nigeria, Venezuela, Iran and Iraq -- may already be pumping at their maximum capacity this year, Ed Morse, the bank’s global head of commodities research, said in an interview. Rather than a surge in output, there’s a risk of a market squeeze emerging as early as 2018, driven by those nations because of weaker investment in exploration and development, he said.

Market should prepare more for oil squeeze than OPEC supply gain, Citigroup says

Oil bulls are back in the driver’s seat with $60/bbl in sight, but it could be a short ride. OPEC and Russia are cutting output deeper than ever, demand is surprisingly strong and the threat of Middle East disruption looms again. Global prices have jumped more than 20% since June, with Brent hitting a two-year high on Monday.

Oil rally puts bulls on top, but $60-plus oil could be tough to sustain

Turkey and Iraq have stepped up the pressure on Kurdistan after the semi-autonomous region of Iraq voted for independence. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to block Kurdish oil exports through Turkish territory, while Baghdad called for an international boycott of Kurdish oil sales.

Kurdish Vote Won’t Spark A Sustained Oil Price Rally | OilPrice.com

Since it agreed to production cuts, OPEC stated that its mission is to see the oil futures curve flip from contango to backwardation as part of its work to erase the global oil glut. Since summer began, the contango is disappearing, and now Brent and Oman futures are in a state of backwardation for the rest of 2017 and for 2018, but OPEC’s work is far from over.

As OPEC Compliance Peaks, Can The Drawdowns Continue? | OilPrice.com

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Hansa Hydrocarbons Limited has announced that the N05-1 exploration well drilled offshore Netherlands on its GEms licences, has been confirmed as a significant discovery, encountering gas in the target basal Rotliegend sandstones. Hansa and its partners Oranje-Nassau Energie B.V. (ONE) and Energie Beheer Nederland B.V. (EBN, the Dutch State entity), further appraised the reservoir distribution and delineated the structure with a downdip geological side-track, which also encountered gas. The reservoir interval was cored throughout and 24 m of net sand was encountered with high permeability. This was confirmed by the DST in the vertical well, which was flow tested at a maximum sustained flow rate of 53 MMscfd, which was the limit of surface equipment. The results of the well exceeded pre-drill expectations.

Hansa Hydrocarbons confirms important discovery offshore the Netherlands

If you think it’s hard for tech startups to get funding, try being an oil driller in Canada. The oil price crash caused the big Canadian banks that had traditionally financed junior explorers -- startups looking to identify and begin development on untapped deposits -- to pull back. Similarly, appetite for energy shares waned, diminishing explorers’ ability to turn to equity markets for funding.

Starved for capital, Canada oil patch puts exploration on pause

An ExxonMobil subsidiary this week said it would root out methane leaks and upgrade production technology as part of an effort to manage industrial pollution, the latest move by an energy sector that’s beginning to take matters into its own hands while the Trump administration works to roll back Obama-era climate rules. The quiet announcement contrasts with recent events in Washington, where courts, Congress, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been wrangling over the fate of two regulations meant to reduce methane emissions.

Oil giants to take matter of methane pollution into their own hands

Total announced that its subsidiary, Total E&P USA, has entered into an agreement to capture seven prospects operated by Chevron U.S.A. in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The agreement covers 16 blocks. The associated prospects are located in two promising plays and areas of the GoM: Wilcox in central GoM next to the Anchor discovery, and Norphlet in eastern GoM nearby to the Appomattox discovery. Total’s participation in these wells will be between 25% and 40%.The first of these wells was spudded late July on the Ballymore prospect in Mississippi Canyon.

Total signs agreement with Chevron on exploration in deepwater Gulf of Mexico