Category: Highlights

This week, OPEC issued its Monthly Oil Market Report. It was released just hours after the IEA released its own monthly oil market forecast. Unlike the IEA, the oil-producing group forecast that growth in oil demand this year would be slower than previously expected. OPEC also forecast an oil market surplus, sparking speculation that it may be preparing for production cuts. According to OPEC’s latest Monthly Oil Market Report, oil demand this year will record a healthy 3.1 million bpd, although the forecast for the second half of the year…

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Since its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has twice blocked Kazakh oil exports crossing its territory. Is this revenge for Kazakhstan’s refusal to endorse the war? An attempt to push up the value of its own crude? Either way, Beijing does not like it. The Chinese government has signaled that it will not accept Russian meddling in Kazakh oil exports, quietly rebuking Moscow for the blockades. Kazakhstan pumps just under 2 million barrels per day (bpd), about 2 percent of global oil production. Almost 80 percent is exported to world markets…

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Iran considers that a European Union proposal for the restoration of the so-called nuclear deal could be “acceptable” if it provides assurances about the key demands of the Islamic Republic, a senior Iranian diplomat was quoted as saying on Friday. Speaking to Iran’s IRNA news agency, the unnamed Iranian diplomat said on Friday, as carried by Reuters: “Proposals by the EU can be acceptable if they provide Iran with assurance on the issues of safeguards, sanctions and guarantees.” Iran has been seeking assurances that no other U.S. president could unilaterally…

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At least two other oil majors shuttered their Gulf of Mexico platforms on Friday following a leak in the Fourchon booster station, shutting down the flow of crude through the Amberjack Pipelines. On Thursday, Shell halted production at its Mars, Ursa, and Olympus platforms, which can produce 410,000 bpd. Shell did not provide an estimate for when the platforms would resume production. On Friday, Shell was joined by Chevron, which shuttered Jack/St. Malo (57,000 boepd), Tahiti, and Bigfoot (75,000 bpd) platforms, which also feed into the Amberjack lines. Equinor joined…

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Europe’s supply of fuels such as coal and petroleum products faces further disruptions in the coming days as the water levels on the Rhine River—a key waterway for barge transportation – are expected to sink below the level of navigability.  The Rhine River, which runs northwest from Switzerland through Germany, France, and the Netherlands into the North Sea, is a major petroleum product transportation corridor in Europe. Due to heat waves and drought this summer in Europe, the levels on the river are low and have now become too shallow…

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