Energy Intelligence Briefing articles from March 2009

Energy Intelligence Briefing archives from March 2009

Russia trims crude loadings, but less than expected.
March 2, 2009... MOSCOW -- Russia is tightening the taps in March, trimming the seaborne flow of crude oil to market by some 66,000 barrels per day from February despite steady interest in exports. Russian crude oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has penciled in...

Marketview.
March 2, 2009... LONDON -- April Brent contracts on ICE Futures have been bouncing around within a $40-$50 price range throughout February. However, over the past week or so the range has been compressing, and while the $40 floor has held solid, the contract...

Market balances tighten despite ongoing demand rout.
March 4, 2009... WASHINGTON -- While demand has continued to drop compared to a year earlier, so has global supply, as Opec cuts gain traction and the fourth-quarter rally in non-Opec supply begins to peter out. Although nearly 3 million barrels per day down...

Saudi Arabia price lift signals further production cuts.
March 5, 2009... NEW YORK -- Traders and brokers suggested on Thursday that Saudi Arabia's term prices for April point to another output restriction, whether from Opec when it meets in Vienna on Mar. 15 or from Saudi Arabia when it tells refineries how much oil...

Price, balances point at Opec sitting tight on output.
March 12, 2009... NEW YORK - Opec members are sending mixed signals about the organization's output policy ahead of Sunday's ministerial meeting in Vienna, but the majority is demanding better compliance with current output restrictions before committing to any...

Opec sees its compliance falling short by 870,000 b/d.
March 13, 2009... VIENNA -- Opec's oil output in February was still 870,000 barrels per day above the desired goal of 24.845 million b/d, according to data shown in Opec's latest Monthly Oil Market Report. This brings compliance with the 4.2 million b/d in...

Nigeria and Angola trade head in different directions.
March 13, 2009... LONDON -- Sellers of April-loading West African barrels report a mixed month, with Angola's heavy, sweet fare clearing quickly at robust differentials following a Chinese buying spree but Nigeria's light, sweet barrels struggling on the price...

Saudi Arabia sees OECD oil inventories coming down.
March 14, 2009... VIENNA -- Commercial OECD inventories are coming down, and will come down more "in due time," said Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Naimi on arrival in Vienna on Saturday, in the first clear signal from the organization's largest producer that...

Opec worries about economy, wants full compliance.
March 15, 2009... VIENNA -- Opec ministers meeting in Vienna on Sunday said they were very worried that the global economy could get worse before it got better. At the same time, Opec urged cheating members to slash their output by a combined 800,000 barrels per...

Opec cuts eating away at inventory overhang.
March 18, 2009... WASHINGTON -- Opec cuts that took effect at the beginning of the year have finally pushed market balances into a deficit and reversed the stockbuild trend, according to the monthly market analysis presented in EIB sister publication Oil Market...

North Sea reflects flimsy support from fundamentals.
March 24, 2009... LONDON -- Oil market fundamentals are offering little support for the recent price rally and the North Sea physical market is a typical example, with grade differentials under pressure and supplies of major North Sea grades unhelpfully on the...

Russia boosts oil exports in latest quarterly program.
March 24, 2009... MOSCOW -- Russian officials have plotted out an 160,000 barrel per day quarterly increase in crude oil exports via the Transneft pipeline network for the April-June quarter, despite drooping production from Russia's oil heartland in West...

Russian flows rise thanks to swell in smaller ports.
March 31, 2009... MOSCOW -- Seaborne crude oil exports from the Russian pipeline system are set to rise by more than 90,000 barrels per day in April from March as Russian oil firms move to take advantage of healthier oil prices and easing shipping conditions....

Market compass.
March 31, 2009... LONDON -- Russian export blend crude Urals has been on quite a rollercoaster ride over the past month, both in terms of its differentials to dated Brent and its cash value. However, the biggest drama was screen based, with front-month Brent on...