WTI $50.91 -50c, Brent $57.41 +46c, Diff $6.60 +96c, NG $2.85 -6c
Oil price
Just recently someone said to me that one day the "And finally..." might be longer than news about oil, that day may just have come…
A quiet day in the oil markets with not much to report. Notice that the differential rose by nearly a dollar as WTI weakened following the EIA stats which read worse than initially thought by markets with despite the draw stocks being well above normal for this time of year. Brent however rallied, the August contract expired and September arrived bushy tailed spurred on by a shutdown at the Buzzard field in the North Sea which threatened to cut back UK production.
Barry is seeing the Saudi Foreign Minister at the White House today, following the Iran accord officials are saying that he wants to keep close to a ‘key American ally’ at this time. A bit late to try to rebuild bridges now Bazza…
Schlumberger
I wanted to mention Schlums today after my comments yesterday which people might find interesting. SLB beat the whisper of 79 cents by 9 and the statement was reasonably upbeat. Despite seeing revenue sequentially down 12% and some price erosion in the US it appears it could have been much worse. Pre-tax operating margins were ‘well above previous downturns’ at 10.2% in the US and 24.5% Internationally and the company still generated $1.5bn of free cash flow demonstrating that these companies are coping better than in previous times of distress, The company say that in the second half ‘visibility remains limited’ which is what one might expect but they also say that the fall in the rig count has probably bottomed out and that US exploration investment in 2015 will be down around 35%.
And finally…
I can picture the scene at Lords last week, Andrew Strauss turns up in the groundsman’s hut and says, ‘can you do me a nice flat motorway for next week please Mick?’ Normally independent of mind Mr Hunt has just done England and entertainment a big disservice but one can't blame the Aussies for making hay while the sun shines but he has rather given them their confidence back in one day…
The golf scoreboard didn't change much from what I last told you and today it is pouring with rain and there is no play at the moment. Players who had the best of the…
