WTI $49.21 +$1.70, Brent $56.48 +$1.37, Diff $7.27 -33c, NG $2.72 -6c
Oil price
Super fast and short blog today, I am off early to do TipTV then have a number of company meetings.
The main reason for posting is that the oil price which performed well yesterday has gone up sharply overnight as the Saudis launch air strikes on the Yemen following the President's eviction and appeal for help. Few will see this as direct action against Iran and another Sunni v Shiite battle.
The market shrugged off another set of poor inventory stats as the EIA reported a gain of 8.17m barrels of crude oil, some three million higher than consensus.
Sundry
Much more after the meeting but Amec has reported full year numbers this morning and whilst they are in line there is a veiled warning in there which is not a great surprise. Clean energy, downstream and the Middle East is good but only offsets tougher market conditions elsewhere. The resulting mix will 'increase customer pricing pressure' and other cost savings are expected to lead to a modest reduction in like for like trading margins. I have been avoiding Amec for a while as I think the Foster Wheeler risk is not worth taking and feel other players in the space are better placed to handle the downturn.
Genel has announced a placement of $230m of senior unsecured bonds and their average cost of financing remains at a modest 8.7$
And Plexus have announced an agreement in China with Jereh a major Chinese oil service provider to sell Plexus kit in China and Asia.
And after all mt meetings I am off to the Stock Exchange awards dinner, good luck to Amerisur and Sound and of course Camarco!
And finally…
In the cricket India are chasing 328, a fairly competitive score but in these days of run fests you never know what par is…
Scotland got a late winner to beat Northern Ireland 1-0 at Hampden
