WTI $59.88 -62c, Brent $66.59 -22c, Diff $6.71 +40c, NG $3.01 +7c
Oil price
It has been a busy fortnight, almost entirely away from my desk but all the time visiting companies and seeing their operations. Today is really a summing up blog as I try to cover as much as possible that has gone on while I've been away, if I have missed something get in touch and I will try to make amends! Also over the next few days I will be writing up company visits where possible.
The oil price is marginally up on last week and given that the greenback has been weak that isnt much of a result for the bulls. All three agencies have reported this week with Opec probably the most bullish as they revised up world oil demand but the others weren't so optimistic, one even calling a fall. Today will see the rig count which as suggested last week saw a slowing in the rate of fall, soon we will see a rise… The US production number has fallen modestly and is predicted to continue to do so a little but the EIA still maintain that around 9.3m b/d will be produced through to the end of 2016, hardly being crunched by the Opec policy…
Opec production in April was still high, Reuters are as high as 31.04m b/d with Platts at 30.93, semantics really and within that the Saudis are consistently north of 10m b/d. There was a draw in the weekly inventory numbers on Wednesday but as previously reported it would be surprising if there wasn't increased refinery demand at this time of the year. Retail gasoline prices are still rising, around 65c a gallon off the $2.04 low but year on year they are still almost a dollar a gallon cheaper. Watch the natural gas price, now over $3 and showing a rise of half a dollar in only two and a half weeks…
The new Conservative Government in the UK means that there are more ministerial appointments to make from their ranks, for us that means that Ed Davey has been replaced with Amber Rudd who is allegedly ready to make the exploration for shale gas in the UK, 'a priority'. Note the significant rise in the share prices of IGas and Egdon Resources.
Company-wise its been quite hectic, Shell have received permission to drill in the US Arctic whilst BP have recruited…
