WTI $59.72 -$1.00, Brent $65.37 -$1.17, Diff $5.65 -17c, NG $2.89 -6c
Oil price
There is nothing much that I can see in the oil market at the moment that would give the price much of an upward movement except perhaps further activity in the Middle East. With the greenback strong after the US inflation figures, the rig count easing and the speculators cutting long positions technically the market looks sated. Overall rigs were down 3 last week with a net fall of only 1 in oil with new rigs actually appearing in one or two places, I get the firm impression that 60 bucks for WTI is reasonably comfortable for a lot of domestic producers. As to those speculative positions the last two weeks have seen a retreat from the highs with last week showing a fall of 7.6% in WTI length and 13.4% in Brent.
Added to that were the comments made at the weekend by the Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangareh who stated that at the upcoming Opec meeting the cartel would ‘maintain production’. Whilst it is likely to maintain the status quo, there are still some stories doing the rounds that an across the board deal between Opec and non-Opec producers is being put together but don't hold your breath.
The only other possible reason for getting really optimistic at the moment are the reasonably positive signs of a global pick-up in the demand for products which has fed through to demand for crude thus offsetting any possible weakness in the market.
San Leon
All the good news and a tick up in the San Leon share price recently has been offset today by the company announcing that it has lost its case in the Court of Arbitration and has to pay £13m on behalf of its subsidiary Aurelian Oil & Gas. The company say in the statement that the decision is without merit and it has appealed the decision. Just when I was getting a bit upbeat about SL……
Range Resources
I haven't written much about Range lately partly as it has been suspended since 11/12/14 which in my book means that if nothing is done by the 11th of June its future is pretty bleak. With the Chinese in control and the Core Capital funding falling through it looked like the company would be subsumed by the major shareholders who have the power to do what they like with the…
