Opec and the ‘moneymen’

Crude supply is finally showing signs of falling in the US, where stockpiling slowed for the first time in months as US refineries begin to eat into the excess. A sign of success, then, for Opec’s Saudi Arabia-led experiment of putting the squeeze on high-cost producers

04 May 2015

It pays to diversify

When you are a US crude producer, it pays to diversify.

01 May 2015

Some barrels get no respect

Remember Rodney Dangerfield, the late saucer-eyed American comedian and actor who suffered from a chronic respect deficit? As it turns out, the global crude market has its own Dangerfield doppelganger that don’t get no respect: the “Rodney Dangerfield barrel.”

01 May 2015

UK set to be centre of the LNG world

With the start of LNG reloading services, the UK is positioning itself to be the centre of the LNG world. And there are several reasons why the UK can succeed where others have failed.

01 May 2015

European polymers — recovery or respite?

European polymer margins are at their highest level for years after a very strong start to 2015. But does this signify a renaissance or just a short-term fillip for an industry still beset by structural challenges?

29 April 2015

Braking on crude in Washington state

Washington state was once seen as a key market for crude-by-rail, but local, state and federal actions are threatening to derail those efforts.

29 April 2015

The great survivor holds on

Saudi Arabia’s veteran oil minister Ali Naimi — the great survivor of the oil industry — has just survived the country’s greatest power shake-up. King Salman’s decision to name his 55-year-old nephew, Mohammad bin Nayef, as his successor, instead of his half-brother Miq

28 April 2015

Chairman Wang

The shock arrest of Chinese state-controlled Sinopec’s second-in-command, Wang Tianpu, yesterday, did little to dampen the rally in Chinese stocks or, indeed, shares in Sinopec itself. China’s feared Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the body that enf

24 April 2015

To export or not to export?

If you ask most US oil producers how the 50pc drop in prices affects their business, the conversation will quickly pivot to the long-standing federal ban on most crude exports. Lifting the ban, which has been in place since the days of disco, is the panacea for all that

24 April 2015

Shipowners wait for the other shoe to drop

You’d forgive shipowners for feeling a little uncertain about their fuel bills at the moment. Last year they faced apocalyptic warnings about the rise in costs to come as European and North American regulators cut sulphur limits for bunkers, but then oil prices collapse

23 April 2015

Down but not out

This week’s CERAWeek gathering in Houston was as good a place as any to assess the US oil industry’s state of health. Under mostly fair skies, hundreds of executives gathered to hear the likes of ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson and BP chief executive Robert Dud

23 April 2015

Europe makes hay while the sun shines

This month’s IEA report noted that January-March was the first quarter of year-on-year demand growth in Europe as a whole for one and a half years, coming in at 2.6pc.

22 April 2015

EU calls time on the old gas model

In light of EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s litany of charges against Gazprom today, chief executive Alexei Miller’s speech to the Valdai Club in Berlin on 13 April looks like a last-ditch defence of a business model that has run its course.

21 April 2015

If Mark Twain had been a Chavista

If Mark Twain had been a Chavista, he would say that reports of Venezuela´s imminent demise have been greatly exaggerated. Gazing down from a helicopter at oil rigs cropping up like obelisks above the remote Orinoco extra-heavy oil belt, one might easily echo that senti

17 April 2015

Playing the long game in the Gulf

Recent production announcements from massive US Gulf of Mexico projects may seem like poor judgment given the current low crude price environment. But large projects like Anadarko’s Lucius, Chevron’s Jack/St. Malo and Hess’ Tubular Bells aren’t done based on short-term

Previous page 1 2 3 ... 49 50 51 ... 53 54 55 Next page

Argus Blog