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As markets brace for yet another week of total liquidation (even gold fell below $1500), oil drillers are preparing for the worst. Last time crude traded this low, back in 2016, U.S. oil firms entered survival mode, slashing costs, cutting jobs and optimizing drilling processes. But this time, there’s not a whole lot left to cut. The 2014-2016 oil price crash happened gradually, over the course of several months. 2020’s crash happened in just a few weeks and could end up being a lot more destructive. IHS Markit expects the ‘largest-ever oil glut’ to be between two and four times...

Breaking News Iraq Rockets hit a base housing US troops at Camp Taji north of Baghdad at 11 am local time today. It is reported that at least 25 107mm rockets were used in the attack. Five wounded in the attack, three "coalition members" and two Iraqis.... Well last week we gave you the Ned Beatty monologue from the movie "Network" where he described the "system" as not being Democracy or Communism but of being about a "college of corporations". Big Business shook to its core this week and the markets tumbled. President Trump came out to buck things up...

Global oil demand was already in the doldrums amid widespread restrictions on trade and travel in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak But Russia balked at oil production cuts, the Saudis slashed prices in retaliation and global markets went into a tailspin on Monday

The oil price war that Saudi Arabia and Russia started will hurt the fiscal revenues of the oil producers in the Persian Gulf, including the Saudis, OPEC’s top producer and the world’s top oil exporter, according to credit rating agency Fitch. “The collapse in oil prices will clearly be seen in fiscal numbers for the Gulf,” Jan Friedrich, the senior sovereign analyst for the Middle East and Africa, said on Monday, as carried by Reuters.

The big news over the weekend was not the coronavirus, contrary to what you might think from watching the news. The most consequential story of the weekend is the oil price war that has broken out between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Saudi Arabia has decided to increase its production and slash its price to punish Russia for not going along with OPEC quotas designed to prop up the price of oil, which has fallen by more than half over the last few months including today’s price collapse. (Can’t help reminding that all the certified “smart people” like John Kerry and...

North Korea launching 3 short range projectiles eastwards into the sea Monday morning local time.... Politics in Israel heating up in the aftermath of its third election in less than a year..... Netanyahu set to go on trial for corruption a week from Tuesday (March 17th) and tonight he asked for cancellation of the trial on the basis of a lack of material being provided by the prosecution..... Four senior members of Saudi Arabia's royal family now reported arrested as the country's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tries to maintain power.... Saudi Arabia slashing oil prices and...

Oil prices sank for a sixth consecutive day early on Friday and were on track for their biggest weekly drop in more than four years as the coronavirus outbreak continues to roil global equity and oil markets. At 10:53 a.m. EST on Friday, WTI Crude was plunging by 5.92 percent at $44.30, and Brent Crude was down 4.58 percent at $49.36, after falling briefly below $50 earlier today. The sell-off on the oil market has continued for more than a week as the coronavirus spread quickly outside China—to Europe, the Middle East, and as of recently—Africa.

Oil prices plummeted by 4 percent early on Monday as the coronavirus spread outside China and Asia, rekindling fears that a protracted global outbreak would impact economic growth and oil demand around the world.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, oil prices have lost more than 10 percent, and are now at their lowest levels since early October 2019. Even with Libya’s oil production plummeting by nearly 1 million barrels per day (bpd) due to the port blockade by forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar, oil prices have seen downward pressure over the past week and a half as fears of oil demand destruction currently outweigh supply outages.

Nigeria has long been known for its oil riches. Angola has too, but decades of entrenched corruption have chased foreign investors away. Now Namibia is joining the African oil conversation with one of the most oil-friendly regimes on the continent. It’s offering 5% royalties on what might just be a very productive shale play in Reconnaissance Africa’s (RECO.V) Kavango Basin. Emerging markets are where oil upside might be found these days but navigating them is a challenge.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBC) has told CBS that oil could reach “unimaginably high numbers” if a war with Iran were to erupt, which he suggested could happen if “the world does not take a strong and firm action to deter Iran.” And while MBS is known to engage in hyperbole when it comes to the threat Iran poses, recent events suggest he may have a point here. But what are these unimaginably high numbers he is suggesting? $100 per barrel? $300 per barrel? And what would the world look like if prices really went that high?

Oil prices dropped sharply Tuesday, following Monday's surge that sent shock waves around the world. US oil futures settled down 5.7% at $59.24 a barrel. It was the worst one-day drop for US oil since August 1, according to Refinitiv. Oil prices initially fell after Reuters reported Saudi Arabian oil production would return to normal within two to three weeks. Tuesday afternoon, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said the country's oil exports would not fall in September, as the kingdom will rely on reserves to keep exports stable. Investors took that as a positive sign about the impact of...

A weekend drone attack on Saudi Arabia that cut into global energy supplies and halved the kingdom’s oil production threatened Sunday to fuel a regional crisis, as the U.S. released new evidence to back up its allegation that Iran was responsible for the assault amid heightened tensions over Tehran’s collapsing nuclear deal. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran for the attack Saturday on key Saudi oil infrastructure. On Sunday, senior U.S. officials again said the American government believes there is no doubt Iran was responsible, saying satellite imagery and other intelligence, show the strike was inconsistent with...

For years, investors have been nervous about Aramco’s role as a funding pool for various socio-economic projects in Saudi Arabia, the existential legal threat it faces from the U.S.’s ‘No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act’, and the ongoing questions over its future tax status. It was MBS who - facing sizeable Saudi budget deficits every year until 2023 at the earliest - first mooted the idea in 2016 that the floating of at least 5% of the Kingdom’s flagship hydrocarbons giant would give the whole company a valuation of US$2 trillion. Since then, he has been looking for a...

Albert Einstein once wrote that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Were he alive today, he would be repeating the line to anyone who would listen, especially the reporters on cable news channels such as CNBC. He might add that the world’s policymakers always approach oil market disruptions in the same way: predicting there will be no impact on prices. Einstein would then point out that the policymakers are consistently wrong. A hefty price boost has followed every disruption. The world has experienced nineteen oil market disruptions over the...

The Battle of Brexit. Prime Minister Theresa May has maintained that her deal achieved with the European Union is Brexit.... Late News: Prime Minister Theresa May now seeking to extend the deadline again with permission from the European Union and seek cooperation with the opposition Labor Party...... "an attack on free speech" That message from Australian Independent Senator Fraser Anning as he was censured by the Australian Senate for his views expressed following the terror attacks on two mosques in New Zealand last month..... Strict new Islamic laws coming into force in Brunei Wednesday, a nation on an island off...

The world’s largest independent commodity trader, Vitol, expects global oil demand to peak after 15 years, essentially putting the ‘peak oil demand’ date somewhere in the mid-2030s like other key players in the oil industry. “We anticipate that oil demand will continue to grow for the next 15 years, even with a marked increase in the sales of electric vehicles, but that demand growth will begin to be impacted thereafter,” Vitol said in the outlook included in its 2018 trading volumes report.

Goldman Sachs reduced its outlook for oil prices this year citing abundant supply, Bloomberg reports, quoting a note to clients. The investment bank’s analysts now expect Brent crude to average US$62.50 a barrel this year, down from an earlier projection of US$70 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate, according to Goldman Sachs, will average US$55.50 a barrel, compared with an earlier estimate of US$64.50 a barrel. The price outlook revision was motivated by expectations of another glut despite the OPEC+ production cuts aimed at removing 1.2 million bpd from the global market and continued growth in U.S. shale oil production, as...

Oil prices crashed early Thursday OPEC did not reveal a solid agreement in Vienna, at least not yet. After hours of meetings, OPEC cancelled its news conference, awaiting the Russian delegation set to arrive on Friday. The oil price crash offers the group a reminder that the market is banking on a sizable cut. OPEC met on Thursday and Russia’s oil minister Alexander Novak arrives on Friday, where he can essentially tell Saudi Arabia what to do. The rest of OPEC, save for the UAE and Kuwait, are either unable or unwilling to go along with production cuts.

Qatar will leave the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries as of next month, its energy minister told media today, adding that the decision was part of a long-term strategy for growing its international presence on energy markets with a focus on gas. Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, but it has Australia breathing down its neck as well as emerging competition from the United States and other, smaller, producers. “Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from OPEC effective January 2019 and this decision was communicated to OPEC this morning,” Saad al-Kaabi said, as quoted by...