Singapore: US oil prices surged Wednesday after a turbulent start to the week that saw them fall below zero for the first time due to a coronavirus-triggered demand shock.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for June delivery rose 18.93 per cent to $13.76 a barrel, after suffering heavy falls in New York overnight.
WTI for May delivery on Monday collapsed to an unprecedented low of minus $40.32 as traders scrambled to sell it before the contract expired Tuesday, but could find few buyers with storage capacity fast filling up.
European benchmark Brent crude for June delivery was up 0.98 percent at $19.52 a barrel, after tumbling to an 18-year low the previous day.
International oil prices rebound following Trump warning
April 22, 2020 8:09 pm by Myles McCormick and Joe Rennison in London, Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong and Matthew Rocco in New York
Brent bounces back from two-decade low after US president takes aim at Iranian vessels
Oil prices rebounded on Wednesday after Donald Trump stoked Middle East tensions, saying that he had ordered US warships to “shoot down and destroy” Iranian vessels if they posed a threat. The US president’s intervention sent Brent crude back above $20 a barrel after the international benchmark had tumbled to its lowest level since 1999 on concerns over the collapse in global oil demand. The declaration from Mr Trump also helped buoy the high-yield bond market, which is heavily exposed to the fate of energy companies. BlackRock’s iShare high-yield bond exchange traded fund, known by its ticker HYG, rose 1 per cent, having dipped 1.8 per cent on Tuesday.
“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” Mr Trump wrote in a tweet. The prospect of renewed tensions in the Middle East gave crude a lift during a week where prices have struggled to contend with an evaporation in demand triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Brent rose as high as $22.45 a barrel and settled at $20.37, up more than 5 per cent on the day. The energy sector helped lead a rally on Wall Street that sent the benchmark S&P 500 up 2.3 per cent following two days of falls. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed up 2.8 per cent. West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, rose 19 per cent to $13.78 a barrel. It almost halved during the previous session and earlier in the week fell into negative territory for the first time as producers were forced to pay buyers to take oil off their hands ahead of the expiry of futures contracts.
Brent crude remains down about 27 per cent so far this week. Oil production levels have remained robust even as the virus destroys demand, creating a supply glut. An unprecedented cut of almost 10 per cent of global supply by Opec and its allies will take effect next month, but traders worry it is not enough to offset the collapse in consumption. The head of the International Energy Agency on Tuesday called for the output reductions to be expedited and deepened. Opec members met by phone overnight, but there was no sign they would change their plans.
KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is said to have reduced the number of its fully active rigs from 18 to four since oil price began dropping late last year.
The national oil company had shut down or warm-stacked 14 projects until oil price recovers to break even levels, an industry publication reported, quoting sources.
Warm-stacking involves temporarily shutting down operations but maintaining minimal activity as a cost-saving measure.
"Petronas is unable to maintain its operation at the current price because its rigs are mainly in deepwater, which are more expensive to run," the report said, putting the break even level at around US$70 a barrel.
Petronas did not respond to the New Straits Times' queries at press time.
Petronas' purported cost-cutting measure reflects the sentiments of the global oil and gas industry.
In the past few months, oil prices had plummeted from nearly US$100 a barrel to under US$20 a barrel now.
Consequently, oil majors have made substantial budget cuts on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Saudi-Russia price war that has sent the oil prices, particularly the US' crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI), down to historic lows.
Norwegian energy intelligence company Rystad Energy recently said new deepwater projects currently under evaluation by operators in Southeast Asia were likely to face delays.
Rystad said the Limbayong project in Malaysia, Abadi in Indonesia, Shew Yee Htun in block A6 in Myanmar and the Kelidang Cluster in Brunei, were all considered to be at risk in the current oil price environment.
Petronas previously stated that it would strive to maintain its domestic capital expenditure (capex) programme of RM26 billion-RM28 billion this year, while cutting the overseas capex.
Principal Asset Management Bhd, which served 700,000 investors with RM58.2 billion of assets under management as of last year, said there were increasing risks of some Petronas projects being delayed due to prolonged lockdowns and further disruptions in the global supply chain.
The impact of the project delays would likely be cascaded down and adversely affected upstream service providers, Principal chief investment officer Patrick Chang said in a statement today.
"At this juncture, we remain cautious on the oil and gas sector due to the impact of Covid-19 and the expected slowdown in economic activities," he added.
Principal said the spot or cash market prices for benchmark Brent and WTI crudes had recovered to US$20.50 a barrel and US$13.85 a barrel respectively, after dropping to US$16 a barrel and -US$40 a barrel early this week.
The current spot prices, however, were still higher than the levels recorded during the 1998 Asian financial crisis, it added.
Home Latest Energy News In Rare Development, Oil Majors Are Forced To Cut Output Under OPEC Deal By Julianne Geiger - Apr 23, 2020, 5:30 PM CDT BP A British Petroleum-led project in Azerbaijan will have to cut production in May for the first time as Azerbaijan will need to take drastic measures to meet its new quota under the OPEC production cut deal, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.
This is rare for Big Oil, who is typically exempt from such production restrictions because countries need these big oil players in their backyards to develop oil resources. Big Oil has never seen a mandatory production cut in Azerbaijan.
But these are unprecedented times, and we are seeing a lot of firsts, including this week the first time that WTI oil futures went deep into negative territory.
The most recent production cuts that are set to go into effect on May 1 call for some significant cuts—and Azerbaijan can’t cut enough without enlisting the help of BP and its partners in the project, which include Equinor, Chevron, and ExxonMobil, too. Azerbaijan’s state-run oil company, SOCAR, is also a partner in the project.
The project in question is the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) project, which is a $38 billion project that lies 120km off the coast of Azerbaijan. It is thought to hold 5.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil, and was put into production in 1997. It is the largest oilfield in the Azerbaijan part of the Caspian Basin, according to BP’s website.
In 2019, the block in question produced an average of 542,000 bpd, according to BP, with direct revenue to the Azerbaijani government exceeding $140 billion, according to Neftegaz.RU.
Mahathir's New RM250M Investment Turns Malays into Millionaires Mahathir's New RM250M Investment Turns Malays into Millionaires Daily News Rich People In Bandar Permaisuri Want This Video Banned From The Internet! Watch Now! Rich People In Bandar Permaisuri Want This Video Banned From The Internet! Watch Now! Finance News Ads by Revcontent Under the deal forged with OPEC+ to cut project, Azerbaijan is required to cut its total production by 164,000 bpd—about 75,000 to 80,000 of which would need to come from the ACG project. Azerbaijan’s current average production is 718,000 bpd, according to Reuters.
(Agence France-Presse, New York, 23rd) Despite the poor performance of economic data from the United States, Europe and other regions, the international crude oil prices have risen again after yesterday due to the rising tension between the United States and Iran.
New York Mercantile Exchange West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil (WTI) June futures prices rose by $ 2.72 to close at $ 16.50 per barrel.
June North London Brent crude oil futures prices rose 96 cents to close at $ 21.33 per barrel.
Tomorrow, perdana and its parent company, Dayang will rebound stronger. Transfer of wealth from the fearful to the brave ones :)
Oil jumps more than 30% on hope economy will reopen sooner than expected PUBLISHED WED, APR 29 202012:14 AM EDTUPDATED MOMENTS AGO Eustance Huang
Oil prices jumped more than 30% on Wednesday following a report that showed a smaller-than-expected build in U.S. inventories, as well as on the hope that economies will reopen sooner than expected.
West Texas Intermediate for June delivery surged 32.6%, or $4.03, to trade at $16.39 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude traded 15.6% higher at $23.65.
Optimism that economies will be able to re-open ahead of schedule rose after Gilead said early results of its coronavirus drug trial showed that at least 50% of patients treated with a five-day dosage of antiviral drug remdesivir improved and more than half were discharged from the hospital within two weeks.
Stocks rose following the news, despite a 4.8% contraction for U.S. GDP in the first quarter — the largest contraction since the financial crisis.
Oil prices also got a boost on a smaller-than-expected build in U.S. inventories. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, crude stockpiles rose by 9 million barrels for the week ending April 24. This was lower than the 11.7 million barrel build analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting.
"Oil prices rose on Wednesday morning as traders cling to potentially positive indications that the demand-supply gap may somewhat become smaller soon," Rystad Energy's global head of oil markets Bjornar Tonhaugen told CNBC.
"Overall we need official announcements for cuts or economies reopening for prices to stabilize. Expect a lot of volatility and price swings either way in coming days as bullish and bearish traders weigh their hopes and fears in a market that is desperate to find something to hang on," he added.
Oil prices swayed wildly on Tuesday between gains and losses as investors continue to keep an eye on depleting crude storage space amid a dearth in demand. The coronavirus pandemic, which has forced countries around the world to shut their economies temporarily as people are told to stay home, has reduced global demand for crude by as much as a third, according to some estimates.
WTI for June delivery fell 44 cents, or 3.4%, to settle at $12.34 per barrel on Tuesday. International benchmark Brent crude, on the other hand, gained 47 cents, or 2.35%, to settle at $20.46.
In a note dated April 28, Moody's Investors Service said it was reducing its near-term oil price assumptions for WTI as well as Brent.
"Exceptionally weak short-term prices will persist until production drops enough to ease the strain on storage facilities already operating at or close to full capacity," said Elena Nadtotchi, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody's. "Significant supply adjustments in due course should help to balance the market later in 2020, but the pace of the market's rebalancing and rising oil prices will depend on demand recovery."
Moody's price prediction for WTI is currently $30 per barrel this year, and $40 next year. For Brent, it sees prices averaging $35 per barrel in 2020 and $45 in 2021.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute released Tuesday night showed that U.S. crude inventories jumped by 10 million barrels in the week to April 24, bringing the total to 510 million barrels. That was lower than analysts' expectations of a build of 10.6 million barrels, according to estimates from Reuters.
Perdana is much stronger after debt restructuring and right issue last year :) for remembrance.
KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 17): Perdana Petroleum Bhd (PPB) is on track to return to the black in its coming financial year ending Dec 31, 2020 (FY20), since its shareholders have given their nod for the group’s proposed rights issue exercise, which forms a part of its debt restructuring plan.
At an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) today, its shareholders voted for the proposed renounceable rights issue of redeemable convertible preference shares (RCPS) of up to RM506.01 million in value, as well as the proposed provision of financial assistance to its major shareholder Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd (DEHB).
“Definitely next year, we will be able to turnaround, we will return to the black. We are cautiously confident nevertheless, given that we have gone through very difficult times in the last few years.
“We see better times ahead, as we have seen better utilisation and charter rates this year, which would go on to next year as well. Vessels are in high demand right now, as there is a shortage of vessels in Malaysian waters,” said Perdana Petroleum executive director Bailey Kho Chung Siang.
He added that offshore activities were seen to be picking up, noting that DEHB have seen an increase in drilling activities, which translates to better jobs outlook for PPB, given that the drilling companies require the services of the anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels.
As activity picks up, PPB expects to see more longer-term contracts to be dished out next year, Kho said.
With the expected increase in contracts going forward, he said PPB could see reduced dependency on its major shareholder for charters, especially if PPB could get better charter rates with other companies.
“If we can get better charter rates for PPB, then definitely we would. While DEHB is seeing more activity, the group has its own vessels as well. PPB will be on the lookout for better charters, which could potentially reduce our dependence on DEHB from 50% currently,” Kho said.
Out of the RM506.01 million of RCPS to be issued, RM455 million will be issued to DEHB to pare off its debt to the major shareholder, as part of the group’s debt restructuring exercise, which will reduce its gearing level.
Based on its circular to shareholders, PPB sees its gearing level falling to 0.12 times uponcompletion of the rights issue and the full conversion of the RCPS, compared with 1.37 times as at Dec 31, 2018.
PPB rose 1.5 sen or 3.95% to 39.5 sen as at noon market break today, translating to a market capitalisation of RM307.5 million.
Introducing MY's First IPO Fund for Sophisticated Investors!
MQ Chat
New Update. Discover investment communities that resonate with your ideas
MQ Trader
M & A Value Partners IPO Equity Fund has been launched - Targeted 13% Return p.a
Latest Videos
0:17
New IPO: Building management systems (BMS), solar thermal systems and energy-saving services provider, Solar District Cooling Bhd aims to list on the Ace Market!
MQ Trader 304 views | 2 d ago
0:17
New IPO: The onshore and offshore support services provider for the O&G industry, Steel Hawk Bhd aims to list on the Ace Market!
MQ Trader 11525 views | 10 d ago
0:17
New IPO: The largest mini-market player and a leading groceries retailer in Malaysia, 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd aims to list on the Main Market!
This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
nicedurians
197 posts
Posted by nicedurians > 2020-04-19 06:52 | Report Abuse
Stockman97 each company has its strengths and weaknesses. You need to do your FA and TA to know which company you're comfortable with investing