The jump was all too clear. A surprise drop in U.S. oil inventories caused crude prices to jump 14 per cent on Thursday, in New York, powering a broad commodities rally that pushed copper and corn higher. The only noticeable drop was in gold, which closed lower for the first time in three days.
Petrobras needed financing to develop the reserves in the offshore basin but Total was not interested in merely becoming a financial partner in Brazil. For full story, click here
Venezuela state oil company PDVSA is asking too much for the heavy oil that Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras hopes to use to supply its Abreu Lima refinery, a Petrobras official said. For full story, click here
Brazil’s Petrobras on Friday announced a new offshore discovery of as much as 2 billion barrels of light crude in ultra-deep deposits about a mile below the ocean floor. For full story, click here
Brazil’s state-run oil firm signed an agreement to explore for oil in deep Caribbean waters north of Cuba that officials in Havana say could contain 20 billion barrels of crude. For full story, click here
Petrobras has formed a venture with Cuba’s Cupet oil firm to carry out oil and gas exploration and production offshore Cuba, in order to tap oil from a 1,600 sq km concession block. For full story, click here For Petrobras’s website, click here
Clearly Monday was not particularly good news for oil companies. With futures settling below $90 per barrel, ($87.81 when Benchmark went to proofing) the industry is seeing the lowest prices since February.
Japanese firm Modec reported that it had it won a contract with Petrobras to build a floating production and storage facility that will drill for oil off the coast of Brazil. Rick Hall, president of Modec International Inc., said: The contract represents a significant milestone for Modec in its efforts to partner with Petrobras “to start to [...]
Barrel prices nosed upward of $115 on Monday, largely due to a sagging US dollar. Analyzing this in reference to last week’s barrel and dollar prices shows the extent to which crude is tied to currency differentials. The relationship is not one sided, either. For us Canadians, high oil prices are keeping our dollar near parity with that of our neighbours.
At this point, there are much more pressing threats to the pipeline’s continued functioning. A long simmering dispute between Georgia and Russia over the disputed South Ossetia region erupted into war. Reports on Monday morning confirmed that Russian forces had pressed along the Greater Liakhvi River, beginning to enter the city of Gori.
Get our independent commentary on oil trends and companies delivered to your inbox.
