Oil up more than 2% on U.S. jobs data but virus fears cap gains

NEW YORK – Oil futures gained more than 2% on Thursday, supported by a drop in U.S. unemployment and a drawdown in crude inventories, but a resurgence in U.S. coronavirus infections fanned concerns that economic activity will weaken in coming weeks. New COVID-19 cases in the United States rose by nearly 50,000 on Wednesday, the…

U.S. Shale Needs To Rethink Its Strategy To Survive

U.S. shale is hurting. While the entire global energy industry has been hit hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic and its disastrous effect on oil prices and oil demand, West Texas shale takes the cake for the biggest economic collapse. While the international Brent crude benchmark did take a beating, the West Texas Intermediate crude…

Sweeter, lighter, cheaper: refiners seek oil to meet rising gasoline demand

LONDON – With more cars taking to the roads as coronavirus lockdowns ease, demand for lighter, sweeter oil more suitable for refining into gasoline is ticking up.European refiners especially are moving away from sour varieties like Russian Urals, which have risen in price since a supply cut pact by producer countries made the grades scarcer,…

US tries to seize Iranian gas heading toward Venezuela

US federal prosecutors are seeking to seize four tankers sailing toward Venezuela with gasoline supplied by Iran, the latest attempt to disrupt ever-closer trade ties between the two heavily sanctioned anti-American allies. The civil-forfeiture complaint filed late Wednesday in the District of Columbia federal court alleges that the sale was arranged by a businessman, Mahmoud…

BP completes sale of Alaskan oil and gas producing properties to Hilcorp Energy

HOUSTON: BP Plc said it completed the sale of its Prudhoe Bay oil and gas producing properties to closely-held Hilcorp Energy, ending 60 years as a top Alaskan oil producer. BP and other oil majors have reduced their production roles in the northernmost US state as output slid and lower-cost fields emerged elsewhere. Hilcorp, known…

IOC Middle East and RR Holdings sign JV

DUBAI, IOC Middle East FZE, Dubai, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IndianOil Corporation, India’s largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products, and RR Holdings Ltd, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, the holding company of Beximco LPG of Bangladesh, have signed an agreement for the formation of a 50:50 Joint Venture Company (JVC) for LPG business in Bangladesh.…