Crude oil: Iraq could complicate extension. Iraq’s oil minister said that his country plans on boosting oil production capacity to 5 million barrels per day this year, up from around 4.5 mb/d. The comments could confound OPEC’s ability to rollover the production cuts.
Oil industry to increase spending by $25 billion. Wood Mackenzie analyzed 119 oil and gas firms that have laid out their capital budgets for 2017, and the companies are planning on spending $25 billion more this year. 99 of the 119 surveyed will step up spending. About $15 billion of the $25 billion will be focused on the Lower 48, with the Permian Basin capturing a large amount of that.
Asia awash in oil. Reuters reports that crude oil flows to Asia are up 3 percent since December, pushing prices down 10 percent in recent months. The higher oil flows come even as OPEC has cut production, and the excess could keep a lid on oil prices. More than 30 oil supertankers are sitting off the coast of Singapore, Reuters says, despite the fact that storing oil is no longer profitable. "Cuts are not enough to re-absorb the world's excess supply. So, unless oil demand growth rebounds to record levels in 2017, oil prices could head for another substantial fall," Leonardo Maugeri, senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, told Reuters. |
