Oil cartel OPEC has lost control over the price of oil?

Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Al-Naimi, however, does not think that Saudi Arabia or OPEC can really control oil prices.

"No one can set the price of oil — it's up to Allah," he said Tuesday in an interview with CNBC.

Saudi Arabia and OPEC, the 12-member oil cartel of which Saudi Arabia is the most influential member, has insisted on maintaining its oil production targets despite the recent decline in prices.



Read more: http://uk.businessinsider.com/al-naimi-says-oil-price-is-up-to-allah-2015-5?r=US#ixzz3ZGvCUrwK

All crude flows to Libya's Zueitina port have stopped after protesters demanding jobs blocked a pipeline, forcing the closure of several eastern oilfields, oil officials said on Tuesday.

The closure should lower oil output to as low as 400,000 barrels a day, according to estimates based on previous production figures.

"The protesters closed the pipeline to the port," Mohamed El Harari, spokesman for state oil firm NOC, said. He said that several oilfields in eastern Libya would have to close.

"This will have a big impact on oil production," he said, without giving a figure.

A port official said the security situation at the terminal was normal, adding that the port would technically stay open.

Libyan oil ports and oilfields regularly have to shut down due to protesters seizing them or armed groups fighting for control of the facilities.

The protesters were complaining they had not been hired by the state as promised by a previous oil minister, an engineer told Reuters.

Zueitina was one of the few Libyan ports still exporting oil as the largest have closed due to fighting or blocked oilfields connected to them, part of turmoil gripping the North African country four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.

Near the main eastern city of Benghazi, it has closed several times since 2011 due to protesters demanding jobs or management changes at state oil firms.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/05/libya-oil-idUSL5N0XW2N020150505

Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp said Mexican conglomerate Alfa Sab de CV and Harbour Energy Ltd have offered C$6.50 per share, valuing the oil and gas company at about C$2.05 billon ($2.08 billion).

The offer represents a premium of 35 percent to Pacific Rubiales' closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Alfa and Harbour Energy have agreed to acquire Pacific Rubiales for C$6 billion ($4.97 billion), including debt.

Toronto-based Pacific Rubiales is the largest independent oil and gas producer in Latin America and its shares are also listed in Colombia.

Pacific Rubiales constituted a special committee, which has engaged an independent financial adviser to deliver a formal valuation, it said.

Alfa, which already owns an 18.95 percent stake in Pacific Rubiales, has businesses in oil and gas, branded foods, aluminum auto components, petrochemicals, information technology and telecommunications services.

Harbour Energy is a joint venture between Asian commodity trader Noble Group Ltd and U.S. private-equity firm EIG Global Energy Partners.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/06/pacific-rubiales-ma-alfa-idUSL4N0XX1PM20150506

Brazil's securities industry regulator accused the former board of state-run oil producer Petrobras of setting a fuel pricing policy that misguided investors and hurt the company.

The former board, chaired for years by then-Finance Minister Guido Mantega, approved a $221 billion, 2014-2018 investment program with specific debt targets but "chose to run a pricing policy that made it unlikely for those goals to be met," the watchdog, known as CVM, said in a report posted on Tuesday on its website.

Citations by the CVM can result in fines and restrictions on participating in financial market activities or serving as an officer of a public company.

The decision comes as Petrobras faces a number of class action lawsuits in U.S. courts by investors who accuse the company of misleading statements and failing to disclose corruption practices. Petrobras, worth nearly $300 billion in 2008, is now worth $63 billion despite finding large offshore oil resources.

As part of a government strategy to curb inflation, Petrobras for years kept domestic fuel prices below international levels. The subsidies caused about 60 billion reais ($19 billion) in refining losses for Petrobras, which was forced to buy oil at market prices but sell fuels at a loss.

That helped inflate the company's debt to $106 billion, making Petrobras the world's most-indebted and least-profitable major oil company.

According to Paulo Roberto Costa, whose testimony helped uncover the contract fixing, bribery and political kick-back scandal at Petrobras, the refining losses have hurt the company's finances more than the corruption.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/05/brazil-petrobras-cvm-idUSL1N0XW2YQ20150505

Oil inventories continue to surge, but U.S. production has flatlined for weeks—even months.

I mean really—look at these simple facts that have been staring the Market in the face for months:

Year-to-date (YTD) production in 2015 in the U.S. is only 160,000 bopd (barrels of oil per day) above December levels—multiply that by 7 days a week to get 1.12 million barrels a week.
Demand in the U.S. is up by A LOT more—depending on which analysts/firm you want to believe—jU.S.t under 800,000 bopd. Refineries are running at record high throughputs jU.S.t to keep up (92.3% now vs. 5-yr average of 87.8%)!

Yet U.S. oil inventories continue to climb—by a stunning 6.54 million barrels a week so far this year—almost 300% over the typical December-May 1.71 million barrels per week. So U.S. production YTD only accounts for 17% of this. What gives?

This huge growth in inventories has caused some high profile analysts to call for $20 oil. The idea of oil storage becoming full in the U.S. caused a second big downleg in March in WTI prices—set in Cushing OK—to a low of $42/barrel.

The reason behind this seeming paradox? When you look at the data, the creators of South Park got it right - we should really 'Blame Canada!'

Two new pipelines recently debottleneck crude flows from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in a 13.99% increase (408,000 bopd) in U.S. crude oil imports from Canada in December (2.86 million additional barrels per week) that has largely been maintained. When you contrast that fact to the US oil inventory build in the first chart below—well, that's almost all you need to know.

The vast majority of Canadian oil exports is heavy oil from the oilsands. While shale production—light oil—begins to stall and fade, oilsands production will increase every year for at least the next five years. Growing production and heavy discounts (pun intended) will keep U.S. refiners processing all the Canadian heavy oil—called Western Canada Select, or WCS—they can.

Even worse, crude oil imports are increasing as East and West coast refiners increase utilization, requiring them to consume additional seaborne crude (from Saudi Arabia and other places) in order to maintain their crude input blend slate: As U.S. refinery utilization increased from 89% to 92% over the past four weeks, total U.S. crude oil imports have averaged 7.56 million bopd, well above the YTD average of 7.26 million bopd and the March average of 7.25 million bopd.

Unless U.S. shale production falls dramatically (and soon), the U.S. crude inventory situation could get very ugly this summer as 1-3 million weekly builds continue - just as investors have written off full inventories as a risk factor!

http://www.oilvoice.com/n/US-Oil-Market-Update-Blame-Canada/d6955609f0ab.aspx

Anadarko Petroleum Corp is not in talks to sell its multibillion-dollar stake in Mozambique's gas reserves and instead is working toward a final investment decision on the planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) project there, the company said on Tuesday.

"As it relates to Mozambique, we're not in discussions with anybody," Al Walker, Anadarko's chief executive officer, said in response to a question on the company's earnings call. "We've never hired a banker to run a process."

Anadarko, which has a 26.5 percent stake in the Area 1 license in the Rovuma Basin offshore Mozambique, is gathering the needed agreements and approvals, and a final funding decision is expected later this year or into next year, the company said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/05/anadarko-results-mozambique-idUSL1N0XW1GN20150505

Exports of Canadian crude oil declined by a modest 57,000 b/d in February to average 3.046 million b/d, data released late Monday by the National Energy Board showed.

The drop stemmed entirely from a sharp decline in light crude exports, down 89,000 b/d from January's record-setting levels to 938,000 b/d.

Light Canadian crude oil exports have proven somewhat more variable than heavier grades, falling six times in the past 12 months.

In contrast, heavy crude exports resumed their steady rise, increasing by 32,000 b/d to a new record-high of 2.107 million b/d, surpassing last September's average of 2.095 million b/d.

February's dip nonetheless left total exports above 3 million b/d for just the third time in history, and marked a 325,000 b/d increase from the same time last year. Heavy crudes accounted for 275,000 b/d of that growth, but light crudes also increased 49,000 b/d from last February.

http://www.platts.com/latest-news/oil/houston/canadian-crude-exports-see-first-drop-in-four-21394893

The new premier-elect of Alberta said on Wednesday that her left-leaning party will be a "good partner" to the energy sector, moving to assuage the fears of the Canadian province's powerful oil industry who fear higher costs and opposition to pipelines.

Rachel Notley, who promised to review oversight of the oil and gas sector during the campaign, also said Canada needed a national approach to address environmental issues.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/06/canada-politics-alberta-notley-idUSL1N0XX05V20150506

After four decades in power, Alberta’s Progressive Conservative dynasty was brought down Tuesday night by its most unlikely conqueror.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley — whose party held only four seats in the legislature before the election call — will become Alberta’s 17th premier as her party swept to power in the heartland of Canadian conservatism.

The NDP were on track to win 53 seats to defeat the PCs, the party of Alberta icons Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein that was first elected in 1971 and which had, before Tuesday, won 12 straight elections with a majority.

“Well my friends, I don’t know, I think we might have made a little bit of history tonight,” Notley told a cheering crowd in Edmonton.

Oil and natural gas producer Noble Energy Inc boosted its 2015 production forecast on Tuesday, citing cost cuts and technical improvements after reporting a better-than-expected adjusted profit.

It was the latest sign from the energy industry that deep budget cuts announced in the first quarter combined with new well techniques and other technology were beginning to yield results.

Noble boosted the bottom end of its production forecast for the year, and now expects to produce 300,000 to 315,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). Noble had forecast 295,000 to 315,000 boe/d for the year.

Noble reported a net loss of $22 million, or 6 cents per share, in the first quarter, compared with a profit of $200 million, or 55 cents per share, a year earlier.

Factoring in hedging losses and one-time items, the company earned 3 cents per share. By that measure, analysts expected earnings of 2 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Production volumes rose 11 percent to 318,000 boe/d.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/05/noble-energy-results-idUSL4N0XW38220150505

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. swung to a loss, as lower oil prices have reduced the company’s drilling activity.

The results come a day after Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn criticizedPioneer and others in the fracking sector, citing low oil prices, environmental concerns and the industry’s high capital expenditures.

Pioneer Natural said Tuesday that it continues to forecast 10% production growth this year, but its second-quarter production outlook fell short of analyst expectations, according to SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Neal Dingmann.

Sales volumes averaged 194,000 barrels oil equivalent per day (boed), up 17 percent from the 2014 first quarter.

The stock, down about 5% over the past two trading days, slid 0.5% in after-hours trading.

For the quarter ended March 31, the company reported a loss of $78 million, or 52 cents a share, compared with a profit of $123 million, or 85 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding derivatives and other items, Pioneer posted a loss of three cents a share.

Revenue fell to $868 million from $944 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected earnings of eight cents a share on revenue of $751 million.

In addition to the sharp price declines throughout the energy sector, the oil and gas company also dealt with down time at its Spraberry/Wolfcamp operations in early January because of severe winter weather.

Still, Pioneer said it continues to deliver strong well results and said cost-cutting has contributed to improved margins.

The company said last year that it planned to sell its Eagle Ford Shale midstream business. Pioneer said it expects a sale to take place in May, which will strengthen the company’s balance sheet.

Citing lower prices, the company said in February that it would reduce some of its horizontal drilling activity and said it would shut down vertical drilling in the Spraberry/Wolfcamp area by the end of the month.

Pioneer’s 2015 capital budget of $1.85 billion is a 45% reduction from last year’s capital spending for continuing operations.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/pioneer-natural-resources-swings-to-loss-1430861805?mod=wsj_nview_latest

Halcon Resources Corp. on Tuesday reported a loss of $587.6 million in its first quarter.

The Houston-based company said it had a loss of $1.43 per share. Losses, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 4 cents per share.

The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 1 cent per share.

The independent energy company posted revenue of $136.2 million in the period, also falling short of Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $174.1 million.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/halcon-resources-reports-1q-loss-211603398.html