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Output Freeze No Help
A recent article in “World Oil” reports that Goldman Sachs dismisses the impact of the recent oil production freeze agreed to by Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar. While an agreement between OPEC and outside producers would be the first in fifteen years, analyst Jeffrey Currie questions whether it will ever materialize. Further, to really… Read More
IEA’s Forecast
“Rigzone” reports that in a recent statement the International Energy Agency (IEA) foresees an oil surplus for most of 2016 with excess output going into storage. The Agency anticipates production declines, but not quickly. It also does not think an agreement between OPEC and other producers to curb production is likely. While the IEA does… Read More
Vitol’s View
“World Oil” reports that Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, anticipates a decade of low prices. In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO, Ian Taylor, opined that Vitol anticipates oil trading in a band between $40 and $60 per barrel, bouncing around a mid-point of $50. Taylor cites a slowing Chinese economy as dampening demand. … Read More
The Curse of Cheap Credit
There is an old saying that leverage is a two edged sword: it makes good times look better, and bad times look worse. When oil prices were strong and the sky seemed the limit, using other people’s money appeared to make sense. From 2004 to 2014 the high yield bond market doubled, but for oil… Read More
Barnett Doubles in Size
“Rigzone” reports that in 2003 the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed the undiscovered technically recoverable reserves of the Barnett Shale in Bend Arch-Fort Worth basin, based on the vertical drilling technology in use at that time. Natural gas reserves were estimated at 26.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and natural gas liquids at 1 billion… Read More
