Russia predicts oil production freeze deal could be signed in April March 14, 2016 A historic deal among some of the world's biggest oil producers to freeze production could be inked in April and exclude Iran, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said today. Speaking after a meeting with Iranian officials in Tehran, Novak said Iran has a right to duck out of the deal until the recovery of its oil output, which had [...]
Non-Opec member Oman yet to be invited to Doha meeting March 20, 2016 Oman has said it’s yet to receive an invite to a historic meeting of oil producers, where they’re expected to discuss freezing output to support prices. This is despite Oman being the largest non-opec oil producer in the Middle East, pumping out around 1m barrels per day. "We have been exchanging some views with other oil [...]
Russian economy contracts 4.6 per cent in second quarter August 10, 2015 Another bad day for the Russian economy, after figures published today showed it contracted 4.6 per cent in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, missing even analysts' pessimistic expectations of a 4.5 per cent contraction. Although the contraction was larger than feared, the fact GDP fell hardly came as a surprise: with the [...]
The case for buying emerging markets on dips May 10, 2016 The beautiful magnolia trees are blossoming, and we all know what that means. Bluer skies over London, happy dogs in the parks, and speculation picking up about whether we’ll see a repeat of the “sell in May” strategy. Last week ended with a thud after a much weaker-than-expected US April jobs report. As soon as [...]
Brent crude and WTI: What $20 per barrel oil would mean for the global economy March 29, 2016 With oil prices trending lower again, what would Brent crude falling as low as $20 per barrel mean for the global economy? A whole host of investment banks, from Goldman Sachs to Morgan Stanley, have previously warned it could fall to this level. If we do get a renewed bout of oil weakness that keeps oil [...]
Oil prices: Iraq will co-operate to cut production in bid to prop up Brent crude January 30, 2016 Iraq's oil minister has said his country would co-operate if Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and non-Opec members agree to cut crude production, in the wake of a supply glut that's sent oil as low as $27 per barrel this year. It comes as one of Opec's poorer member, cash-strapped Venezuela, has called a meeting to [...]
US stock markets including Dow Jones and S&P 500 open lower as oil price slides further February 24, 2016 US markets plunged lower as markets opened today, dragged down as the price of oil continued to slide. The Dow Jones Industrial average fell over 200 points in morning trade, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped over one per cent. Read more: Brexit brouhaha – Sterling slides below $1.39 "The market got overbought up until [...]
Brent and WTI crude: Oil prices soar as the US dollar dives February 3, 2016 Oil prices surged today, helped by the tumbling US dollar following comments by a US Federal Reserve official and weak economic data. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 8.31 per cent to $35.44 per barrel. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, added 9.3 per cent to $32.66. "We're getting the rally in crude oil from the pounding [...]
Russian rouble falls to 18-year low against the dollar January 20, 2016 The Russian rouble has fallen to its lowest value against the dollar since its 1998 redenomination. The rouble has lost around 57 per cent of its dollar value since mid-2014, when oil prices began to decline sharply. Swings in the rouble have closely tracked movements in oil prices over the last two years. Crude oil [...]
US oil stockpiles are somehow still rising, defying the low price as Russia and Saudi Arabia become increasingly desperate for a deal March 2, 2016 Stockpiles of oil in the US have continued to defy the low oil price, adding the most barrels since April 2015, four times forecasts. The price of crude has barely even blinked however, up almost a dollar on the day. International benchmark Brent crude is trading for $36.92, while West Texas Intermediate is going for $34.57. [...]