CL=F - Crude Oil Mar 20
| Pre. Settlement | N/A |
| Settlement date | 2020-02-20 |
| Open | 53.70 |
| Bid | 52.31 |
| Last price | 54.19 |
| Day's range | 52.15 - 53.71 |
| Volume | 154,886 |
| Ask | 52.32 |
- Bloomberg
Oil Traders Made Billions in 2019 as Conflict Shook the Market
(Bloomberg) -- The world’s largest energy traders enjoyed one of their best ever years in 2019 as pipeline outages, dramatic changes in ship fuel regulations and Middle East conflicts shook up the global oil market.The bonanza extended beyond the independent traders like Vitol Group and Trafigura Group Ltd. to the in-house units of oil giants Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA and BP Plc, which made billions of dollars in profits.“By all accounts, 2019 was among the best years ever for the energy trading industry,” said Marco Dunand, the chief executive of Mercuria Energy Group Ltd., one of the five largest independent oil traders.For the independents, the bumper year all but guarantees a fat bonus season for a group of companies that’s largely owned by their executives and senior staff. For the European oil companies, the trading boom will help Shell, BP and Total to weather a tough year in other parts of their business.In interviews with senior traders and top executives, the consensus is that the industry benefited from a lucky mix of factors in the oil market. Recent investments in trading natural gas, power and liquefied natural gas also started to bear fruit.First, a series of supply outages boosted the premiums that oil refiners pay over the benchmark price for some crudes. Early in 2019, Washington imposed sanctions on Venezuela, disrupting flows. Then, Russian shipments into Europe via the key Druzhba pipeline were halted after oil was tainted with a corrosive pollutant. And in September, Saudi exports were hindered after a terrorist attack against the country’s most important petroleum facility.Some traders also profited from the so-called IMO2020 rules that force the world’s merchant shipping fleet to use fuel with a lower sulfur content. The rules have upended the oil-refining and maritime industries, causing gyrations in the price of fuel-oil and marine diesel.The results provide some breathing room for a sector that’s under assault from falling margins. Brent crude, the world’s most important benchmark, traded in a relatively narrow range of $52.51 to $75.60 a barrel through the year.Vitol, Glencore, Shell, BP and Total all declined to comment on their results.The trend was already clear in the results of Trafigura, which reports earlier than others due to a fiscal year ending in September. Trafigura said its oil unit delivered a record gross profit of $1.7 billion last year.$1 Billion YearElsewhere executives also expect a stellar year, even as they caution that they haven’t yet audited their financial statements or decided on the final writedowns against 2019 results. The oil-trading unit of Glencore Plc., for example, enjoyed its best ever result, according to people familiar with the matter. One person said Glencore expects to report earnings before interest and taxes of more than $1 billion in oil trading.At Gunvor, chief executive Torbjorn Tornqvist said 2019 was “up there among the best years ever” for the trading house, in part thanks to its expansion into LNG, super-cooled natural gas that can be transported by vessel. “We have a good year across the board.”Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, expects to report earnings near $2 billion, one of its best results, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mercuria also enjoyed a “very good year,” its chief executive said.Inside Big Oil, it was also a trading bonanza. Although better known for their oil fields, refineries and pump stations, Shell, BP and Total also run in-house trading businesses that are larger than the better-known independent dealers. Shell alone trades the equivalent of 13 million barrels a day of oil, dwarfing the nearly 7.5 million barrels a day at Vitol.For BP and Shell, 2019 was one of the best years ever in trading, making several billions dollars, according to two people familiar with the matter. Shell alone made at least $1 billion in fuel-oil trading linked to the IMO2020 changes.The results came despite mounting legal and regulatory pressures on some of the biggest trading houses. Glencore is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Meanwhile, Vitol and Trafigura had their Geneva offices raided by Swiss prosecutors as part of a bribery investigation in Brazil. And Gunvor had to pay $95 million in Switzerland to settle a case that saw a former employee pay bribes to secure oil deals in the Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast.\--With assistance from Andy Hoffman, Jack Farchy, Ronan Martin and Francois de Beaupuy.To contact the reporter on this story: Javier Blas in Davos at jblas3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net, Emma Ross-Thomas, Helen RobertsonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
India's January palm oil imports from Malaysia could hit nine-year low - trade
India's monthly palm oil imports from Malaysia could fall to the lowest level in nearly nine years in January as traders stopped buying the tropical oil from Kuala Lumpur following informal instructions from New Delhi, traders and refiners told Reuters. Lower imports by India, the world's biggest palm oil importer, could weigh on Malaysian prices that have corrected nearly a tenth after hitting a three-year peak earlier this month. In the second week of January New Delhi privately urged palm oil importers to boycott Malaysian products after the country's Prime Minister criticised India's actions in Kashmir and its new citizenship law.
- Reuters
India's January palm oil imports from Malaysia could hit 9-yr low - trade
India's monthly palm oil imports from Malaysia could fall to the lowest level in nearly nine years in January as traders stopped buying the tropical oil from Kuala Lumpur following informal instructions from New Delhi, traders and refiners told Reuters. Lower imports by India, the world's biggest palm oil importer, could weigh on Malaysian prices that have corrected nearly a tenth after hitting a three-year peak earlier this month. In the second week of January New Delhi privately urged palm oil importers to boycott Malaysian products after the country's Prime Minister criticised India's actions in Kashmir and its new citizenship law.
- Reuters
Oil drops below $60 as China virus drives demand concern
Crude prices extended declines on Monday, dropping below $60 for the first time in nearly three months as the death toll from China's coronavirus rose and more businesses were forced to shut down, stoking expectations of slowing oil demand. Brent crude fell by $1.79 a barrel, or 2.95%, to $58.90 by 0903 GMT, its lowest since late October. Oil prices last fell below $60 on Nov. 1.
- Oilprice.com
Demand Fears Are Driving Today’s Oil Markets
The outbreak and escalation of the coronavirus has raised serious oil demand concerns, driving prices down despite geopolitical risks and supply outages
- FX Empire
Oil Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Coronavirus Fears Likely to Keep Pressure on Prices
Since the coronavirus conditions worsened over the weekend, we expect the WTI and Brent crude oil markets to open sharply lower.
- Oilprice.com
How Reliable Are The Big 3 Oil Forecasters?
Oil forecasts move the market, and the big three oil forecasters are by far the most influential, but are they also the most accurate?
- Bloomberg
Iraq Al Ahdab Oil Field Resumes Production After Protests End
(Bloomberg) -- Iraq’s Al-Ahdab oil field resumed production about a week after operations halted there due to protests by security guards amid unrest in one of OPEC’s biggest producers.Output resumed at Al Ahdab at full capacity, or 70,000 barrel a day, according to an Iraqi oil official who couldn’t be identified. The protesters left the site of the field located in the central province of Wasit after authorities accepted to meet their demand for permanent employment contracts, the official said.The security guards had blocked access to employees into the production site on January 19, prompting a halt in production at the field developed by China National Petroleum Corp.Around 600 people have died and thousands of others have been wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters since Oct. 1. Iraqis are protesting against government corruption, poor services, interferences by foreign powers and are calling for an overhaul of the ruling class. The protests led to a brief halt of the Nasiriya field and refinery in December.Iraq pumped about 4.65 million barrels a day of crude in December, putting it second behind Saudi Arabia among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.To contact the reporter on this story: Khalid Al-Ansary in Baghdad at kalansary@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Nayla Razzouk at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- FX Empire
Crude Oil Price Update – Downside Momentum Targets $50.18 By End of Week
A combination of long-liquidation and short-selling is driving prices lower so I don’t expect smart buyers to just step in front of the downside momentum.
- Oilprice.com
Germany Looks To Renew Scrapped Bolivian Lithium Deal
A lithium deal between Germany and Bolivia fell through in November following a political shakeup in La Paz, but now Berlin is looking to revitalize the deal
- Simply Wall St.
A Sliding Share Price Has Us Looking At Callon Petroleum Company's (NYSE:CPE) P/E Ratio
To the annoyance of some shareholders, Callon Petroleum (NYSE:CPE) shares are down a considerable 31% in the last...
- FX Empire
USD/JPY Forex Technical Analysis – Looking for Early Test of 108.971 to 108.421
Based on the events over the weekend with the spreading of the coronavirus, we’re expecting to see a lower opening.
- Oilprice.com
OPEC Mulls Extending Oil Production Cuts Through End-2020
OPEC members are discussing a potential extension of the oil production cuts through the end of 2020, an OPEC source told Russian news agency TASS on Friday.
- FX Empire
Gold Price Prediction – Prices Push Higher as Market Focuses on Coronovirus
Gold prices benefit from safe-haven flow
- Oilprice.com
Oil Bears Are Back As Demand Fears Go Viral
Demand fears, largely driven by the spread of the coronavirus, have sent oil prices sliding at the end of the week with Brent falling below $60
- FX Empire
S&P 500 Weekly Price Forecast – Stock Markets Stall For The Week
The S&P; 500 went back and forth during the week, showing signs of exhaustion as we are clearly a little overextended. That being said though, there are plenty of support levels underneath that I will be watching.
- FX Empire
Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Get Hammered For The Week
Crude oil markets got absolutely hammered during the week, forming an extraordinarily bearish candlestick. That being said, we are still well within the overall range that we have been in for the year and a half.
- FX Empire
GBP/JPY Weekly Price Forecast – British Pound Spotters Against Japanese Yen
The British pound rallied again during the week, breaking above the 200 week EMA before given back quite a bit of the gains. By doing so, the market has formed a bit of a shooting star, suggesting that perhaps we may have to pull back.
- FX Empire
AUD/USD Weekly Price Forecast – Australian Dollar Falls
The Australian dollar initially tried to rally during the week, but then reached towards the previous downtrend line. Ultimately, the market is approaching the 0.68 level is a sign of challenging support.
- Oilprice.com
China Sees Jump In Gasoline, Jet Fuel Exports
A 99-percent utilization rate of state quotas in China drove oil product exports up 20.1 percent last year
- Zacks
Coronavirus Outbreak Gives Gold a Boost: 5 Top Picks
The demand for precious metal gold, considered as a major investment option under market turmoil, bolstered due to coronavirus outbreak.
- FX Empire
Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Coronavirus Quarantines to Drive Down Energy Demand
The lack of follow-through to the upside following Thursday’s technical bounce suggests the absence of buyers, since the move was likely fueled by profit-taking and short-covering.
- FX Empire
U.S. Crude Slips to 3-Month Low
Oil prices have fallen for a fifth successive day, as crude struggles to stay above the $55 level. Will the downturn continue?
