Oil-price.net - Oil Price, Today and Tomorrow

WTI edging on Brent Crude Oil?

WTI vs Brent- which is the better benchmark? Or, perhaps what is WTI and what is Brent? Primarily, there are two types of crude oil traded in the international markets (three really, but two majors): WTI (West Texas Intermediate) and Brent. WTI used as a benchmark in determining oil prices, is crude oil of high quality. The spot price is [...]

Is Oil Fueling the Rise in Political Partisanship?

In 2009 I published a chart in an article at Oil-Price.net that showed volatility in the price of oil had risen and fallen in a series of seven spikes during the prior decade. The turbulent year of 2008, when oil jumped to over $140 a barrel, was part of this series. But what was unexpected was just how early in the 2000s the signature of [...]

Gaddafi's Legacy of Libyan Oil Deals

Gaddafi is gone, and how. Yet, his legacy would be tough to scratch. The news of his death marks the beginning of a new era for oil exploitation in Libya which markets greeted with a slight dip in oil prices. Today we look back at Gaddafi, oil and his international partners. Libya's dirty secrets for oil When NATO strikes started against [...]

Impact of Credit Downgrade on Oil Prices

Standard and Poor's (S&P) credit rating for the US was pulled down a notch to AA+ from AAA in August 2011 for the first time in the history of the rating system. The agency had expressed concerns about the nation's ability to manage its debt and hinted that the Obama administration should pull up its socks in this matter. The move was not a [...]

Tighter Oil Supply in 2012?

Predictions for the future? Here's one based on the available pointers: Tighter oil supplies in 2012. In fact, brace yourself, a potential demand surge could, in essence, bring this faraway calculation of next year, nearer by three months. And with it higher price for oil. Last month, the IEA announced release of strategic oil reserves to the [...]

FTC Investigates Oil Price Manipulation

Oil prices are at it again. In June 2011 rates have dropped almost 20 percents from the $114 high that it touched 4 months earlier. Going by the current trades, oil prices are hovering slightly below $98 as we enter the third quarter of 2011. The media, scrambling for an explanation it seems, has been quick to attribute these rapid fluctuations [...]

Why Gasoline Prices Refuse to Slide

Crude oil prices have been in the news off-late for the sudden fluctuations in the international market. Various factors such as a weak global economy, a strong dollar, and easing of tensions in the Middle-East have all led to the fall during the April-June 2011 period. The price per barrel of crude is around $90 as of June 2011. However, the [...]

Will Ending Tax Breaks for Big Oil Make a Difference?

The controversial bill proposed by the Democrats to end the substantial tax breaks extended to the major oil companies known as 'Big Oil' did not make it. Big Oil commonly refers to the five industry giants - Exxon, Shell, BP America, Chevron, and ConocoPhilips. It is estimated that these companies have garnered profits of about $900 billion in [...]

Oil prices down - for now

The price of crude oil is closely watched by market analysts and the common man alike. This is because the uncertainty associated with it brings frequent fluctuations depending on factors like the strength of the dollar, global politics, and natural disasters. This year has been a particularly unpredictable one and even the most seasoned [...]

Does Osama Bin Laden's Death Matter to Oil?

The political world seems to be at such crossroads as of right now. The Middle East seems to be at the center of all debates. The fact is that the reason for all these fiscal and political issues is a three letter word - OIL. Does Osama Bin Laden's death matter to oil? As the world celebrates Bin Laden's riddance, broader questions arise. [...]

Japan Seeks a Resilient Energy Policy

The massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan recently have left widespread destruction and loss of life in their wake. Besides the health hazards and reconstruction that looms ahead for the Japanese, the Fukushima Daiichi tragedy has thrown light on the nation's energy policy which has aggravated their problems at this crucial time. Japan's [...]

Russian Oil A Strategic Alternative Amid Middle-East Turmoil

Oil prices are always experiencing a little fluctuation. In the past few years, there have quite a few sudden rises in oil prices with a subsequent fall in the stock market. The London Brent has shown a rise above the coveted $110 a barrel mark for the first time in February 2011 after 2008. This time around, no one is too shocked. Global [...]

Egypt riots and Oil

Riots over high food are snowballing through the Middle East, and the latest theatre of these riots, Egypt, has Western Powers worried. Very worried. Never mind a democratic regime, free elections and freedom of speech. The real worry here is oil, or the control thereof. Egyptians are starving because Egypt is past Peak Oil Egypt's oil [...]

Is Shale Gas The Next Cradle of Energy?

No one source of energy has ever affected the course of geopolitics the way oil has. Barrel prices going up and down seem to work like the ECG of the global heartbeat. In view of the way the economy has been changing its ebb and flow in the last few decades, it has become increasing clear that there is need for a new and cheaper form of energy. [...]

Do Rising Oil Prices Predict Another Economic Recession?

The year 2008 saw the American economy topple over like a towering stack of light weight cards with the financial and market crash. The recession changed the economy of the country and left many people without jobs and means to sustain their families. More houses were put on foreclosure than ever before, leaving an even larger number of families [...]

Can the World Survive the Impending Oil Crisis?

The alarm bells have started ringing as surveys indicate that oil will become increasingly scarce beyond 2030 at the present rate of consumption. And to imagine a world bereft of adequate oil is simply bewildering. Oil explorations are going on all over the world and there appears to be some small pockets of suspected oil reserves, but these [...]

Making Oil from Plastic

Though plastic is one of the most versatile synthetically produced materials in the world, it also is one of the environmentally unfriendly substances produced by man. And considering its utility in myriad of industries and life spheres, it is impossible to give up plastic all together. Plastic has been charged guilty on several accounts, but [...]

The Mumbai Oil Spill

There was some good news for the Indian shipping industry as the nation's two premier ports-Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Mumbai Port Trust-reopened for business partially. Thirty-two ships had been stranded at the two ports. Most of these carry vegetable oils, steel, crude oil, and naphtha. Navy ships were pressed into service [...]

Oil price at comfortable level?

Something to chew over: The reference basket of 12 crude oils of OPEC stood at 79 dollars on Friday, July 30. This year, the OPEC reference basket has been moving between $70-$80, to average $76/b. OPEC had suspended its official price band in 2005, so the reference basket doesn't reflect the oil price in the market as itself. However, it [...]

Oil prices headed lower

The oil price has ingratiated itself with the lower price band for some time now closing below $73 a barrel in New York on Friday. There seems to be a melange of reasons at play for the price drop. First on the list- oil and gas prices have been rocked by the uncertainty about the extent of economic recovery. The June job report, not on [...]

BP shadow on oil investments

If the signs are directly overhead, will they be visible or invisible? That the Deep Water Horizon rig, which exploded on April 20, was leaking prior to the explosion, as claimed by an oil worker who survived to tell the tale, seem to suggest the latter. The leak in the BOP, which was the reason for the explosion, was spotted, a week before the [...]

Nuclear option feasible for BP spill

The odds are stacked against: potential radioactivity, more pores, more spills and a whole array of add-ons. Put that way, it sure doesn't seem to come from a sapient mind, the provocative option of a nuclear explosion to contain the oil spill. But then, what has been wise about the whole action on the Gulf of Mexico? Some efforts [...]

Gulf oil spill: the aftermath

Forty long days, and the saga of the Gulf oil spill continues unabated. The efforts to contain the spill seem doltish in multi levels, more confounded as weeks march by, latest in the series 'top kill' too failing to plug the fissured well. Shifting strategies but failed response have mutated to an environmental disaster for the Gulf coast, [...]

Nuking the oil spill: nuclear option being considered?

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to spill black venom into the sea. The world has got to see stirring images of oil gushing with decipherable great force, enough even to turn a staunch critic towards environmental protection. Initially scoffed and sniffed at, a radical solution in the form of a nuclear explosion is now trotting as a [...]

Use nukes to contain the oil spill

The April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig not only killed eleven people but also triggered a massive influx of oil into the ocean. President Obama has called the oil spill a "potentially unprecedented environmental disaster." The cause of the explosion is not known and equally obscure and hazy are the means to contain the oil gushing [...]

Tar sand mining gaining force

The picture above the ground: The Boreal forest of Canada, a unique blend of pristine forests, water bodies, and wet lands. The picture below the ground: Tar sands, a source of oil, spread across 138,000 km2 of land. About 4.3 million hectares of the said forest has tar sand deposits. And, one or rather both the pictures are about to [...]

How Exxon paid zero taxes in 2009

Here's a simple question in Economics: If Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. energy company, made a profit of $35 billion, and if the income tax paid is $15 billion at a tax rate of 47%, how much did it pay to the IRS? The answer is, according to a report published recently in Forbes magazine, zero. How come the results when 47 percent of the [...]

US opens more areas for oil exploration

Sarah Palin is the one allied with the campaign "Drill, baby, drill", but in an inventive merger the President has laid claims for it too-very nearly. In a bold attempt to boost the domestic oil and gas production, he has opened up large offshore areas along the southern Atlantic coastline, the eastern areas of the Gulf of Mexico and northern [...]

Increasing role of China in the oil market

China, it seems, is everywhere. In what has become a routine, not a day passes without a mention of China in the news, in everyday conversations and predictions. As the next superpower, the country is wielding clout in every sphere possible. The growing influence is felt even in the oil market where the Asian giant is one of the biggest [...]

When OPEC decided on the production quotas

OPEC production quotas as expected Without giving any room for surprises, OPEC has agreed to keep the production quotas unchanged this time too. Meeting in Vienna on March 17, this is the fifth time since 2008 that the output levels have been kept unchanged. The oil cartel expects the emerging markets to absorb the oil output, and help [...]

The Oil Scene in New Zealand

Heard about Zealandia, the eighth continent of the world? Zealandia is said to be a submerged or micro continent that sank millions of years ago. Most of this submerged continent is said to be in the Pacific Ocean. Zealandia is rich in oil and could be the answer for unlocking the oil potential of New Zealand, the largest country in the [...]

Multiple reasons behind the oil price rise

In the U.S. there is an over-supply of crude oil in the market, at present. Not that it definitely should but, obviously, the price of oil should slide, right? Well, last week the oil prices closed at $81.79 a barrel. There reason? There isn't one but many. Before that let us look at some data: First, the industry report from the American [...]

Petrobras discovers oil again

There has been a slew of oil discoveries around the Brazilian coast in recent times. Could they make a difference to the oil thirsty world of ours? Let's see: Petrobras, the state controlled Brazilian energy firm, has found two accumulations of oil in the Campos basin. The recoverable reserves of the accumulations have been put at 65 [...]

Niger, Nigeria and the oil price rise

What's in a name? Niger or Nigeria will be in a better position to answer this question. If not anything the confusion in the name pushed oil prices to $80 a barrel last week. How? There was a coup in Niger and traders hustled to buy oil, mistaking Niger for oil rich Nigeria. Mistaken identity On February 18, a coup took place in [...]

Oil War in the Falkland Islands

This could be the script of any Hollywood blockbuster: The recent spat between Argentina and the UK over oil in the Falkland Islands. For, there is a conflict, two or more protagonists, oil, money and drama. The diplomatic battle started hogging the headlines as Argentina began criticizing Britain for its plan to drill for oil and [...]

New Trade Regulation proposals and Oil

On Jan 21, the US President Barack Obama announced a series of measures to reduce risk in the financial sector. The proposals intend to tighten the regulatory mechanism and prevent a second- or like- sub-prime mortgage crisis. That is, the banks will not be able to put the whole economy at risk-again. "If these folks want a fight, [...]

Sudan conflict and oil exploration

[...]

Are Canadian Tar Sands Profitable?

In order to ascertain whether Canadian tar sands are profitable, we need to understand exactly what they are. Tar sands are mixtures of naturally occurring clay and bitumen. Bitumen is a sticky tar like form of petroleum. However, bitumen is extremely thick and heavy and must be diluted before it can flow. As a consequence it cannot be pumped [...]

Oil Caused Recession, Not Wall Street

This essay brings a new perspective on the subject of the article oil-price.net titled "Did High Oil Prices cause the Financial Crash?" which we published in November 2009. There is a lot of oil about. A lot left in the ground and a lot being produced. Amidst the contention, it is easy to overlook that Peak Oil is called Peak Oil because this [...]

Oil Contango and its Effects on Oil Prices

A cold wave has engulfed much of Europe, the US and Northern Asia. The resultant freezing temperature has led to a thirty percent surge in the demand for heating oil. With it, the heating oil prices reached a thirteen month high last week. And today, the price of oil per barrel is the highest in 15 months. For a start, indeed, the cold wave is [...]

Iran behind the Oil Price Hike

When oil prices were dropping after the Dubai crisis, Iran took it upon itself to save the price of oil. After all, Iran has the third largest oil reserves in the world. But how did it go about doing it? By a small symbolic gesture of planting the Iranian flag on a low productive oil field in Iraq. On December 17, Iranian soldiers [...]

Copenhagen : mission not accomplished

It was a stumble on the finishing line. Two years of negotiations, two weeks of which spent in hectic parleys in Copenhagen; a ten hour direct debate between world leaders-192 countries, 110 world leaders- for what? Only for the leaders and officials to hammer a three page document with no binding agreements. They had the perfect [...]

The case for floating oil storage

People have been scratching their heads wondering why the price of oil has held up relatively well this year in the face of a global slowdown and decreased energy demand in the United States. A fundamentalist like myself will point to continued strong demand for oil from emerging markets like China and decreasing oil output from non-OPEC [...]

Oil Drilling - an Expensive Business

Among all the undertakings in the world, this could rank as one of the riskiest ventures-oil drilling. Here's a sampler for what we are talking about from Mukluk Island: In 1983, twelve companies spent nearly $2 billion drilling for oil in the Beaufort Sea, North of Alaska. The exploration was based on oil stains found. But the well turned out [...]

Could Oil be a safer investment than Gold?

How many people around the world with money to invest are going to continue to fall for the advice of so called experts calling for them to invest in gold? Everyday, newspaper and television advertisements are enticing people to invest their capital in gold. They are backing up their advice with claims that investing in gold will safeguard [...]

How will the Dubai crisis affect oil prices?

Of course, the oil prices fell immediately. On November 27, the January contract for benchmark US light sweet crude slid to $76.05/bbl, a decline of [...]

International Energy Agency: Capitulation to Peak Oil?

Oil is slippery, probably why the people associated with it are too. According to reports in the Guardian, a whistleblower at the IEA, no less, has claimed that the agency has been deliberately downplaying the shortage of oil for fear of panic buying. The whistleblower further reveals that it was the US which used its influence to nudge the [...]

Did High Oil Prices cause the Financial Crash?

Everyone has been concerned by the recent global economic crisis. In the United States and Europe the newspapers are full of stories of those who have lost their houses and businesses. Elected officials from many nations have sung the evils of traders' bonuses and demanded an international effort to legislate in this arena. Job losses, home [...]

Did Buffett buy Railways because of Peak Oil?

From long-term passion for model trains to stake-building of several years, Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, has decided to acquire one of United States' largest freight railway firms, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), for $34 bn. Berkshire Hathaway INC., the company run by Buffett will pay $100 per share in cash and stock, the [...]

Why does OPEC lie about its oil reserves?

Can fiction masquerade itself as fact? Well, there's a case study at hand-OPEC and its reserves. OPEC's crude oil reserves grew by almost 7.9 percent in 2008-from 940 barrels in 2007 to 952 billion barrels. This is attributed to the 'reassessment' of proven crude reserves of a member country Venezuela. Why, then, is there scepticism on this [...]

Oil supply crunch and the world.

Then the common man's dream saw result-oil prices marched downwards. So, there ought to have been celebration everywhere, only the euphoria was missing. The reason: underinvestment in oil was equally bad. And, The International Energy Agency estimates that an oil crunch could happen earlier than 2020 because of increased [...]

Loss of elasticity in the oil price.

Crude oil prices have surged to year high recently, as the economy is showing its first signs of recovery. Mark my words: the economy is not booming, far from that. There are however some signs that the worst part is behind us. But a surge in oil prices like we are witnessing seems out of proportion with today's growth, stagnant at best. This [...]

China could displace US Dollar dominance

Last month Marconi's article here in oil-price.net broke the news of how China was building its crude oil reserves, completing 102 million storage facilities and how the country had a big devaluating pile of dollars. Well, trusted sources say that China has taken the next step to woo the Arab countries and establish closer [...]

Search for Oil

Many of us are aware of the value of oil and very aware of the oil price rise. Oil drills and oil exploration float to mind every time the oil prices go north. But are we aware of the process behind the hydrocarbon reaching the surface? Here it is: It starts with a company obtaining licence to explore oil in a specified area which could be sea, [...]

When the Economy Improves, Peak Oil Means Oil Prices Go up

Someday the worst of this economic debacle will be over. Then the phenomenon of "Peak Oil", when the world's oil production reaches its maximum and begins a slow decline, will reassert its power to increase the price of oil. Now I'm not talking about the end of oil, because there will still be reserves. I'm talking physics here: once you reach [...]

2008 oil recap. And what is next

It took only 5 months for the price of oil to plummet from $150 to under $40 in the second part of the year. Meanwhile oil consumption did not even decrease 10%, so what is the real cause of this collapse you may ask? Hedge funds. Let me explain. During the first part of 2008, Western economies were already slowing down noticeably and hedge [...]

Oil price and the $700B bailout

As the US house of representatives voted to increase the dollar supply by $700B, many are wondering what effect this will have on energy prices. History is full of tragic examples where helicopter money triggered rampant inflation and widespread economic hardship. Let's take a look at some of these examples in the light of today: [...]

There will be no new refineries

Oil companies won't be building more refineries, because there won't be enough oil left to refine by the time new refineries could pay for themselves. There hasn't been a new refinery built in the US since 1976. In 1982, there were 301 operable oil refineries in the U.S and they produced about 17.9 million barrels of oil per day. Today [...]

China North East Petroleum: Big Oil 2.0

Increasingly, governments are demanding higher prices from oil conglomerates for tapping into their onshore reserves and sometimes even excluding them in favor of domestic expertise. It looks bleaker and bleaker for Big Oil when you consider that in the 1970s, 80% of the world oil reserves were controlled by Big Oil companies, but now those [...]

Did you know about the Iranian oil bourse?

Iran's Oil Bourse is based off the island of Kish and houses offices of 100 Iranian and foreign [...]

Iranian Oil Bourse Opening

The Iranian Oil Bourse establishing Euro-based pricing of oil is set to open on February 17th 2008 and could have devastating effects on the US dollar. Currently all three major oil markets (WTI, NYMEX, IPE) trade barrels of oil in US dollars. Consequently any country buying oil needs dollars to pay for it. This enables the US Federal [...]

Companies in the Oil Business For the Long Haul

Companies that anticipate a long presence in the energy market are those involved with oilfield services. It's now January of 2008, and it's an understatement to say that the stock market is uncertain. To add to the general anxiety caused by the collapse of the housing market, oil prices keep going up. Since demand continues to rise, and [...]

Factoid on Oil Rigs

In December of 2007, 2290 oil rigs were in operation in North America, 37 less than a year [...]

Profitability and $100 oil

$100 per barrel: the line was finally crossed on January 2nd 2008. What does this imply for profits of oil producing nations? In order to run some numbers we have to consider a key measure called the break-even price which is the amount of money it takes to extract 1 barrel of oil. The break-even price is the first thing oil companies [...]

Did you Know - US Department of Energy outlook was wrong?

The US Department of Energy (DOE) "Annual Energy Outlook, 2007" was for crude oil prices to be around $57 per barrel and as you know we closed 2007 at over $95, so needless to say, the DOE was way off the mark on that one. Being unable to predict oil prices is disappointing, to say the least, when you have 16,000 federal employes to do just [...]

Heavy Oil: a likely stop before the end of Oil

Lately much has been written about the coming oil crisis. Oil is hovering at a production value of near $100 a barrel, and there are conflicting reports about the size of the reservoirs left for the big Middle Eastern oil exporting countries. The huge consumption of oil by the USA continues, despite the politically-correct ads televised by the [...]

Factoid: Heavy oil pollution risks

The extraction of heavy oil presents certain environmental problems. It contains more contaminants, such as sulfur, vanadium, and nickel, and releases more carbon dioxide per amount of usable energy when [...]

"Peak Oil" and directions in the oil industry

We are reaching closer to 'peak oil' with each passing day. Analysts predict the inevitable to come with this century. Present measures taken, the future consumption of petroleum in America may drop and possibly even decrease, but are biofuels really the key to the solution? European countries have already made a switch to biofuels and are [...]

Did you know? Oil Shale and Kerogen

Oil shale crude is actually composed of kerogen. It is a waxy organic substance that was formed from algae, plants, vegetation, and all forms of animal life. Through millions of years, covered in layers of sediment, and subjected to very high pressures a transformation occurred resulting into a form of non-conventional crude oil embedded in [...]

US shale oil deposits: Two trillion barrels of crude oil

This may sound like a fiction story but it is true! While total world resources of oil shale are conservatively estimated at 2.6 trillion barrels, US sits on close to two trillion barrels of crude. Possibly more than all the crude than was ever produced worldwide since petroleum age began. The Green River Shale Formation encompassing the States [...]

Did you know? Henry Ford caused the petroleum era

In 1878 Thomas Edison invented the first electric light bulb. This single invention proved to be so popular that it caused a major recession in the oil industry. Since 1856 kerosene lamps were used in homes and street lamps. Historians state that the introduction of kerosene initiated the oil industry. Sales and production of kerosene trickled to [...]

Placing the oilfield drill bit to record depths : Pt 2 Jack field

The Jack Field oil discovery was greeted by the American news media with euphoria. On September 6,2006, The New York Times carried this big headline, "New Oil Field in Gulf May Yield Billions of Barrels". Initial resource estimates touted by CNBC and other main-stream financial outlets declared that somewhere close to 15 billion barrels of oil [...]

Did you know? Crude oil saved the whales

A clean-burning kerosene lamp invented by Michael Dietz in 1857 saved the whales from extinction. Prior to the 1800s, torches, candles made from tallow, and lamps which burned oils rendered from animal fat were in popular use. In the late 1700s sperm whale oil was popular for lamp oils and candles because it burned with less odor and smoke than [...]

Placing the oilfield drill bit to record depths : Pt 1 Jack field

Until recently, seismic images from below deep salt formations were muffled and largely useless. New advanced mathematical formulas and other new technology allow interpreting the images, bringing potential new discoveries of oil and gas from the depths of the ocean. Chevron Corp. and partners Devon Energy Corp. and Statoil ASA have initiated [...]

Did you know? Seismic oil discovery

In 1924, the discovery of an oil field beneath the Nash salt dome in Brazoria County, Texas, was the first to be based on single-fold seismic data. Before that, oilfield exploration was very much a guessing game based on surface signs. Stakes were high, and rewards could be tremendous, but losses from dry holes could be devastating. Then, [...]

Novel Oil Recovery

It is often assumed that most of the oil can be pumped and recovered from an oil pool. Unfortunately this is rarely possible even with the use of horizontal wells. Oil wells drilled in the Southern United States have an initial recovery rate of 20 percent. Enhanced recovery techniques such as water flooding and carbon dioxide flooding are [...]