Oil reserves in sub-Saharan Africa have skyrocketed since 1989 to 2009, according to oil giant BP (NYSE:BP), rising to 127.7 billion barrels equivalent, almost 10 percent of the global total.
A growing number of countries in the region are inviting bids for exploration licenses off the Coast of West Africa, including Gabon, Liberia, Principé and Sao Tomé.
In the interior, estimates are there is as much as 71.7 billion barrels under the ground waiting to be discovered, according to U.S. Geological Survey.
It is becoming riskier to do business in Africa for the energy sector, at least for those already drilling in countries, as terms are changed as resources are discovered and extracted, as pressure to change the contracts to basically steal the profits is put on politicians in the regions by some of the local populations.
In other words, once the projects are underway officials are starting to change the terms of the original agreements to their benefit.
Showing posts with label Oil Reserves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oil Reserves. Show all posts
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
API: Crude Oil Inventories Drop
Crude Oil Inventories Drop
The American Petroleum Institute said yesterday that crude oil inventories in the United States dropped by 3.14 million barrels last week to 334.4 million.
Distillate fuels fell by 834,000 barrels to 158.7 million, which inventories for gasoline increased by 1.74 million barrels to 232 million.
Today the Energy Department will release their inventory report as 10:30 a.m. EST.
It'll be interesting to see if the report from the API lines up with the Department of Energy report, as they do move in different direction about 25 percent of the time over the last several years.
The major reason for the discrepancy is the API collects data on a voluntary basis while the DOE does on a required basis.
With consumer sentiment dropping to 46, people are starting to be concerned over the alleged economic recovery, which most really aren't feeling in their pocketbook, and are starting to doubt as being real.
With that in mind, we'll probably find out inventories have in fact risen, as people again hold back on spending and travel.
Crude Oil Inventories Drop
The American Petroleum Institute said yesterday that crude oil inventories in the United States dropped by 3.14 million barrels last week to 334.4 million.
Distillate fuels fell by 834,000 barrels to 158.7 million, which inventories for gasoline increased by 1.74 million barrels to 232 million.
Today the Energy Department will release their inventory report as 10:30 a.m. EST.
It'll be interesting to see if the report from the API lines up with the Department of Energy report, as they do move in different direction about 25 percent of the time over the last several years.
The major reason for the discrepancy is the API collects data on a voluntary basis while the DOE does on a required basis.
With consumer sentiment dropping to 46, people are starting to be concerned over the alleged economic recovery, which most really aren't feeling in their pocketbook, and are starting to doubt as being real.
With that in mind, we'll probably find out inventories have in fact risen, as people again hold back on spending and travel.
Crude Oil Inventories Drop
Thursday, December 31, 2009
PetroChina Approved for Oil Sands Investment
PetroChina Canadian Oil Sands
PetroChina received the go ahead from Canada's Industry Minister Tony Clement to invest $1.7 billion into two Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation projects.
Clement stated concerning the deal: "I am satisfied that the investment is likely to be of net benefit to Canada." PetroChina will now own 60 percent of the Dover oil sands and Athabasca oil sands deposits.
Over the next three years PetroChina will pay out over $250 million for its part in developing the oil sands iniatives.
Estimated oil sands deposits at Dover and MacKay stand at about five million barrels.
Improved methods of extraction from oil sands, along with increasing oil prices, make the huge deposit of approximately 175 billion barrels of oil the largest oil reserves in the world outside of Saudi Arabia, the reputed No. 1 oil reserve country.
PetroChina Canadian Oil Sands
PetroChina received the go ahead from Canada's Industry Minister Tony Clement to invest $1.7 billion into two Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation projects.
Clement stated concerning the deal: "I am satisfied that the investment is likely to be of net benefit to Canada." PetroChina will now own 60 percent of the Dover oil sands and Athabasca oil sands deposits.
Over the next three years PetroChina will pay out over $250 million for its part in developing the oil sands iniatives.
Estimated oil sands deposits at Dover and MacKay stand at about five million barrels.
Improved methods of extraction from oil sands, along with increasing oil prices, make the huge deposit of approximately 175 billion barrels of oil the largest oil reserves in the world outside of Saudi Arabia, the reputed No. 1 oil reserve country.
PetroChina Canadian Oil Sands
Monday, December 14, 2009
Crude Oil Prices Fall as Demand Slows
For the ninth straight day crude oil prices fell, the longest period of decline since July 2001. Much of that is attributed to a real recovery not really happening at this time, as the areas where it count - fuel and energy, haven't increased in demand as consumers continue to hold on to their capital.
Most of crude oil demand has failed to materialize in developed markets, the key reason crude oil prices continue to fall. Over the last couple of months crude oil prices have plunged 15 percent.
After breaking down through the $70 a barrel barrier, the next level expected to be broken is $65. Analysts say if oil were in reality trading based on its fundamentals, crude oil would be priced below $60 a barrel.
Because of the low oil demand, stockpiles in the U.S. have also increased, putting more downward pressure on the price of oil futures.
In the U.S., which is the largest consumer of oil, usage has been down to 18.5 million barrels a day, a three percent drop from the same period last year.
Confirming people have cut back on energy use to conserve dollars, stockpiles of gasoline have risen for the third week in a row, reaching 216.3 million barrels. That is obviously from people cutting back on travel.
Also climbing extremely high are diesel and heating oil inventories, climbing an extraordinary 25 percent over the five-year average.
Most of crude oil demand has failed to materialize in developed markets, the key reason crude oil prices continue to fall. Over the last couple of months crude oil prices have plunged 15 percent.
After breaking down through the $70 a barrel barrier, the next level expected to be broken is $65. Analysts say if oil were in reality trading based on its fundamentals, crude oil would be priced below $60 a barrel.
Because of the low oil demand, stockpiles in the U.S. have also increased, putting more downward pressure on the price of oil futures.
In the U.S., which is the largest consumer of oil, usage has been down to 18.5 million barrels a day, a three percent drop from the same period last year.
Confirming people have cut back on energy use to conserve dollars, stockpiles of gasoline have risen for the third week in a row, reaching 216.3 million barrels. That is obviously from people cutting back on travel.
Also climbing extremely high are diesel and heating oil inventories, climbing an extraordinary 25 percent over the five-year average.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Cocoa Prices Up While Most Other Commodity Prices Fall
A lot of commodity prices fell based on surplus stockpiles, along with some commodity investors taking profits after price runups like with copper recently. Even so, copper has also increased its stockpiles, which would have put downward pressure on copper prices either way. Taking profits was done because of the stockpiles which commodity investors knew would drive copper prices down.
Oil and natural gas have also experienced larger stockpiles, driving prices down there as well. Even with the cold weather it's thought natural gas prices will still remain down.
Commodity metals used in the industrial process are especially subject to price movements based on stockpiles or supply, and so will almost always move down in price based upon that.
Grain prices were also down, with wheat futures prices plunging to a one month low in Chicago, as global wheat supplies remain robust. The front-month contract for Chicago wheat has dropped 9 percent in December so far.
Cocoa was about the only commodity market which bucked the dropping commodity price trend, as it increased by 21 pounds to 2,266 pounds a ton, after exploding to a 25-year high of 2,269 pounds a ton.
The U.S. dollar dropped again as expected, as its three-day run in positive territory abruptly ended, with nothing there to sustain any type of real rally for the greenback.
Oil and natural gas have also experienced larger stockpiles, driving prices down there as well. Even with the cold weather it's thought natural gas prices will still remain down.
Commodity metals used in the industrial process are especially subject to price movements based on stockpiles or supply, and so will almost always move down in price based upon that.
Grain prices were also down, with wheat futures prices plunging to a one month low in Chicago, as global wheat supplies remain robust. The front-month contract for Chicago wheat has dropped 9 percent in December so far.
Cocoa was about the only commodity market which bucked the dropping commodity price trend, as it increased by 21 pounds to 2,266 pounds a ton, after exploding to a 25-year high of 2,269 pounds a ton.
The U.S. dollar dropped again as expected, as its three-day run in positive territory abruptly ended, with nothing there to sustain any type of real rally for the greenback.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Commodities | Crude Oil Prices Fall
Crude Oil Down on Rising Dollar
In what is expected to be the determining factor in ongoing price increases with gold and other commodities, the increase in value of the U.S. dollar resulted in crude oil prices falling to seven-week lows.
The advance of the greenback was the largest jump against the euro in over five months.
Prices for crude oil delivery for Junuary dropped 99 cent or 1.3 percent, to $75.47 a barrel on the NYMEX. That's the lowest numbers since October 14, 2008. Overall crude oil prices for the week fell by 0.8 percent, although they are up by 69 percent so far this year.
There are a couple of assumptions connected to the strengthening of the dollar, and both are far from being a confirmed reality. One is that the economy has in reality turned around; a very dubious and unproven assertion. Second, based upon that assumption, speculators are betting the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates.
Strange that one unproven assumption can then be invested in based upon a phantom reponse by the Federal Reserve to that assumption. Strange indeed.
While some say commodities have been shored up by the weakness of the dollar, that's not the entire story. It is definitely part of the commodity price increase story, but over the long term it's largely irrelevant.
Commodity demand is what will drive the prices of raw materials, food and precious metals going forward, not primarily the value of the dollar, although that will remain a factor.
The real long-term driver of commodity prices will be demand, and that demand will come from Asia primarily. Supply factors of course will also play a major role in commodity prices.
As expected, gold futures fell in conjunction with the dollar strengthening, falling by close to 4 percent to $1,168.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the NYMEX.
For the price of oil, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said they are happy with the price of oil being between $70 and $80, with a target of just under $75 a barrel.
Surprising larger U.S. oil inventories suggest the price of oil will probably fall until that changes, as there is plenty to meet current demand.
Crude Oil Down on Rising Dollar
In what is expected to be the determining factor in ongoing price increases with gold and other commodities, the increase in value of the U.S. dollar resulted in crude oil prices falling to seven-week lows.
The advance of the greenback was the largest jump against the euro in over five months.
Prices for crude oil delivery for Junuary dropped 99 cent or 1.3 percent, to $75.47 a barrel on the NYMEX. That's the lowest numbers since October 14, 2008. Overall crude oil prices for the week fell by 0.8 percent, although they are up by 69 percent so far this year.
There are a couple of assumptions connected to the strengthening of the dollar, and both are far from being a confirmed reality. One is that the economy has in reality turned around; a very dubious and unproven assertion. Second, based upon that assumption, speculators are betting the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates.
Strange that one unproven assumption can then be invested in based upon a phantom reponse by the Federal Reserve to that assumption. Strange indeed.
While some say commodities have been shored up by the weakness of the dollar, that's not the entire story. It is definitely part of the commodity price increase story, but over the long term it's largely irrelevant.
Commodity demand is what will drive the prices of raw materials, food and precious metals going forward, not primarily the value of the dollar, although that will remain a factor.
The real long-term driver of commodity prices will be demand, and that demand will come from Asia primarily. Supply factors of course will also play a major role in commodity prices.
As expected, gold futures fell in conjunction with the dollar strengthening, falling by close to 4 percent to $1,168.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the NYMEX.
For the price of oil, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said they are happy with the price of oil being between $70 and $80, with a target of just under $75 a barrel.
Surprising larger U.S. oil inventories suggest the price of oil will probably fall until that changes, as there is plenty to meet current demand.
Crude Oil Down on Rising Dollar
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Commodities: Oil Prices Rise
There are a number of variables involved with the overall commodity sector, and oil is affected just as much as all the commodities.
Some of the obvious factors are the economic slowdown, forced liquidation and deleveraging that have had the type of impact that has caused commodities to be very volatile, in contrast to their normal predictable behavior in an economic slump.
For example, gold would usually be considered the place for investors to put their money when recession times like this are upon us. But gold hasn't skyrocketed the way it normally would have, although signs are it's starting to do that now, along with silver, platinum and other precious metals.
Oil prices especially are affected by the economy, as consumers stay home rather than using their disposable income on gas. That has caused oil stockpiles to rise and prices to plunge. The oil surplus has alos caused gas prices to fall in a major way as well.
In an attempt to put a halt to the surplus, OPEC is cutting oil production even more in an effort to shore up prices. Oil companies have cut back on drilling too, as the lower prices keep them from keeping too many wells in production.
Even though stocks have risen a little recently, traders are starting to look again to commodities as their choice of investment. U.S. dollar related investments are becoming increasingly risky in this environment, as the government goes into horrid debt, which the Federal Reserve will have to pay for by keeping the printing presses running full time.
Those who think the proposed Obama stimulus plan will change this are in for a big surprise, as it will only add fuel to the fire, and will do nothing to help the market. In truth, the market doesn't need to be helped, and the Obama big government machine needs to realize that.
While futures traders are looking more favorably at precious metals, they're puzzled about oil, as it seems many are attempting to make it look like it's going to continue to go up, but the underlying fundamentals aren't pointing that way.
No matter what OPEC or others attempt to do to inflate the prices, the higher oil goes, the less people will buy. Demand will go down, and prices with it. What will the government do, implement oil price controls? That's already proven to be a horrible failure which will launch oil shortages. History has proven this is always the result of price controls.
Consequently, the idea that oil stockplies will decline is ludicrous, for the reasons stated above. People holding tight to their money aren't going to change their habits when oil prices rise. They didn't do it when prices had plunged far below the current levels.
To underscore that, even as oil prices have risen for a couple weeks, so has crude inventories in the U.S., rising by 14 million barrels in just three weeks, says the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration.
I'm not sure where oil industry watchers think the commodity will continue to rise, but it's a fallacy, and those betting on it are going to lose big time.
Some people think oil is totally unpredictable, as they're moving away from supply and demand, and instead are looking at governments who are attempting to game the market by their bailouts and cutting of oil production. Those artificial efforts are useless.
Commodity prices will rise in 2009, but oil won't be included in that basket. It may rise some, but the trend will continue for some time. It's moving lockstep with the economy, and people have stopped spending their money on travel. Nothing a government can do will change that reality.
Oil is one commodity I would short. Unless there's something unknown that happens, that will be the reality for some time to come.
Some of the obvious factors are the economic slowdown, forced liquidation and deleveraging that have had the type of impact that has caused commodities to be very volatile, in contrast to their normal predictable behavior in an economic slump.
For example, gold would usually be considered the place for investors to put their money when recession times like this are upon us. But gold hasn't skyrocketed the way it normally would have, although signs are it's starting to do that now, along with silver, platinum and other precious metals.
Oil prices especially are affected by the economy, as consumers stay home rather than using their disposable income on gas. That has caused oil stockpiles to rise and prices to plunge. The oil surplus has alos caused gas prices to fall in a major way as well.
In an attempt to put a halt to the surplus, OPEC is cutting oil production even more in an effort to shore up prices. Oil companies have cut back on drilling too, as the lower prices keep them from keeping too many wells in production.
Even though stocks have risen a little recently, traders are starting to look again to commodities as their choice of investment. U.S. dollar related investments are becoming increasingly risky in this environment, as the government goes into horrid debt, which the Federal Reserve will have to pay for by keeping the printing presses running full time.
Those who think the proposed Obama stimulus plan will change this are in for a big surprise, as it will only add fuel to the fire, and will do nothing to help the market. In truth, the market doesn't need to be helped, and the Obama big government machine needs to realize that.
While futures traders are looking more favorably at precious metals, they're puzzled about oil, as it seems many are attempting to make it look like it's going to continue to go up, but the underlying fundamentals aren't pointing that way.
No matter what OPEC or others attempt to do to inflate the prices, the higher oil goes, the less people will buy. Demand will go down, and prices with it. What will the government do, implement oil price controls? That's already proven to be a horrible failure which will launch oil shortages. History has proven this is always the result of price controls.
Consequently, the idea that oil stockplies will decline is ludicrous, for the reasons stated above. People holding tight to their money aren't going to change their habits when oil prices rise. They didn't do it when prices had plunged far below the current levels.
To underscore that, even as oil prices have risen for a couple weeks, so has crude inventories in the U.S., rising by 14 million barrels in just three weeks, says the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration.
I'm not sure where oil industry watchers think the commodity will continue to rise, but it's a fallacy, and those betting on it are going to lose big time.
Some people think oil is totally unpredictable, as they're moving away from supply and demand, and instead are looking at governments who are attempting to game the market by their bailouts and cutting of oil production. Those artificial efforts are useless.
Commodity prices will rise in 2009, but oil won't be included in that basket. It may rise some, but the trend will continue for some time. It's moving lockstep with the economy, and people have stopped spending their money on travel. Nothing a government can do will change that reality.
Oil is one commodity I would short. Unless there's something unknown that happens, that will be the reality for some time to come.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Warren Buffett Cools off Speculators in Canadian Oil Sands Companies
With the lid being blown off the recent, secretive trip of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to the Canadian Oil Sands, where they toured the Canadian Natural's C$9.3 billion ($8.9 billion) Horizon oil sands mining and synthetic crude processing operation, Warren Buffett made an appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box to make it clear he and Gates were only touring the facilities on a fact-finding mission, and weren't going to invest in the "Sands" at this time.
Oil Sands-related stocks on the Toronto Exchange surged on the news that Buffett and Gates had toured the area, with speculators bidding up a number of the oil stocks.
When Buffett made the announcement, the oil stocks plunged back to normal rates.
Oil Sands-related stocks on the Toronto Exchange surged on the news that Buffett and Gates had toured the area, with speculators bidding up a number of the oil stocks.
When Buffett made the announcement, the oil stocks plunged back to normal rates.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Oil Reaches Another High on U.S. Inventory Concerns
Oil prices climbed to almost $106 a barrel, as inventory surprisingly fell by 1.3 million barrels, after seven straight increases.
Most of that was in response to U.S. supplies being lower than expected.
Other problems affecting the price were the recent decision by OPEC to not increase production, as well as the continuing tensions between Columbia and Venezuela.
Oil inventory as of the early part of 2009 has dramatically changed, as the contango, or rather - super contango conditions has resulted in oil futures buyers starting to store there oil as oil futures prices stretch out more predictably, and the perfect arbitrage opportunity exists for those looking for something that is not only safe to invest in for 2009, but will also make them some money.
The super contango for oil is one of the few guaranteed commodity futures winners for 2009, and one of the few overall investment winners overall.
Commodity investing in certain sectors will be the best investment over the next several years, and those investing in strategic commodity sectors will do very well.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Saudi Oil Minister says they're not running out of oil - prices will remain high
The oil minister of Saudi Arabia, Ali Al Nuaimi, contradicted some of those panicking over the theory of "peak oil," which assumes we are past the ability to meet the growing needs of the world.
As Nuaimi says, by the end of 2009, Saudi Arabia alone will have production capacity of 12.5 million barrels a day; up from the 11 million barrels a day produced now. That doesn't include backup capacity of 1.5-2.0 million.
Nuaimi added that Saudi Arabia plans on adding another 200 billion barrels of oil to the reserves figure.
The purpose in doing this said Nuaimi, is "to reassure the world that we are not going to run out of oil in the next five to ten years as peak oil theorists say."
Not only is that ridiculous, it's far from the truth. Anybody that's heard about the Canadian oil sands and understands its extraordinary potential, knows there's an unbelieveable resource there.
The estimates of oil in relationship to the sands, is it could be over two trillion barrels, and maybe even way beyond that.
Proven reserves are a minimum of 175 billion barrels, which is only second to the 260 billion of Saudi Arabia. Production could reach as high as 3 million barrels daily by 2020, and even may reach 5 million barrels a day by 2030.
If the barrels of oil in the Canadian sands are close to estimates, it will make Canada the energy leader in the world.
Couple that with the two recent discoveries of oil below the ocean by Brazil's Petrobas, and you can see the reserves of oil are huge. That doesn't take into consideration that the new technology being used to discover these fields have just been employed recently, and much of the oceans haven't even been searched yet.
Formerly you couldn't see beneath the ocean floor because of salt deposits to discover oil or gas, now you can.
The Tupi oil field may yield up to 8 billion barrels of oil, with initial production expected to be at about 100,000 barrels a day.
The other recently discovered field is called "Juniper," and is similar in size to the "Tupi" field, according to Petrobas.
However you want to look at it, oil is plentiful, and it's only a matter of ramping up production.
There's a lot of great investment possibilities with oil, especially in relationship to the Canadian sands. It's something that needs to be researched by those interested in energy investments.
As Nuaimi says, by the end of 2009, Saudi Arabia alone will have production capacity of 12.5 million barrels a day; up from the 11 million barrels a day produced now. That doesn't include backup capacity of 1.5-2.0 million.
Nuaimi added that Saudi Arabia plans on adding another 200 billion barrels of oil to the reserves figure.
The purpose in doing this said Nuaimi, is "to reassure the world that we are not going to run out of oil in the next five to ten years as peak oil theorists say."
Not only is that ridiculous, it's far from the truth. Anybody that's heard about the Canadian oil sands and understands its extraordinary potential, knows there's an unbelieveable resource there.
The estimates of oil in relationship to the sands, is it could be over two trillion barrels, and maybe even way beyond that.
Proven reserves are a minimum of 175 billion barrels, which is only second to the 260 billion of Saudi Arabia. Production could reach as high as 3 million barrels daily by 2020, and even may reach 5 million barrels a day by 2030.
If the barrels of oil in the Canadian sands are close to estimates, it will make Canada the energy leader in the world.
Couple that with the two recent discoveries of oil below the ocean by Brazil's Petrobas, and you can see the reserves of oil are huge. That doesn't take into consideration that the new technology being used to discover these fields have just been employed recently, and much of the oceans haven't even been searched yet.
Formerly you couldn't see beneath the ocean floor because of salt deposits to discover oil or gas, now you can.
The Tupi oil field may yield up to 8 billion barrels of oil, with initial production expected to be at about 100,000 barrels a day.
The other recently discovered field is called "Juniper," and is similar in size to the "Tupi" field, according to Petrobas.
However you want to look at it, oil is plentiful, and it's only a matter of ramping up production.
There's a lot of great investment possibilities with oil, especially in relationship to the Canadian sands. It's something that needs to be researched by those interested in energy investments.
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