Global Oil Market News - April 7 - 12

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dan_s
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Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:22 am

Global Oil Market News - April 7 - 12

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On April 10 Reuters reported Algeria will hold a presidential election on July 4, the interim presidency said on Wednesday after weeks of mass protests led to the resignation of long-serving leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika. No further details were immediately given. On Tuesday, interim president Abdelkader Bensalah had said he would organise free elections within 90 days.

On April 11 Reuters reported global oil supply dropped in March as U.S. sanctions and power outages pushed Venezuela's crude output to a long-term low of 870,000 b/d, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. "The blackouts are an additional challenge for Venezuela's oil sector, already set back by economic collapse, corruption, mismanagement and - more recently - by U.S. sanctions," the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly report. The IEA, which coordinates the energy policies of industrialised nations, said the output decline of 270,000 b/d was Venezuela's second largest month-on-month drop and put the country's production at 600,000 b/d less than a year earlier. The IEA said the voluntary curbs of OPEC and reduced output by Venezuela had caused OPEC production to fall 550,000 b/d in March.

The IEA also maintained its forecast of growth in global oil demand for 2019 at 1.4 million b/d. "Tightness in the oil market ... is not just a supply story. In recent months, the resilience of demand has received less attention," the IEA said. "Although it is still early days the major centers of oil demand growth are performing strongly. In China, the economy seems to be reacting to the government’s stimulus measures," it said, also noting strong demand in India.

On April 8 Reuters reported the Saudi energy minister on Monday said it was premature to say whether a consensus existed among OPEC and its allies to extend oil supply cuts but a meeting next month would be key. A joint OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial committee known as the JMMC is due to meet in May. Saudi Arabia and Russia are members of the panel, which includes other major oil producers that took part in a global supply-cutting agreement last year, such as Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Nigeria and Kazakhstan. "JMMC will be a key decision point because we will certainly by then know where the consensus view is and, more importantly, before we ask for consensus, we will know where the fundamentals are pointing," said Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih.

On April 8 Reuters reported Eastern Libyan forces sought to reach the center of Tripoli on Monday after their easy advance through desert hit a trickier urban phase, with deaths and displacements mounting and the West aghast at the threat to its peace plan. Renewed civil war in Libya, splintered into areas of factional control since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, threatens to disrupt oil and gas supplies, trigger more migration to Europe, and allow Islamist militants to exploit the chaos.
Dan Steffens
Energy Prospectus Group
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