Latest news with #LipowOilAssociates
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Oil prices steady with trade talks in focus
NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday as investors assessed trade developments between the European Union and the U.S. after President Donald Trump reached a tariff deal, opens new tab with Japan. Brent crude futures settled 8 cents, or 0.12%, lower at $68.51 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 6 cents, or 0.09%, at $65.25 per barrel. On Wednesday, EU officials said they were heading towards a trade deal with Washington that would result in a broad 15% tariff on EU goods imported into the U.S., avoiding a harsher 30% levy slated to be implemented from August 1. Just hours earlier, Trump said the U.S. and Japan had struck a trade deal that lowers tariffs on auto imports and spares Tokyo from punishing new levies on other goods in exchange for a $550 billion package of U.S.-bound investment and loans. "The trade deal with Japan might be a template for trade deals with other countries," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "On the other hand, the market is still concerned about the U.S. coming to an agreement with the European Union and China." The European Commission planned to submit counter-tariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of U.S. goods for approval to EU members. A vote is expected on Thursday, though no measures would be imposed until August 7. Both benchmarks lost about 1% on Tuesday after the EU said it was considering countermeasures against U.S. tariffs. "The slide (in prices) of the past three sessions appears to have abated, but I don't expect much of an upward impetus from news of the U.S.-Japan trade deal as the hurdles and delays being reported in talks with the EU and China will remain a drag on sentiment," said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights. On the supply side, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed U.S. crude inventories fell last week by 3.2 million barrels to 419 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.6 million-barrel draw. "That's a bullish swing," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. "It was largely a function of import-export dynamics." U.S. crude exports were up by 337,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 3.86 million bpd, while net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 740,000 barrels per day, the EIA said. In another bullish sign for the crude market, the U.S. energy secretary said on Tuesday that the U.S. would consider sanctioning Russian oil to end the war in Ukraine. The EU on Friday agreed its 18th sanctions package against Russia, lowering the price cap for Russian crude.
Reuters
17-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Oil jumps $1 after further drone attacks on Iraq oil fields
HOUSTON, July 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose $1 on Thursday after drones struck Iraqi Kurdistan oil fields for a fourth day, pointing to continued risk in the volatile region. Brent crude futures settled at $69.52 a barrel, up $1.00, or 1.46%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures finished at $67.54 a barrel, up $1.16, or 1.75%. Officials pointed to Iran-backed militias as the likely source of attacks this week on the oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan, although no group has claimed responsibility. Oil output in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region has been slashed by between 140,000 and 150,000 barrels per day, two energy officials said, more than half the region's normal output of about 280,000 bpd. "Some of the gains are reaction to drone attacks in Iraq," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "It shows how vulnerable oil supplies are to attacks using low technology." Markets have also been jittery while waiting for the imposition of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump, which could shift oil supplies from the United States to India and China, Lipow said. Trump has said letters notifying smaller countries of their U.S. tariff rates would go out soon, and has also alluded to prospects of a deal with Beijing on illicit drugs and a possible agreement with the European Union. "Near-term prices (are) set to remain volatile due to the uncertainty over the final scale of U.S. tariffs and the resultant impact on global growth," said Ashley Kelty, an analyst at Panmure Liberum. U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.9 million barrels last week, government data on Wednesday showed, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 552,000-barrel draw. Last week, the International Energy Agency said that oil output increases were not leading to higher inventories, which showed markets were thirsty for more oil. Markets were continuing to look for signals of tighter supply or higher demand, said Phil Flynn, senior analyst for Price Futures Group. Meanwhile, a tropical disturbance in the northern Gulf of Mexico was not expected to develop into a named storm as it makes its way west before moving onshore in Louisiana later on Thursday. Rainfall totals in Southeast Louisiana are forecast to be about four inches (10 cm), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Khaleej Times
17-07-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Oil jumps after further drone attacks on Iraq oil fields
Oil prices rose on Thursday after drones struck Iraqi Kurdistan oil fields for a fourth day, pointing to continued risk in the volatile region. Brent crude futures gained 84 cents, or 1.23%, to $69.36 a barrel by 12:10 p.m. CDT (1710 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures jumped $1.04, or 1.57%, to $67.42 a barrel. Officials pointed to Iran-backed militias as the likely source of attacks this week on the oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan, although no group has claimed responsibility. Oil output in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region has been slashed by between 140,000 and 150,000 barrels per day (bpd), two energy officials said, more than half the region's normal output of about 280,000 bpd. "Some of the gains are reaction to drone attacks in Iraq," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "It shows how vulnerable oil supplies are to attacks using low technology." Markets have also been jittery while waiting for the imposition of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump, which could shift oil supplies from the United States to India and China, Lipow said. Trump has said letters notifying smaller countries of their U.S. tariff rates would go out soon, and has also alluded to prospects of a deal with Beijing on illicit drugs and a possible agreement with the European Union. "Near-term prices (are) set to remain volatile due to the uncertainty over the final scale of U.S. tariffs and the resultant impact on global growth," said Ashley Kelty, an analyst at Panmure Liberum. The oil market was also reacting to a tightened inventory scenario, said John Evans, analyst at PVM Oil Associates. U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.9 million barrels last week, government data on Wednesday showed, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 552,000-barrel draw. Last week, the International Energy Agency said that oil output increases were not leading to higher inventories, which showed markets were thirsty for more oil. "Oil thinking has been distracted from the Middle East, and the reminders of Israel's attacks into Syria and the drone attacks on oil infrastructure in Kurdistan are timely," Evans said. Markets were continuing to look for signals of tighter supply or higher demand, said Phil Flynn, senior analyst for Price Futures Group. Meanwhile, a tropical disturbance in the northern Gulf of Mexico was not expected to develop into a named storm as it makes its way west before moving onshore in Louisiana later on Thursday. Rainfall totals in Southeast Louisiana are forecast to be about four inches (10 cm), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Reuters
17-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Oil jumps after further drone attacks on Iraq oil fields
HOUSTON, July 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday after drones struck Iraqi Kurdistan oil fields for a fourth day, pointing to continued risk in the volatile region. Brent crude futures gained 84 cents, or 1.23%, to $69.36 a barrel by 12:10 p.m. CDT (1710 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures jumped $1.04, or 1.57%, to $67.42 a barrel. Officials pointed to Iran-backed militias as the likely source of attacks this week on the oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan, although no group has claimed responsibility. Oil output in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region has been slashed by between 140,000 and 150,000 barrels per day (bpd), two energy officials said, more than half the region's normal output of about 280,000 bpd. "Some of the gains are reaction to drone attacks in Iraq," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "It shows how vulnerable oil supplies are to attacks using low technology." Markets have also been jittery while waiting for the imposition of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump, which could shift oil supplies from the United States to India and China, Lipow said. Trump has said letters notifying smaller countries of their U.S. tariff rates would go out soon, and has also alluded to prospects of a deal with Beijing on illicit drugs and a possible agreement with the European Union. "Near-term prices (are) set to remain volatile due to the uncertainty over the final scale of U.S. tariffs and the resultant impact on global growth," said Ashley Kelty, an analyst at Panmure Liberum. The oil market was also reacting to a tightened inventory scenario, said John Evans, analyst at PVM Oil Associates. U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.9 million barrels last week, government data on Wednesday showed, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 552,000-barrel draw. Last week, the International Energy Agency said that oil output increases were not leading to higher inventories, which showed markets were thirsty for more oil. "Oil thinking has been distracted from the Middle East, and the reminders of Israel's attacks into Syria and the drone attacks on oil infrastructure in Kurdistan are timely," Evans said. Markets were continuing to look for signals of tighter supply or higher demand, said Phil Flynn, senior analyst for Price Futures Group. Meanwhile, a tropical disturbance in the northern Gulf of Mexico was not expected to develop into a named storm as it makes its way west before moving onshore in Louisiana later on Thursday. Rainfall totals in Southeast Louisiana are forecast to be about four inches (10 cm), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oil falls, Trump says both sides violated Israel–Iran ceasefire
Oil prices (CL=F, BZ=F) are falling as investors count out war in the Middle East despite uncertainty around the US-brokered Israel–Iran ceasefire. US President Trump told reporters that both sides have violated the agreement, saying he's "really unhappy" with Israel. Lipow Oil Associates president Andy Lipow joins Morning Brief with Brad Smith to discuss the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the impact on the oil market. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here. Oil prices tumbling today despite renewed tensions in the Middle East this morning and overnight after Israel accused Iran of breaking a cease-fire deal and firing missiles. President Trump making critical remarks aimed at both nations and reiterating on Truth Social that the cease-fire is in effect. Wall Street appears hopeful around the cease-fire with stock futures moving higher while oil prices fall. Here to dig into the moves in oil, we've got Andy Lipow, who is the president of Lipow Oil Associates. Just first and foremost, just take us into your assessment of the developments over the past 24 hours with the calling for a cease-fire and the markets responding to the cease-fire announcement, but then what continued to transpire overnight and how the oil markets are reacting there. Well, good morning, Brandon. Thanks for having me. The oil market sell-off started about lunchtime yesterday as Qatar was seeing missiles being shot at it from Iran, but it was a limited number of missiles, and the oil market interpreted it as really a symbolic retaliatory strike that was intended to be more symbolic for the people of Iran rather than to cause damage to American facilities. With that happening, the oil market began to discount the possibility that the Strait of Hormuz was going to be shut down, and then hostilities might even be cooled in the region. That was followed by about 5 hours later with President Trump announcing a cease-fire, and the sell-off in the oil market continued. Now the oil market is going to look ahead to determine how long this cease-fire can hold and will it actually lead to a reduction in the hostilities in the region. And so, do you believe that longer term for oil markets that we can take off the table us having the risk of getting to $100, $125 a barrel type of prices for contracts? Well, I think the probability that the Strait of Hormuz is going to be completely shut has been reduced quite substantially, and that's why you're seeing oil prices come off as much as they had. If we look beyond the Strait of Hormuz, the oil market is well supplied. We're getting increasing supplies out of Argentina, Brazil, and Guyana. At the same time, the International Energy Agency is only forecasting oil demand growth to be about 700,000 barrels a day, and this is coupled with OPEC+ restoring their voluntary production cuts that they instituted several years ago. They've already restored 1.4 million barrels a day of production since April. The plan is to restore another 800,000 barrels a day, probably by October. Andy, I wonder what your belief is in terms of the companies that are likely or unlikely to do what President Trump was asking for via social media once again in the "drill, baby, drill" commentary, which once again was, of course, tossed out there by the president as all this was taking place on the geopolitical and Middle East conflict front. Are companies actually likely to do that? Well, I think the Trump administration is helping to ease regulations so that the drilling companies can lower their costs. But on the other hand, the drilling companies really are looking at the price of WTI because that's how they monetize their crude oil. And if crude oil prices remain around $60 a barrel, they're unlikely to increase their capital expenditures to drill more wells. On the other hand, if they saw a substantial increase in oil prices and sustained levels at above $80 a barrel, the reverse would happen, and I think they would increase their capital expenditures and increase their drilling activity to get more oil out of the ground. But they're really, at the end of the day, driven by the price of oil as well as the price of natural gas. And so, all of this in mind and the timeline that we've seen play out, did oil prices remain elevated long enough for even to have a material impact to the futures contracts, so much so that if a contract was priced at an elevated level, that taking delivery would be so expensive or elevated expense that that would then pass along to consumers, because that's perhaps what investors would also have to wrap their minds around, too, in the timeframe for how long prices were elevated. While prices were elevated, I think some hedging activity did occur over the last day or two, but I don't think that the prices were high long enough for oil producers to make decisions on long-term capital expenditures. So I think that this real spike, which was very short-term in nature, really did not do anything to move the needle regarding drilling here in the United States. Andy, good to speak with you, as always. Thanks so much for taking the time this morning. Thanks for having me. 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