For many mining companies, the rallying cry for investigating solar or wind energy options has been that the price of oil and other conventional fuels is too high — and will almost certainly rise over time. Now, though, with oil prices having taken a dramatic nosedive, this argument no longer packs quite the same punch that it once did.

International oil prices have hit a record high in seven months as they went up over US$50 a barrel. The domestic oil refining sector raised its hopes of improving their profitability in the third quarter after suffering poor results for two consecutive quarters. The spot price for Dubai crude as compiled by the Korea National Oil Corp. was $53.64 a barrel on September 16, up by 7 cents from the previous day. This is the highest level since February this year when the figure was $54.39. ...

Analysts differ over whether economy of Middle East’s top oil producer might ‘collapse’

Oil prices in the US have dropped into negative territory due to collapse in demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Australian shares drop as US oil plunges to a 21-year low, Caltex takeover fails due to coronavirus risk, and NAB flags $1.1 billion hit to its earnings.

The coronavirus pandemic has sent crude oil prices plummeting, so much so that the price for West Texas Intermediate oil dropped below zero dollars earlier this week. In this special edition of the podcast, Samantha Gross joins David Dollar to explain the factors influencing recent changes in demand for oil and the long-term effects the…

Crude oil prices have dropped over 20 percent the past two weeks, reminding observers of just how uncertain the oil market has become. That uncertainty started in 1973 when the OPEC cartel first drove prices sharply higher by constraining production. During the 1980s and 90s, new offshore oil fields kept non-OPEC supplies growing and moderated…

The coronavirus pandemic has sent crude oil prices plummeting, so much so that the price for West Texas Intermediate oil dropped below zero dollars earlier this week. In this special edition of the podcast, Samantha Gross joins David Dollar to explain the factors influencing recent changes in demand for oil and the long-term effects the…

ConocoPhillip's Ryan Lance said on "Power Lunch" that his company is looking at potential acquisitions as the energy sector struggles with low oil prices.

Oil prices climbed in early trade on Tuesday, adding to gains in the previous session, on expectations that fuel demand will begin to pick up as some U.S. states and nations in Europe and Asia start to ease coronavirus lockdown measures.

Warren Patterson of ING explains why he sees a rebound in oil prices next year.

WTI crude and Brent crude are both near bear markets in 2020, with declines of roughly 17%. Trading history in the past decade suggests oil prices can fall by as much as 10% more.

Total reported that first-quarter net profit came in at $1.8 billion, down from $2.8 billion over the same period last year.

Equity benchmark indices slipped by 2.7 per cent during early hours on Tuesday in line with Asian peers after US oil prices slipped below zero dollar a barrel in overnight trade.

US crude futures turned negative for the first time in history following a collapse in oil demand as the coronavirus pandemic derails the global economy.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 870 points or 2.75 per cent at 30,778 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 248 points or 2.69 per cent at 9,013.

Except for Nifty pharma and FMCG, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty metal down by 5.2 per cent, auto by 5.1 per cent and private bank by 4.3 per cent.

Among stocks, index heavyweight Reliance Industries fell by 3.93 per cent to Rs 1,195.60 per share. Metal majors Hindalco dropped by 8.9 per cent at Rs 106.10 per share while Tata Steel lost by 7.1 per cent and Vedanta by 6.6 per cent.

Auto major Maruti skidded by 6.8 per cent to Rs 4,964.70 per share and Tata Motors by 5.2 per cent.

Private lenders IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank dipped by 6.7 per cent, 6.1 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively.

However, those which gained were Dr Reddy, Cipla, Nestle India, Hindustan Lever and ITC.

Meanwhile, Asia shares were in the negative zone after an overnight tumble at Wall Street with US crude futures turned negative for the first time in history. However, it bounced back into positive territory this morning.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell half a per cent. Japan's Nikkei fell by 2.26 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost by 2.38 per cent and South Korea's Kospi slipped by 1.67 per cent.

Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 592 points lower at 23,650, the S&P 500 slipped by 1.8 per cent to end its trading day at 2,823 and the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 1 per cent to close at 8,561.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Oil is doing something that is even making Market veterans shake their heads in wonder. After shedding more than 300 per cent or $56 a barrel in one single day on Monday, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery gained some ground early on Tuesday, recovering 103 per cent to come back in the positive zone at $1.35 a barrel.

But analysts expect that bloodbath in US oil market may continue well into Tuesday when May future contracts are expiring and traders still left with long positions facing actual delivery of oil may look to liquidate their stock even if they have to pay to do this. In simple terms this means that traders do not want to store crude by taking actual delivery for May and incur cost while not finding any buyers in the absence of demand that has also shrunk sharply by more than a third in Covid-19 pandemic.

"We could again see price of oil in US going into the negative zone on Tuesday. But this could be a lot less sharper than what was witnessed on Monday," said an oil sector analyst asking not to be named.

He said that lower oil prices bore good for India but how much oil companies can gain from US fall is uncertain as the Indian oil companies are not very active in the US markets and trade very small quantities in the spot market. Still some of this oil could be contracted if freight arrangements are worked out on time.

While US oil has shown significant fall, Brent has maintained a fairly steady path. The benchmark Brent oil is still hovering at $ 25 a barrel. The US WTI for June delivery is still keeping its heads up at over $ 20 a barrel. But it would be seen if Covid-19 situation improves in coming days and demand picks up. Otherwise, June oil futures can go the May way.

The decline of oil prices comes despite the recent output cut agreement between the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies.

There were hopes that agreement would stabilise oil prices, but with the Covid-19 pandemic continuing, there has been a large slip in demand that is not letting a pick-up in oil prices.

The current market is oversupplied on shrinking demand, creating a situation of free fall for crude.

The price of oil has now reached a point that it is increasingly becoming difficult for higher cost producers to remain in operation and rather look at declaring bankruptcy.

A lot of US shale producers are in deep trouble and analysts expect that low oil price for few more months will result in a spate of bankruptcies in the US.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Low oil prices and monetary easing are boosting growth in the world’s major economies, but the near-term pace of expansion remains modest, withabnormally low inflation and interest rates pointing to risks of financial instability, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment.

Low oil prices and monetary easing are boosting growth in the world’s major economies, but the near-term pace of expansion remains modest, withabnormally low inflation and interest rates pointing to risks of financial instability, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment.

Low oil prices and monetary easing are boosting growth in the world’s major economies, but the near-term pace of expansion remains modest, withabnormally low inflation and interest rates pointing to risks of financial instability, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment.

Low oil prices and monetary easing are boosting growth in the world’s major economies, but the near-term pace of expansion remains modest, withabnormally low inflation and interest rates pointing to risks of financial instability, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment.

Low oil prices and monetary easing are boosting growth in the world’s major economies, but the near-term pace of expansion remains modest, withabnormally low inflation and interest rates pointing to risks of financial instability, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment.

In the April 2020 update of its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released on April 7, and before a recently announced agreement by oil producing countries to limit production, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that U.S. crude oil production will average 11.8 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2020, a 4% decline from the 2019 production levels. Crude oil production will average 11.0 million b/d in 2021, a 6% decline from 2020 (Figure 1). If realized, the STEO 2020 production decline would mark the first annual decrease since 2016. The majority of the forecasted production decline occurs between the first and fourth quarters of 2020, dropping from 12.7 million b/d to 11 million b/d (13%) and remaining around that level through 2021. The forecast did not incorporate the April 12 joint announcement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and several other non-OPEC countries to reduce crude oil production. These production reductions may significantly affect global balances and could provide upward price pressure that would affect U.S. crude oil drilling and production. ...

On April 27, 2020, the U.S. average regular retail gasoline price was $1.77 per gallon (gal), the lowest price since February 2016. On May 4, the U.S. average gasoline price increased slightly to $1.79/gal. The United States declared a national emergency on March 13 in response to concerns regarding spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). From March 16 to May 4, the U.S. average regular retail gasoline price fell by $0.46/gal. The lower gasoline prices reflect low crude oil prices, low gasoline demand, and rising gasoline inventories. ...

Unleaded petrol prices in Brisbane have soared to the highest level since November 2004 even though the benchmark price of crude oil has actually fallen during the past week.

Benchmark oil prices hit more than $70 per barrel on Monday as the price of gold also soared, with investors looking for safe havens as world markets fall amid fears of a major war in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and others agreed to slash their output by nearly 10million barrels per day to prop up prices after a slump in demand.

The events in the obscure Saudi oil town of Abqaiq rocked world oil prices and dramatically raised the stakes in the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.

On Monday evening, the value of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil, or Texas Light Sweet, declined to an unprecedented MINUS $40.32. It was the blackest of days for black gold.

The price of crude oil has more than doubled over the past year after bottoming out at $26 per barrel in February 2016.

Sensex plunges over 1,900 points as oil prices plunge amid Covid-19 fears

Sensex tanks over 1000 points as US oil prices dip below zero dollar a barrel

BP said it planned to reduce cash costs by $2.5 billion by the end of 2021 relative to 2019. "Some of these cost savings may have associated restructuring charges," the company added.

While storage is rapidly filling up, production cuts by US shale producers, estimated by consultants Rystad Energy at 300,000 barrels per day for May and June, should help slow flows into tanks.

Oil prices have plunged to historic lows in recent weeks as collapsing demand due to worldwide lockdowns prompted a massive glut and led to storage capacity filling up.

Brent crude for July delivery, which started trading on Friday as the new front-month contract, was up $1.10, or 4.2%, at $27.58 a barrel by 0013 GMT.

Lower crude production due to reduced activity and OPEC+ cuts, coupled with a partial recovery in oil demand, should drive prices higher next year, Goldman Sachs Equity Research said in a note.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell as much as 2.1 per cent to $24.05 a barrel and were down 14 cents at $24.41 a barrel at 0201 GMT. WTI has snapped a five-day winning streak.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose as much as 8.2% to a three-week high of $22.06 and were up 7.6%, or $1.55, at $21.94 at 0108 GMT. The U.S. benchmark is on a five-day win streak that started on April 29.

According to Angel Broking, On Tuesday, WTI Crude prices soared over 20.4 percent to close at $24.5 per barrel after many nations announced their plans to gradually revoke the coronavirus related lockdown which might lead to resumption in economic activities and boost the demand for the Crude.

Crude oil Prices

"We have to have a reasonable price. India is a major consumer. But at this juncture, India's viewpoint is the price should be reasonable and responsible. Very low prices are not the answer. Reasonable prices are the answer," he said.

The estimate takes into account a normal monsoon, further moderation in inflation and a mild recovery in global growth

Pradhan also said that India favours reasonable prices that give some space to the producer countries.