Tag Archives: High

Oil Prices Slump 1% as OPEC’s Output Hits Eight-month High

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Oil prices fell about one per cent Wednesday after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reported its September oil output at eight-year highs in its monthly Oil Market Report (OMR), thus eroding optimism over the carte’s pledge to bring a global crude oil glut under control.

This is coming as energy ministers from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Venezuela and Russia yesterday began informal closed-door talks with the Secretary General of OPEC, Mr. Mohammed Barkindo, in Istanbul, Turkey, as part of the coordinated efforts to rebalance the oil market.

Also, concerns that the American Petroleum Institute (API) could report the first built in United States crude oil stocks in six weeks in preliminary inventory numbers have fueled possibility of worsening the glut in the market as Reuters reported that analysts expected the US government to report that crude oil stockpiles rose 300,000 barrels last week.

Global benchmark crude oil Brent crude fell 52 cents, or one per cent, to $51.89 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slipped 68 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $50.11.

However, despite the drop, Brent is still up nearly 13 per cent since OPEC announced on September 27 that the group and other major crude oil producers would agree on a sizeable output cut or freeze to reduce a global glut by November 30 when OPEC meets in Vienna.

OPEC’s latest monthly report, issued yesterday, showed an increase in its oil production in September to the highest in at least eight years and a rise in the forecast for 2017 non-OPEC supply growth.

In its monthly market report, OPEC said expected total world oil demand for 2016 was revised upward from its previous report by 10,000 bpd to 1.24 million bpd.
Next year, world oil demand is expected to increase by 1.15 million bpd, a level unchanged from OPEC’s previous report.

The group produced 33.39 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, up 220,000 bpd from August, and as much as 890,000 bpd above the new supply target.

Read More: thisdaylive

Hotel Operators Decry High Electricity Tariff

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Hotel operators in Rivers State yesterday called on the management of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) to stop supplying electricity to their hotels.

The operators, who made the demand when they met with a delegation of PHEDC, led by its chief executive officer, Mr Jay McCoskey, in Port Harcourt, said they were not comfortable with the outrageous bills from the power distribution company.

Speaking on behalf of the hotel operators, chairman of Nigeria Hotels Association (NHA) in Rivers State, Mr Eugene Nwauzi, expressed sadness that they were paying exorbitant bills to PHEDC for power supply.

Nwauzi, who lamented that Hotel Presidential got a bill of N9.8 million in January 2016, described it as outrageous, and expressed worry about the metres allocated to hotels, adding that a committee has been set up to look into the issue.

“Hotels in Rivers State have resolved to be disconnected as a result of outrageous bills. They are saying that they cannot meet up with the new tariff from PHEDC. We are going to set up a committee to look into the metre issue,” he said.

Credit: Leadership

Anti-graft Fight Not Cause Of High Cost Of Living- Osinbajo

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The Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo has said that the political will of the present administration to fight corruption will not be in vain.
He said the federal government will continue to move decisively against those who have acted with impunity in the handling of public funds.

Osinbajo stated this at a symposium titled: “The best way to fund and sustain anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria”, organised by the Integrity Organisation and Convention on Business Integrity.

The vice president dismissed suggestions making the rounds that the fight against corruption was responsible for the high cost of living, higher electricity tariffs and economic hardships currently faced by Nigerians.
He said: “Corruption corrodes public trust, undermines the rule of law and delegitimises the state. These are the very ailments that the Buhari administration’s fight against corruption seeks to remedy.”
Represented by Prof. Itse Sagay, the vice president said government was working tirelessly to deny corrupt people hiding place.

Credit: dailytrust

Oil Prices Hit 2016 High, Rise Above $40/bl

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The price of Brent crude monday rose for the sixth consecutive trading day in a row, hitting a 2016 peak of over $40 a barrel, as buyers were encouraged by talk that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was targeting a higher anchor price after a sell-off that has lasted nearly two years.

The rise in oil prices coincided with comments by the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who advised Nigerians to stop viewing the low oil price environment as a setback, saying that the situation offers the nation an opportunity to diversify its revenue base.

Reuters reported that oil prices also got a boost from data showing a smaller-than-expected build-up in stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub for United States crude futures.

Despite the rebound in crude price, some analysts cautioned that the global crude glut remained a huge challenge.

Global crude prices have risen more than 40 per cent since hitting 12-year lows less than two months ago.

The rebound from oil price lows of around $26 a barrel has also been driven by chart-related buying and asset rotation by investors that resulted in higher allocations into commodities such as oil and metals, as well as equities.

Brent, the global benchmark crude, rose by $2.18 at $40.90 yesterday, while its session peak was $41.04, the highest since December 9, 2015. United States’ WTI crude was also up $2 at $37.92 a barrel, after hitting a two-month high and closing at $38.11.

Traders said price gains accelerated after market intelligence firm Genscape reported a smaller-than-expected rise in crude stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub.

Major OPEC producers are privately starting to talk about a new oil price equilibrium of $50, New York-based consultancy PIRA told Reuters.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said last week that as part of measures to stabilise crude oil prices, some members of the OPEC were scheduled to meet with swing producer, Russia on March 20 in Moscow to fine tune collaborative strategies.

Kachikwu said the cartel would target a new oil price equilibrium of $50 a barrel.

Credit: ThisDay