OPEC hasn’t run out of ideas, Saudi energy minister insists as oil prices slump
OPEC and its allied oil-producing nations are still working well together and still have options to try to rebalance global crude markets, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said Tuesday. “We do communicate with each other, we use every opportunity to talk with each other,” he said, speaking to reporters at the ICCUS conference in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Click here to read more from CNBC.
Coronavirus Punches Hole In Oil Market That OPEC Can’t Fix
The coronavirus epidemic is a black swan that has severely disrupted the outlook for the global oil market, and at this moment it remains unclear how large the destruction in demand will be because of the outbreak. Various estimates project that the coronavirus will shave 250,000 bpd to 500,000 bpd off global oil consumption this year. Click here to read more from Oilprice.com.
Trump warns of more U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil sector
The United States is preparing to impose more sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, in an attempt to choke financing to President Nicolas Maduro’s government. “You will be seeing something on that in the not too distant future,” Trump told a news conference in Delhi when asked if Washington would impose more sanctions on Venezuela or on Indian firms that buy Venezuelan oil from third parties. Click here to read more from Reuters.
World leaders ‘silent’ on Libya ‘to avoid oil price drop’
Libya’s foreign minister, Mohammed Syala, on Monday accused the international community of remaining silent over the country’s oil blockade in order to avoid a drop in oil prices, calling the move “inhuman”. Libya’s economy is on its knees after renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar blocked the country’s eastern oil ports and fields on January 18 in an attempt to cut financial revenues to the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) which sits in the capital, Tripoli. Click here to read more from Aljazeera.