Oil prices rose on Tuesday, with US crude breaking through $70/bbl after the evacuation of two Gulf of Mexico oil platforms.
As Tropical Storm Harvey makes its way across east Texas and into Louisiana, about 18% of oil production and 19% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut in.
There remains too much construction capacity within the offshore market that will not be absorbed even with a recovery to 2014 levels of activity, according to analyst Westwood Energy.
Westwood Energy’s updated World Oilfield Equipment Market Forecast projects higher offshore expenditure between now and 2021.
A Reuters article called oil prices “choppy” as they reversed their recent slide to land just above their reported seventh-month lows reached last week.
The US Energy Information Administration has warned in its most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook that possible supply growth expected in 2018 could contribute to weaker oil prices later this year.
OPEC has issued a decision to extend its production cuts by nine months, to March 2018.
OPEC faces a tricky balancing act in how it can best reintroduce its supply to the market without risking oversupply and a sharp fall in oil price.
OPEC recently released its latest Monthly Oil Market Report, where it found that non-member supply this year is expected to increase by 0.95 MMbbl/d, up from its April forecast of 0.58 MMbbl/d.
Wood Mackenzie has canvassed the views of its oil and gas industry clients on prospects ahead, with uncertainty over whether oil prices will recover from around $50/bbl.
Commercial oil and gas volumes discovered globally fell to a nine-year low in 2016, according to Westwood Global Energy Group’s (WGEG) eighth annual State of Exploration Report.
Gulf of Mexico investments halved from the 2014 peak to 2016 following the oil price collapse, as volumes from OPEC and shale and tight oil flooded the market.
Global oil discoveries fell to a record low in 2016 as companies continued to cut spending and conventional oil projects sanctioned were at the lowest level in more than 70 years, according to the International Energy Agency, which warned that both trends could continue this year.
McKinsey Energy Insights has released its latest Global Oil Supply and Demand Outlook, which identifies five potential supply and demand scenarios.
Oil prices edged lower on Monday as a rebound in Libyan oil output weighed against upbeat economic data from Asia.
