MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s state oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, wants operational control over a major offshore oil area discovered by a consortium of private companies before development gets under way, its top official said on Wednesday.

Pemex Chief Executive Officer Octavio Romero told a news conference the company believes most of the crude found by the consortium, in the largest oil discovery made by any private firm in Mexico in decades, lies in an adjacent block where it holds development rights.

Romero said Pemex believed the so-called Zama discovery extended from the area operated by U.S.-based Talos Energy Inc into its own neighboring block.

Later on Wednesday, Talos CEO Tim Duncan fired back, reaffirming a technical analysis showing it had a large majority of the find and expressing worry that development of the project to the benefit of all parties could be delayed.

Earlier this month, Talos said a third-party study by Netherland,...

Oil futures saw mixed trading on Wednesday, with U.S. prices down after government data revealed that domestic crude inventories posted a bigger-than-expected weekly climb—their largest since November.

Global benchmark crude prices, meanwhile, settled higher on the back of reported conflicts in the Middle East.

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery CLH20, -0.30%  on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 15 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $53.33 a barrel, while March Brent crude BRNH20, +0.03%, which expires at Friday’s settlement, tacked on 30 cents, or 0.5%, to end at $59.81 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Oil futures declined on Wednesday as U.S. government data revealed that domestic crude inventories posted a bigger-than-expected weekly climb—their largest since November.

The data contrasted with a weekly decline reported by a trade group late Tuesday and follows reports earlier in the week that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is considering an extension of their current agreement on production curbs.

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery CLH20, -0.45%  on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 20 cents, or 0.4%, to $53.28 a barrel, while April Brent crude BRNJ20, -0.03%  was down 21 cents, or nearly 0.4%, at $59.30 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Oil futures traded higher Wednesday, after a trade group reported a fall in U.S. inventories last week. Support was also tied to reports the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is weighing an extension of their current agreement on production curbs.

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery CLH20, +0.79%  on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 32 cents, or 0.6%, to $53.80 a barrel, while April Brent crude BRNJ20, +1.00%  was up 38 cents, or 0.6%, at $59.19 a barrel. Crude broke a five-day losing streak that had sent futures to three-month lows, with weakness tied in part to worries over the spread of the coronavirus that originated in China.

“Following a tough week in the oil markets, in which fears over the coronavirus in China could disrupt supplies, markets have risen for a second day on Wednesday as investors await on the economic impact it has had,” said Mihir Kapadia, chief executive of Sun Global Investments, in a...

Blockades of Libya’s export terminals risk cutting off virtually all of the OPEC member’s 1.2 million barrels per day in crude oil exports, warned the chairman of Libya’s National Oil Company (NOC), Mustafa Sanalla. 

“We fully acknowledge there is corruption and injustice in Libya,” Sanalla said in a speech at Chatham House in London yesterday. “But acting illegally by blocking Libyan oil production will just lead to the further impoverishment of the Libyan state and erosion of the rule of law.” 

Earlier this month, forces loyal to the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), which is under the leadership of general Khalifa Haftar, seized Libya’s oil export terminals along the southern shores of the Mediterranean as well as some oil fields and pipelines. The move came after Haftar recently escalated a years-long campaign to capture the capital of Tripoli, which sits in the west of the country and is the seat of the United Nations-backed Government of...

Oil has been collapsing towards the bottom end of its trading range, sending PBR shares lower.

The Brazilian real remains near its multiyear lows - A bounce would likely support PBR shares.

A significant oil find in Suriname near Brazil - The potential for more offshore reserves in Brazil and its state oil company.

Brazil shuns OPEC, giving PBR latitude on production.

A scale-down buying opportunity in PBR as crude oil falls.