The global energy sector is sick because of the coronavirus. But the disease could have its most deleterious effect on the U.S. oil and gas industries, given that the president is trying to pressure China to buy more U.S-produced fossil fuels. 

China’s concessions during trade talks are dubious. But the coronavirus makes them even more doubtful. And that hurts Donald Trump as much as it does domestic energy producers, especially in an election year. 

When Trump announced he had reached an initial agreement with the Chinese under Phase One of the trade truce, he said that China would purchase an extra $200 billion worth of goods from this country, including oil and gas. That’s double the dollar amount of what it had purchased in 2017 — a hard feat given that China would then have to break existing deals with other nations and disrupt existing supply chains.  

Think of it this way, says IHS Markit: When the SARS outbreak hit in 2002, China...

Opec oil production, which witnessed a steep decline of 500,000 barrels per day during January 2020 to reach the lowest level in four months amid persistent weak global demand and falling prices, is expected to be scaled down further, market analysts said.

Industry experts believe there is a strong possibility of deeper output reductions on the table as Opec and its allies meet in Vienna in March to discuss the impact on oil demand from the coronavirus outbreak in China.

The 14-member group and allies are also likely to cut oil demand by more than 250,000bpd in the first quarter, they predicted.

Oil has fallen $10 a barrel this year to $56, lower than the level many Opec countries need to balance their budgets.

Analysts at Kamco Invest, a Kuwait-based financial services firm, said Brent crude spot reached a 13-month low level of $53.39 per barrel during the second week of February-2020 as the outbreak of coronavirus affected prospects of...

LONDON — Qatar has delayed choosing Western partners for the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project by several months after surprising the industry with a big expansion plan despite a collapse in global gas prices, four sources said.

State-run Qatar Petroleum (QP) declined to comment on the reported delay, which comes as the global gas industry faces the major challenge of a supply glut due to booming U.S. production and a drop in Chinese demand.

Qatar, the lowest cost producer of LNG, sits on the world’s largest gas field and offers terms that led oil majors ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch/Shell to invest tens of billions of dollars in the past.

The big energy firms have waited a decade for a new opportunity to invest in Qatar after the country put further development on hold to ensure the giant North Field could sustain production.

The moratorium was lifted two years ago and QP shortlisted six Western majors for the next phase of...

Dubai – Businesses from the Middle East and Africa's resource industries (i.e., oil & gas mining, other mining, and agriculture) spent $5.17 billion on information and communications technology (ICT) in 2019, according to the latest insights from International Data Corporation (IDC). The global technology research, consulting, and events firm forecasts this figure to reach $5.33 billion this year and continue rising at a compound annual growth rate of 2.9% over the coming years to reach $5.79 billion in 2023.

“The oil industry is facing unprecedented challenges," says Gaurav Verma, oil and energy research manager at IDC Energy Insights. "Many industry experts believe that the era of 'easy oil' is over and that companies will have to explore new frontiers which pose more operational challenges. The complexities of extracting hydrocarbons in harsh and remote environments such as ultra-deep-water oil fields, coupled with uncontrollable external pressures and...

By Julian Lee

(Bloomberg Opinion) — The Covid-19 virus is a human tragedy for many who have been affected by it and it’s having a profound impact on the lives of a large part of the Chinese population. The impact on the rest of the world of the disease’s dislocation of the Chinese economy is yet to be fully felt. Forecasts of only a modest impact on oil demand worldwide are far too optimistic.

A comparison of the latest forecasts from the world’s three big oil agencies — the International Energy Agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries — highlights the huge uncertainty that exists over the virus’s repercussions for oil demand. As may be expected for a body representing oil producers, OPEC sees the impact as minimal, having just cut its first-quarter forecast for global oil demand by only 400,000 barrels a day. That looks like wishful...

Buenos Aires — An oil union in Neuquen, Argentina's biggest oil and natural gas basin, called off a threat to go on strike after companies vowed to not fire some 700 workers, a union leader said Thursday, easing concerns about the impact on oil and gas production.