Oil futures ended higher Thursday, extending their streak of gains to a third straight session, as the potential for OPEC+ output cuts fueled some optimism, despite a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in China and lower forecasts for oil demand growth.

“Crude prices are cautiously eyeing a three-day winning streak amid a broader bearish move, as potential OPEC+ action and efforts to contain COVID-19 spread leave room for optimism,” said Robbie Fraser, senior commodity analyst at Schneider Electric, in a note.

“While confirmed cases of COVID-19…recently spiked according to reports out of China’s Hubei province, the increase is being attributed to a change in methodology for diagnosing the virus rather than a sudden increase in transmission,” he said.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures for March delivery CLH20, +0.78%  tacked on 25 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $51.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while April Brent crude...

NEW YORK — Oil prices edged higher on Thursday as investors focused on the possibility of deeper supply cuts from the world’s biggest producers, whilst largely shrugging off reports which cut demand forecasts after the coronavirus outbreak in China, the biggest oil importer.

Brent crude was up 32 cents, or 0.6%, at $56.11 a barrel by 10:52 a.m. ET (1552 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 14 cents at $51.31 a barrel.

The energy complex was led higher by U.S. gasoline futures , which jumped more than 1%, supported by outages at Exxon Mobil Corp’s 502,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery after a fire and Phillips 66’s 285,000-bpd Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries lowered its 2020 demand forecast for its crude by 200,000 bpd, prompting expectations the producer group and its allies, known as OPEC+, could agree further output cuts when they next meet,...

It’s been almost a year now since I wrote a piece titled “The Real Existential Threat To America’s Oil Industry Isn’t What You Think.” That piece discussed the reality that the so-called “Green New Deal” that had just been so famously rolled-out by New York Cong. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was actually much less of a threat to the industry’s future than its own slowness or outright failures to adequately address local impacts that invariably arise in every significant oil or gas boom.

No chronic impact better illustrates this reality than the ongoing issue of flaring of natural gas in America’s shale plays. Flaring has become a significant black eye for the industry in every shale play in North America, starting with the Barnett Shale in the late 1990s. The need for operators to flare natural gas derives from the unavoidable fact that no one wants to invest the capital required to build a significant gathering system or mainline pipeline until enough natural gas has been...

Oil futures rose Wednesday, boosted by hopes a slowdown in the number of new, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China would translate into a smaller-than-feared hit to crude demand.

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery CLH20, +2.38%  on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 78 cents, or 1.6%, to $50.72 a barrel, while April Brent BRNJ20, +2.81%, the global benchmark, was $1.12 higher, at $55.13 a barrel, a rise of 2.1%.

Carnarvon Petroleum Ltd (ASX:CVN) has received the first preliminary data set from the 2019 Keraudren 3D seismic survey with interpretation underway.

Early indications are that the Keraudren 3D has achieved the objective of providing superior quality data over Dorado, which will be important for better defining the development of Dorado and establishing high-quality exploration drilling targets in the survey area.

Further processing of the Keraudren 3D will occur throughout the year with the final data set due late in 2020, but this will not impede on the use of the data during this time.

Managing director and CEO Adrian Cook said: “I’m pleased to report that the new seismic data has delivered significant improvement in data quality over the Dorado development area and surrounding near-field opportunities.

“The seismic interpretation work is now underway for both development and exploration purposes and I’m looking forward to providing...