The data is also important because it highlights two things. First, oil production has not leveled off yet, despite several months of prices sitting below the breakeven mark for many producers. But also, the data indicates that U.S. producers may soon start to top off storage tanks. If production does not decline and oil storage capacity begins to run out, the glut of oil on the market could worsen pretty quickly, sending prices down once again.<\/p>\n
Rig counts continue to decline amid weak prices.<\/p>\n
On the other side of the world, the Russian Arctic is also seeing a pullback in activity. Although the culprit is not entirely, or even primarily, the collapse of oil prices, Russian state-owned firm Rosneft plans to postpone exploration of 12 Arctic licenses. Rosneft had ambitious plans to tap Arctic oil with the help of several international oil majors, but western sanctions have forbidden the involvement of those firms. While the Russian government originally scoffed at western sanctions when they were introduced last year, the major delay to Russia\u2019s Arctic dreams demonstrates that the West\u2019s ploys are having a bite.<\/p>\n
When adding in the deteriorating currency and depressed oil prices, Russia may produce 560,000 barrels less per day in 2020 than it otherwise would have,<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in the short-term, Russia\u2019s dispute with Ukraine over natural gas pricing is once again coming to a head. Gazprom has insisted that Ukraine has only paid for gas through the end of the week.<\/p>\n
Other oil exporters are also showing more and more signs of strain. Norway’s exports have fallen by more than 18% year-on-year for the month of January.<\/p>\n
Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras shares dropped to \u201cjunk\u201d status. The corruption probe that has widened in recent months is taking its toll. Already the world\u2019s most indebted oil company, Petrobras\u2019 fortunes have taken a turn for the worse over the last six months.<\/p>\n
While demand for crude is showing some signs of life, the final deathblow is drawing near for the infamous Keystone XL pipeline. Despite Obama’s\u00a0 insistence that he merely opposed the procedural runaround pushed by the most recent legislation and that he may \u201cstill\u201d approve the pipeline, at this juncture his veto makes final approval unlikely.<\/p>\n
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Oil prices have stabilized somewhat around the $60 per barrel mark, and over the past few weeks oil has shown less volatility than the preceding six or seven months. But another swoon could be just over the horizon. That is … Continue reading ![\"Pump](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Pump-Prices.jpg\")
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