Robert Perkins
Editor 
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June 25, 2019 09:18 UTC 
(3)
Proved oil reserves, historically a proxy for geopolitical clout and energy security, may be losing their currency in a world set on ushering in the end of the fossil fuel era. The growing acceptance of the climate threat from carbon-rich energy is focusing minds on producing cleaner fuels rather than stockpiling sources of old, dirty ones. |
Paul Hickin
Associate editorial director
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May 29, 2019 10:09 UTC
(0)
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, spoke to Paul Hickin about the new oil market dynamics unleashed by US shale production, challenges facing Venezuela, and heightened geopolitical risk. In 2012, Fatih Birol predicted that the US would become the largest oil producer by the end of the decade. In an exclusive interview with S&P Global Platts at the IEA headquarters in Paris, Birol did not hold back in outlining the impact US supply is now having on OPEC. The ardent supporter of Turkish soccer team Galatasaray, who has never driven a car, is also worried that Middle East producers may score an own goal if they do not diversify their economies quickly. |
Andrew Critchlow
Head of news, EMEA
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May 28, 2019 09:55 UTC
(0)
Keeping fuel prices low is a political priority for US President Donald Trump. Just don’t bet on him gambling with America’s emergency oil stocks to achieve a second term in office, at the risk of jeopardizing energy security for the world’s largest economy. Created in the early 1970s, soon after the oil shock caused by OPEC’s disastrous response to the Yom Kippur war, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) remains arguably America’s most important economic buffer. Ironically, the first oil pumped into the giant salt caverns acquired by the US government was shipped from Saudi Arabia. |
Brian Scheid
Senior editor, oil news
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May 7, 2019 12:14 UTC
(1)
For months, the Trump administration resisted calls to sanction crude flows out of Venezuela, fearing the US would be blamed for the ultimate collapse of the South American nation’s once-mighty oil sector. Venezuela’s oil industry was already teetering towards disaster – there was no need for US policy to push it off the cliff. By the time Trump administration officials unveiled sanctions on PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, in January, the country’s oil output had fallen below 1.22 million b/d, down roughly 800,000 b/d since President Trump’s inauguration and roughly half the level of production when President Nicolas Maduro came to power in 2013. |
Maria-Eugenia Garcia, Brian Scheid and Laura Huchzermeyer
Editors, Americas crude oil markets
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March 26, 2019 11:30 UTC
(0)
Despite receiving fewer barrels of crude oil from Venezuela, US Gulf Coast refineries and terminals, including the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, have not started to import more heavy, sour crudes from other markets. On January 28, the US imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuelan state PDVSA, which analysts widely expected would drastically cut US imports of Venezuelan crude and cause US refiners to seek alternative barrels from other Latin American countries and the Middle East. › Continue Reading |
Kristian Paris Tialios, Laura Huchzermeyer and Maria Eugenia Garcia
Editors, Americas crude oil markets
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March 12, 2019 13:11 UTC
(0)
Price differentials for heavy, sour Western Canadian Select on the US Gulf Coast have reached their highest levels on record as Albertan production curtailment, Venezuelan political upheaval and OPEC production cutbacks have created a tight supply of heavy sour grades in the region. WCS at Nederland, Texas, was assessed Monday at the NYMEX WTI CMA plus $3.50/b, its strongest ever differential, according to S&P Global Platts data going back to 2016. › Continue Reading |
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Laura Huchzermeyer and Maria Eugenia Garcia
Editors, Americas crude oil markets
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February 26, 2019 13:27 UTC
(1)
OPEC’s reduced oil production and US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran have translated into a considerable fall in crude imports into the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port so far this year. January to date, 8 million barrels of crude have been delivered at LOOP’s delivery point in Morgan City, Louisiana, down 66% from the 24 million barrels recorded in the same period of last year, according to the latest S&P Global Platts Analytics and US Customs Bureau data. › Continue Reading |
Eesha Muneeb
Editor, Middle East crude oil
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February 25, 2019 07:02 UTC
(0)
Premium quality crude oil barrels are currently at some of their cheapest ever levels in the global market, with supply imbalances causing quality spreads to narrow significantly and for sustained lengths of time. Derivatives of light, sweet Brent crude have fallen to record lows versus Dubai derivatives traded on the Intercontinental Exchange in recent weeks. › Continue Reading |
Emma Slawinski
Editor, Platts Insight
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February 15, 2019 11:34 UTC
(0)
The Lunar New Year brings shifts in supply and demand patterns across commodities, and 2019 was no different. Chinese oil imports saw a strong year on year increase in January, but February figures are likely to be weaker due to the vacation. Meanwhile, steel markets were braced for pent up demand as China went back to work. Ferrous markets continued to focus on the fallout from Vale’s catastrophic iron ore dam failure, with far-reaching Brazilian legislation now responding to the disaster. Neighboring Venezuala is still in the grip of political turmoil, meanwhile, with consequences for global oil trade flows and supply chains further downstream. |
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Andrew Critchlow
Head of news, EMEA
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February 6, 2019 10:13 UTC
(0)
Venezuela should be a global oil-exporting superpower. Instead, the Marxist junta ruling the country teeters on the brink of complete economic collapse, with hyperinflation reminiscent of Weimar Germany and the chances of a political coup d’état in Caracas rising every day. Despite its enfeebled state, Venezuela punches above its weight in oil markets. Uncertainty over its supply has helped to push up prices by almost 20% since the start of the year. That’s because many refineries in Texas and Louisiana – America’s fuel-producing engine – are configured to process Venezuela’s heavy blend of crude. |
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