Energy Sector Investing

Saudi Arabia Advises OPEC To Maintain Oil Production Levels

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi is urging OPEC to maintain current production levels ahead of the groups meeting in Vienna on Tuesday.  Al-Naimi referred to the current range of oil prices as a "happy situation".

“We are extremely happy with the market, the economy is doing well, it will do better down the road, so I don’t see any reason to disturb this happy situation. The price has stayed very well in the range of $70 to $80. It is in a very happy situation.”

It is widely expected that OPEC will maintain its official quota at 24.845 million barrels a day.

Crude oil prices dropped below $80 for the first time in two weeks on Monday, closing at $79.80 in trading on the NYMEX.

 

 

U.S. Oil Rig Count Hits 18 Year High

According to Baker Hughes Inc. the U.S. total rig count now stands at 1,407, the highest level since 1992.

The number of oil rigs operating in the U.S. rose by 10 to 466, a level not seen since December 1991. 

There are currently 927 natural gas rigs operating in the U.S., up one from the previous week.  The number of natural gas rigs is down from a high of 1,606 in September 2008.

This marks the third straight week that U.S. total rig count has posted gains.

BP Expands Oil Production Through Acquisition

This week BP took a major step towards its stated goal of expanding oil production by purchasing key assets from Devon Energy. 

BP will pay Devon Energy $7 billion in cash for oil and gas assets in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico and Azerbaijan.  The assets include access to eight license blocks in Brazil’s Campos and Camamu-Almada basins as well as 240 leases in the Gulf of Mexico.  

It is estimated that the deep waters off the coast of Brazil hold as much as 100 billion barrels of crude oil.