Opec, Russia and other oil producers make draft deal to cut output

Mexico holds out against scale of reductions which would amount to 10m barrels per day, or 10% of global supply

Opec countries and allies led by Russia have agreed in principle to cut their oil output by more than a fifth and said they expected the United States and other producers to join in their effort to prop up prices hammered in the coronavirus crisis.

But there was some confusion after Mexico apparently refused to sign up to its share of cuts under the deal, which would have been 400,000 barrels per day. The Mexican energy minister Rocio Nahle Garcia tweeted that her country had suggested a cut of 100,000 barrels.

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Oil rig closures rising as prices hit 18-year lows

Global producers running out of storage for surplus due to coronavirus crisis

Global oil producers have begun shutting down their oil rigs on the largest scale in 35 years as the coronavirus continues to drive market prices to their lowest level since 2002.

Related: More than 4,000 North Sea oil rig jobs cut amid Covid-19 crisis

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Energy storage boom stalls in Europe

Slowdown in large-scale clean energy projects started before coronavirus crisis due to lack of state support

Europe’s energy storage boom stalled last year due to a slowdown in large-scale schemes designed to store clean electricity from major renewable energy projects, according to the European Association for Storage of Energy (Ease).

A new study by consultants Delta-EE for Ease found that the European market grew by a total of 1 gigawatt-hours in 2019, a significant slowdown compared with 2018, when the energy storage market exceeded expectations to grow by 1.47GWh.

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Oil price plunges 20% as Saudis vow to step up production

Move follows Russian refusal to join Opec-led production cut aimed at keeping prices high

The price of crude oil has plunged by more than 20% after Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, said it would step up production from next month, flooding global markets and most likely depressing petrol and diesel prices.

Brent crude futures slid 30% to $31.02 a barrel in chaotic trade on Monday morning, before recovering slightly to $36.06, a drop of 20% on Friday night’s close. It was the worst one-day fall for brent since the start of the first Gulf war in 1991. US crude fell 27% to $30.

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World Bank accused over ExxonMobil plans to tap Guyana oil rush

Washington DC-based bank grants funds to redraft south American state’s oil laws by lawyers linked to oil giant

The World Bank is to pay for Guyana’s oil laws to be rewritten by a legal firm that has regularly worked for ExxonMobil, just as the US producer prepares to extract as much as 8bn barrels of oil off the country’s coast.

The World Bank has pledged not to fund fossil fuel extraction directly, but it is giving Guyana millions of dollars to develop governance in its burgeoning oil sector, as the south American country prepares for an oil rush led by ExxonMobil and its partners.

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Oil and gas firms ‘have had far worse climate impact than thought’

Study indicates human fossil methane emissions have been underestimated by up to 40%

The oil and gas industry has had a far worse impact on the climate than previously believed, according to a study indicating that human emissions of fossil methane have been underestimated by up to 40%.

Although the research will add to pressure on fossil fuel companies, scientists said there was cause for hope because it showed a big extra benefit could come from tighter regulation of the industry and a faster shift towards renewable energy.

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Activists try to occupy British Museum in protest against BP ties

Environmental group puts pressure on museum to end its partnership with oil company

Dozens of activists have coated themselves in plaster and are trying to occupy the British Museum overnight in a bid to pressure the institution to cut ties with oil corporation BP.

About 60 protesters were taking part in the defiant act of impromptu sculpture making as the museum in London attempted to close its doors at 5pm on Saturday.

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Oil prices top $70 a barrel amid fears over Suleimani retaliation

Rise in cost of crude after US attack on Iranian general could affect petrol price

Oil prices have climbed above $70 a barrel for the first time in four months amid fears that the US air strike that killed Iran’s top military commander may trigger a retaliation.

The global oil markets have risen by more than 5% to $70.73 a barrel since the attack that killed Qassem Suleimani in Iraq last week.

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Saudi Aramco touches $2tn in value on second day of trading

World’s biggest listed company briefly reaches valuation sought by Saudi ruler

Saudi Aramco has touched a market value of $2tn a day after the Saudi state-backed oil company made its stock market debut.

The shares rose almost 10% at the open on the second day of trade on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange, lifting the company’s market value briefly to $2tn, before giving up some of their gains.

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Saudi Aramco becomes most valuable listed company in history

Investor demand pushes oil giant’s market value to $1.9tn on first day of trade in Riyadh

Saudi Aramco has secured its position as the most valuable listed company in history after investor appetite for the world’s biggest fossil fuel producer pushed its market value to $1.9tn (£1.4tn) on its first day of trade.

Shares in the Saudi state-backed oil company defied Aramco’s critics by climbing nearly $200bn above the $1.7tn valuation set before its market debut on Riyadh’s stock exchange.

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Saudi Aramco to be world’s most valuable firm after IPO next week

Oversubscribed listing in Riyadh of 1.5% stake in state oil company will value it at $1.7tn

Saudi Aramco is poised to achieve the biggest initial public offering in history next week by raising $25.7bn for the Saudi state in its market debut.

The state-owned oil business will emerge as the world’s most valuable listed company after reportedly valuing its shares at 32 riyals ($8.53) apiece before its float on Riyadh’s stock exchange next week.

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Saudi Arabia aims to buoy oil price before Aramco stock market debut

De facto Opec leader will push other countries to rein in oil output before Aramco’s IPO

Saudi Arabia is planning to use its position at the head of the Opec oil cartel to buoy global oil prices before the $25bn stock market debut of its state-owned oil giant.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is due to meet its oil market allies this week to agree the cartel’s oil production policy for 2020.

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Jeremy Corbyn urges public to vote for ‘manifesto of hope’

‘Investment blitz’ promised as experts taken aback by scale of Labour’s tax and spend plans

Jeremy Corbyn has urged the public to vote for his “manifesto of hope” as he unveiled plans for the most dramatic increase in tax and spending in more than half a century if Labour wins power next month’s general election.

In an upbeat launch event at Birmingham City University, the Labour leader said he welcomed the hostility of the billionaires, bad bosses and dodgy landlords who would lose out from his policies.

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Bidding for ‘milestone’ sale of Aramco shares set for next week

State-owned Saudi oil giant said it will provide the final offer price on 5 December

Bidding for shares in the world’s most profitable company will start in one week, it has been announced. Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant, said it plans to provide the final offer price, precise number and percentage of shares on 5 December.

Its prospectus, released on Saturday night, showed profits of $68.2bn (£53.3bn) for the first six months of this financial year, but did not include any indication of the value the Saudi government hopes to achieve.

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Unaoil executives admit paying multimillion-dollar bribes

Three UK businessmen plead guilty in US to bribing officials in nine countries over 17 years

Three British businessmen have admitted their roles in paying multimillion-dollar bribes to officials in nine countries over 17 years, American prosecutors have said.

Two brothers from the Ahsani family, who ran the energy consultancy Unaoil, have pleaded guilty to facilitating the payment of bribes between 1999 and 2016 to officials in Africa and the Middle East.

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Brussels allows UK to subsidise fossil fuel generators

Controversial energy scheme had been halted by European court

The UK’s largest fossil fuel generators may be back in line for almost £1bn in backup power subsidies this winter after the European commission approved the UK’s flagship energy scheme, which was ruled illegal last year.

A shock European court ruling brought the government’s “capacity market” to a standstill last November, triggering an in-depth investigation into whether the UK’s plan to pay power plants to stay open was compatible with EU state aid law.

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Banks warned over Saudi Aramco by environmental groups

Eight green groups send letter to express concern over planned market float

Environmental groups have warned the banks linked to Saudi Aramco’s planned market float that they risk financing the destruction of the planet by supporting the public listing of the world’s biggest oil producer.

The eight green groups, including Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth, warned that the world’s largest IPO would be “the biggest single infusion of capital into the fossil fuel industry” since global governments signed the Paris climate accord in 2015.

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Revealed: Cameron and May lobbied Bahrain royals for Tory donor’s oil firm

Former PMs asked princes to support bid for $5bn contract by Ayman Asfari’s firm Petrofac

Two former Conservative prime ministers lobbied a Middle Eastern royal family to award a multi-billion dollar oil contract to a company headed by a major Tory donor, the Guardian has established.

In March 2017, while in Downing Street, Theresa May wrote to the Bahraini prime minister to support the oil firm Petrofac while it was bidding to win the contract from the Gulf state.

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Iran denies launching drone attacks on Saudi oil facility

Foreign ministry counters accusations from US secretary of state with threats to US bases

Iran has dismissed US accusations that it was responsible for a series of explosive drone attacks on the world’s largest petroleum processing facility in Saudi Arabia that disrupted more than half of the kingdom’s oil output and could affect global supplies.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebel group claimed responsibility for launching waves of drones at state-owned Saudi Aramco facilities early on Saturday morning. But the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said there was no evidence the drones were launched in Yemen and accused Iran of “an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply”.

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Political uncertainty puts London listing for Saudi Aramco in doubt

Decision to rule out UK and Hong Kong would be major blow to both financial centres

Saudi Arabia’s revived plans for a $2tn mega-listing of its state oil company may rule out the London Stock Exchange amid Britain’s rising political uncertainty, according to reports.

Saudi Aramco, the world’s most profitable company, may instead look to Japan’s Tokyo stock exchange to host the second phase of what would be the biggest public offering in history.

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