- Oil heads for a sixth straight weekly gain following Saudi and Russia’s extended cuts
- September ’23 WTI gained 34c this morning to trade around $81.89/Bbl
- Saudi Arabia has extended its voluntary production cut of 1 MMBbl/d through September, with the possibility of a further extension or even deeper cuts
- Russia also extended its export curbs through September, though it tapered the curbs from 0.5 MMBbl/d in August to 0.3 MMBbl/d
- Additionally, EIA data showed a record 17 MMBbl draw in crude inventories last week, providing further evidence of a tightening market
- A drone attack on Russia's Novorossiysk base, managing 2% of world oil, briefly disrupted ship movements before normal operations resumed
- U.S. Shale producers lift forecasts following productivity surge (Bloomberg)
- Pioneer, Occidental Petroleum, and Diamondback Energy revised output forecasts due to improved well performance
- Chevron aims for a 10% rise in Permian output, targeting 1 MMBbl/d soon, with Oxy boosting its yearly estimate by 1.3% after an 11% production increase in its Delaware Permian wells
- Despite a 15% decrease in oil drilling rigs, shale production surged due to increased efficiency
- According to John Lindsay, CEO of Helmerich & Payne, this rig decline is more related to budget constraints and production discipline, signaling an industry shift. Producers also note reduced costs for oilfield equipment and foresee lower fracking expenses
- China's oil demand growth set to slow down in Q4, says CNPC (Bloomberg)
- China's oil demand growth is projected to decrease to 0.94 MMBbl/d year on year in Q4, down from 1.24 MMBbl/d in Q3, as reported by China National Petroleum Corp
- In 2023, China will account for 40% of the global rise in oil demand, nearly 0.8 MMBbl/d, according to Wang Lining, the head of CNPC's oil market research
- Wang also noted that a stimulus signaled by China boosted oil prices in late July and expects the oil market to tighten in H2, leading to a reduction in inventories