Oil prices jump while dollar gets hammered after Fed statement March 18, 2015 Oil prices jumped as much as six per cent higher while the dollar experienced its biggest single-day decline in six years after the Federal Reserve's policy statement on interest rates. The benchmark Brent Crude closed at $55.91 a barrel, up $2.40 or 4.5 per cent when it had earlier fallen as low as $42.03 after [...]
Brent oil falls below $53 on oversupply concerns March 18, 2015 Oil prices have been on a slippery slope since a brief rally at the start of this year, and it just got even greasier, after industry data out of the US fuelled oversupply concerns. Brent crude, which is the international benchmark, was trading down 0.9 per cent at $53 dollars per barrel today. Western Texas Intermediate, [...]
Falling oil prices have caused hundreds of job losses at Nexen in the UK and US March 18, 2015 Tumbling oil prices have resulted in job losses at the US and UK branches of Chinese energy firm Nexen Energy. The company announced plans to cut 400 jobs in the US and UK this morning. Broken down, 340 employees will be lost from the North American operation in Calgary, while 60 jobs will be lost [...]
WTI crude oil hits six-year low price falls despite Opec production forecast March 16, 2015 Brent crude oil prices fell 1.32 per cent to $53.95 a barrel today, even though a statement by oil cartel Opec suggested growth in supply could begin to dwindle. Meanwhile, WTI crude slumped to $44.30, a new six-year low for the benchmark. In just over a week, its price has fallen by nearly $10. The [...]
Cheaper oil takes trade deficit to lowest level for over 14 years March 12, 2015 The UK’s trade deficit has dropped to its lowest level since 2000, official figures show. The UK imported £600m more than it exported in January, according to data released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It compares to the £2.1bn trade deficit in December. Around half of this fall was due to a drop [...]
Saudi Arabia won’t cut production – because it knows the oil age is ending March 12, 2015 There have been many explanations, including on these pages, for why Saudi Arabia has not cut production to shore up the price of oil. These range from the use of the oil price as a foreign policy weapon – whether to wage economic war against rivals Iran, or to help their US allies bring Russia [...]
Only Iran will resolve this phoney oil war – CNBC Comment March 9, 2015 What is the biggest trade in the markets just now? The one-way bet on European fixed income, with ECB QE set to obliterate anyone who challenges ludicrously low yields? The tech bull position, with the Nasdaq around the highs of 2000? Or could it be the brutal battle being fought in the oil market? Let’s [...]
Cheap oil has potential to give UK extra 121,000 jobs in 2016 March 9, 2015 The UK economy could be set for a massive jobs boost next year, provided oil prices remain subdued, financial services firm PwC said today. An oil price of $50 per barrel would create an extra 121,000 jobs in 2016 compared to if prices had stayed at their mid-2014 level of $108, PWC forecasts. It is [...]
Genel swings to a loss amid an oil price slump March 5, 2015 GENEL Energy yesterday revealed its revenues jumped by 49 per cent year on year in 2014, but it swung to a pre-tax loss of $312.8m (£204.7m) after depreciation charges and write offs from exploration wells. Loss per share reached 112.97 cents, from earnings per share of 66.24 cents in 2013, when the firm achieved pre-tax [...]
No sex, no French fries and lots of queues: Venezuela tops the world’s misery index for 2015 March 3, 2015 Ukraine, Greece and Spain are the most depressed countries in Europe – but all the world's economies are outshadowed by the gloomy Venezuelans, which have topped the misery index for a second year running. It should perhaps come as no surprise that Venezuela's population is so unhappy – people have been taking to the streets [...]