NIGERIA: THE CRUDE OIL ECONOMY

The IMF have approved   US$3.4 billion in emergency financial assistance to the Nigerian Government  under the Rapid Financing Instrument to support the authorities’ efforts in addressing the severe economic impact of the COVID-19 shock and the sharp decline in oil prices. The funding is a loan which attracts low interest and needs to be paid back  within 5 years.

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) the regulatory authority of the Nigerian oil and gas sector has revoked 5 Oil Mining Leases and a prospecting license.  The directive was reported to be from the President  Muhammedu Buhari who is also the petroleum minister. The licenses that were revoked belonged to Pan...

If we are to believe energy research firm Rystad Energy, US oil production is on track to a record 13.4 million barrels per day by the end of 2019 with Texas producing over 5 million bpd in excess of every OPEC producer apart from Saudi Arabia . The increase in US...

The meeting in Vienna among the  signatories of the JCPOA  minus the US was conceived as the last best  chance to save the historic accord. Many commentators thought it lacked the authority to provide a definitive outcome, not least because of the relatively junior level of delegations attending. In an attempt...

OPEC BEARS THE PRICE OF US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE OPEC member states are bracing themselves for a bleak bearish outlook in the short term despite their best efforts to support crude oil benchmarks with supply cuts. The bearish outlook is due to an anticipated slow down in global growth amid the U.S.-China...

In the end the only surprise was that it was Putin that announced its confirmation at the G-20 meeting in Osaka  last week. When questioned about the decision to extend OPEC+ cuts, he seemed to confirm the extension even before the meeting had even taken place, confirmation if any was needed...

When the end came it came quickly an end that is to Irans policy of strategic patience. In a meticulous well planned and flawlessly executed operation, a detachment of Her Majesty's Royal Marines boarded and seized the Iranian oil tanker MTGrace 1 in waters off Gibraltar. It really did'nt need to...

  The catastrophic decision by the UK authorities to seize the MT Grace1 was done either as an act of malign intent by a departing Prime Minister or without thinking through the ramifications of such an action and the damage it might cause to our long term interests. Indeed it is...

 US Shale has become the Ponzi scheme of our times. How much longer can it survive and in what guise?. The long term financial viability of shale amid another dreadful slew  of earnings reports that have come out over the last couple of  days is in a state of  dire qualm....