1. Opec+ Ratifies Agreement To Unwind Cuts In August

    ...20.    Iraq arguably has the wellhead capacity to go above its August allocation of 4.651mn b/d, but export capacity limitations mean it will struggle to do so (MEES, 15 April), while a 522,000 b/d capacity drop for Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) since 2017/18 means that Kuwait may struggle to hit its 2....

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 26
    Published at Fri, 01 Jul 2022
  2. Distillate Supply Crunch Concerns Rise As Stocks Fall

    ...ler (see chart 1). The three-month rolling average of 74,000 b/d in February was the lowest in Kpler data stretching back to January 2017. Many in the market will be hoping that the imposition of fresh lockdowns in Chinese cities may curb domestic demand sufficiently in the short-term to provide some te...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 11
    Published at Fri, 18 Mar 2022
  3. Opec Production Edges Higher: Just A Drop In The Stormy Ocean

    ...oduction gains remain uncertain. Venezuela produced more than 2mn b/d as recently as 2017 but will likely require years to return output close to this level. …AND IRAN?...                What about talks with Iran on reviving the JCPOA nuclear agreement which have supposedly been on the cusp of co...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 10
    Published at Fri, 11 Mar 2022
  4. Majors Capex Down Again To Lowest In Over A Decade, 2022 To Remain Restrained

    ...ropean firms’ 2021 spending was disciplined, their US counterparts’ outlay was positively anemic. ExxonMobil’s spending fell by 22% to just $16.6bn, falling below that of Shell to make 2021 the first year since 2017 that Exxon has not been the top spending major. But Exxon is also penciling in the la...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 06
    Published at Fri, 11 Feb 2022
  5. South Korea Crude Imports: Mideast Volumes Slump To 25-Year Low For 2021

    ...ddle East suppliers. From a market share of over 80% to 2017, Gulf countries’ share fell to 69% for 2020 (MEES, 15 January 2021) and slumped again to a record low 60% for 2021. In absolute terms the 1.576mn b/d that Korea imported from the Gulf last year was the lowest since 1996 (see ch...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 14 Jan 2022
  6. Taiwan: 2021 Sees Mideast Imports Rebound From 2020’s Record Lows

    ...are a six-year high. Saudi Arabia supplied 282,500 b/d, up 38% year-on-year for the highest quarterly figure since Q1 2020, whilst number two Kuwait was up 66% at 202,500 b/d for the highest quarterly figure since 2017.   *In contrast, whilst the USA retained number three spot for Q4, volumes of 10...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 14 Jan 2022
  7. Kuwait’s Haitham Al-Ghais Elected Next Opec Secretary General

    ...rsed in all things Opec and is a veteran oil market analyst. He served as Kuwait’s Opec governor from 2017 until June 2021, since when he has been Deputy Managing Director for International Marketing at state energy firm KPC. All told, Mr Ghais has held a number of senior roles within KPC over the past th...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 01
    Published at Fri, 07 Jan 2022
  8. Can Opec+ Really Unwind Its Cuts Fully In 2022?

    ...January 2022 will mark the five-year anniversary of the implementation of Opec+ output cuts. This deal, which came into force back in January 2017, saw the newly-formed alliance agree to cut for a six-month period that could be extended for another six-months (MEES, 2 December 2016). Nearly fi...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 39
    Published at Fri, 01 Oct 2021
  9. US Shale Output Tops 8mn b/d, Are The Gains Sustainable?

    ...d of this month. The last time the Permian DUC count was at 2,000 was in December 2017 when Permian output was just 2.88mn b/d, almost 2mn b/d below current levels. Clearly there is a limit to how long this DUC drawdown can continue. Well drilling and completion (fracking) are carried out by se...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 37
    Published at Fri, 17 Sep 2021
  10. India LNG Imports: Q2 Sees Record Volumes For UAE, Egypt & USA As Qatar Keeps Top Spot

    ...16 when the emirate regularly had an 80% market share is long gone. Qatar’ Q2 market share of 33.8% was the lowest on record (see chart 2). India was Qatar’s top LNG market for 2020, with 10mn tons versus 9.1mn tons for number two South Korea (MEES, 5 March). But Korea, which was number one for 2017...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 36
    Published at Fri, 10 Sep 2021
  11. Saudi 1h 2021 Oil Dynamics: Refining Prioritized Over Crude Exports

    ...ude oil being burned in power plants. Crude burn always rises seasonally, but June’s 586,000 b/d was up more than 100,000 b/d year-on-year, and was the highest June figure since 2017 (see chart 3). While the tapering of production cuts ought to have boosted associated gas production, the impact on cr...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 33
    Published at Fri, 20 Aug 2021
  12. Japan Crude Imports: Q2 Sees Record Murban Buying

    ...ngdom on pace to beat the annual record of 40.1% set in 2017.   *Japan is under renewed Covid restrictions with cases at their highest level since the start of the pandemic. With the country’s oil imports already on a long-term downward trend, this year is on track to see the lowest imports si...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 06 Aug 2021
  13. Thailand Crude Imports: UAE Dominant, Mideast Share Squeezed

    ...*Key southeast Asian crude importer Thailand saw volumes slump 7% year-on-year to 988,000 b/d for 1H 2021, the first sub-1mn b/d first half figure since 2017.   *Thailand has seen far fewer Covid-19 deaths than most countries in Europe or the Americas but is currently seeing the hi...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 30
    Published at Fri, 30 Jul 2021
  14. Thailand LNG: Record Imports, Qatar Dominant

    ...ar figure of 1.59mn tons, up 72% year-on-year. Qatar’s 1H 2021 market share of 49.8% is the highest on a half-year basis since 2017, with the share hitting 51.4% for Q2 as Qatar supplied a quarterly record 1.04mn tons.   *Nigeria and Malaysia were second and third respectively for 1H 2021, wi...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 30
    Published at Fri, 30 Jul 2021
  15. GCC Rig Count Stuck At 10-Year Low Levels For 1H 2021

    ...e first half of the last decade Kuwait consistently had a higher rig count than the UAE. For 2017 and 1H 2018 the two were neck and neck. But the UAE has been more than 10 ahead for every quarter since Q4 2018, save Q2 and Q3 2020 when the UAE was more dynamic than Kuwait in cutting rigs and the gap fe...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 27
    Published at Fri, 09 Jul 2021
  16. IEA Calls On Opec+ To Open The Taps In 2022

    ...tention turns to ending the production cuts. If they are unwound entirely then the market will be oversupplied, but with Opec+ having had some form of cuts in place for most of the period since January 2017, “cuts fatigue” will play a major role. 1: WHICH OPEC MEMBERS HAVE THE CAPACITY TO REGAIN BA...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 24
    Published at Fri, 18 Jun 2021
  17. Japan LNG Imports At 3-Year High As East Asia Sees Record Q1

    ...88mn tons, the highest quarterly figure since 1Q 2017. Number four was the USA with a record 2.72mn tons (see table).   *The bumper Q1 Japan volumes coming on top of quarterly records from China (MEES, 23 April) and South Korea (MEES, 16 April) mean that overall East Asian imports were up 15% ye...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 18
    Published at Fri, 07 May 2021
  18. IEA Shoots Down Speculation Of Emerging Super-Cycle As Oil Price Rally Stalls

    ...int. From 32.08mn b/d in 2017, the Call on Opec fell to just 28.7mn b/d in 2019. Even by the end of its outlook horizon in 2026 the IEA reckons the ‘call on Opec’ will only have recovered to 30.8mn b/d, still more than 1mn b/d below 2017 levels. OPEC DIVERGENCE: MIND THE GAP              While th...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 11
    Published at Fri, 19 Mar 2021
  19. Turkey Crude Imports: Iraq Soars Past Russia For 2020 Top Spot

    ...*Iraq was way out in front as top crude supplier to key Mediterranean importer Turkey for 2020. The 236,000 b/d Turkey took from Iraq was not only a record and up 24% on 2019, but the highest volume that Turkey has taken from any single supplier ever – beating 229,000 b/d from Iran in 2017 (se...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 10
    Published at Fri, 12 Mar 2021
  20. LNG Trade: China Set To Overtake Japan As Top Importer

    ...rket share is down from the record 46.1% hit the previous year. Qatar remains a clear number two in the Chinese market, but a distant one, with 2020 supplies of 8.2mn tons less than a third of Aussie volumes. Having overtaken Japan in 2017, South Korea was Qatar’s top export market in 2018 and 20...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 05
    Published at Fri, 05 Feb 2021