Oil

Oil declines in November on concerns of lower demand owing to COVID-19 variant

Oil prices declined steeply in November, marking its largest monthly decline since March 2020. The fall follows the multi-year high prices posted by the commodity in October. Concerns over lower demand on account of new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, and expectation of increase in supply due to release of Strategic Petroleum Reserves by the U.S pressured prices during the month. Performance of Oil Source: Refinitiv U.S plans to release about 50 million barrels of oil from its reserves. China, Japan, India,...

Oil marches upward in October on supply concerns

Oil prices in October hovered over their highest since 2014, with demand pressures exceeding supply. Expectation of higher natural gas prices encouraging a switch to oil and continued relaxation of travel restrictions supported prices. Supply is also expected to be tighter with Saudi Arabia’s oil minister dismissing calls for a steeper increase in output. IEA expects current energy crunch to boost oil demand by 500,000 bpd. It estimates the resulting supply gap to be at 700,000 bpd until OPEC+ increases...

The Middle East Is Looking to Dominate the Hydrogen Race

Climate control having become a top item on global agenda there is a rush to adopt non-fossil fuel sources like wind, solar and hydrogen. The development of wind and solar energy is progressing rapidly and the cost of power generation from these sources is falling rapidly. The renewable power sector growth is fueling ambitions for a hydrogen fuel economy for transportation, power generation, industry and residential heating purposes. Sources indicate that we may see hydrogen starting to become competitive with...

What Moved GCC Equity Markets?

S&P GCC composite index rose by 1.5%, with Qatar and Saudi Arabia leading the gainers. Qatar’s main index rose 3.5% for the month, while Abu Dhabi ended the month mildly positive. Dubai markets gave up some of the sharp gains witnessed in the month of August, closing 2.0% down for the current month. Abu Dhabi continues to be the top performer for the year, supported by the rise in oil prices, strong earnings and favourable valuations. Despite the run-up in...

OPEC+ September 2021 meet: Maintaining Status Quo

Since the last OPEC+ meeting, conducted on July 18th, the global oil market has witnessed some significant events. There has been a surge in covid cases due to the new delta variant, causing government restrictions in key demand centers of the world, subsequently putting pressure on the global oil demand and prices. In the week ending 20th August, oil brent price witnessed its worst weekly drop of 8% landing at $65.18 bbl, its lowest since April’21. On the supply end...

Oil Performance & Outlook – Positive Signals Abound

Oil markets were hit hard by Covid-19 pandemic and suffered losses of 21.5% in 2020. US Oil prices even went negative for a brief period in April. However, the markets initially staged a ‘relief rally’ from the lows in April/May as Oil producing countries together announced cuts in productions. Oil prices then began a period of ‘cyclical consolidation’ with prices around the USD 40/barrel mark until November. Then began the stage of ‘structural repricing’ aided by various factors. Vaccine announcements,...

Steep cut in project spending could depress Kuwait’s oil output

Oil majors around the world are scaling back their investment plans on the back of drastic fall in oil prices driven by lockdowns to curb COVID-19 and the current stagnation in prices. Kuwait had also announced plans to slash capital spending in its oil sector by around KD 700million from KD 3.7billion (USD 12.2billion) to KD 3billion (USD 9.9billion) during the 2020-2021 fiscal year due to a sharp rise in the country's budget deficits. State operator, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC)...

كيف تسهم الحرب التجارية والعقوبات على النفط الإيراني وخفض دول الأوبك لإنتاجها في صياغة أوضاع أسواق النفط العالمية في العام 2019؟

Average crude oil prices have trended upwards for four consecutive months in 2019. The perception of oil risk due to factors like increasing geopolitical tensions triggered by the drone attack on Saudi oil vessels, the end of waivers for US sanctions on Iranian crude exports, unrest in Venezuela and sustained production cuts from OPEC may have all contributed to these higher oil prices. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that Venezuela’s oil output fell to 830,000 barrels per day (bpd)...

أرامكو السعودية تجمع 12 مليار دولار من طرح السندات: تعزيز الجاذبية الاستثمارية

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) raised USD 12 Billion with the help of its first ever-international bond issuance in the month of April. Aramco marketed a U.S. dollar-denominated debt issue split into five tranches with maturities ranging from three to thirty years. The bond received overwhelming demand from investors, as the company recorded orders of over USD 100 Billion. Demand for the bond was the largest ever recorded for any emerging market bond, surpassing order book value of more...

بداية قوية للأسهم في 2019

According to our recently released Monthly Market Review for the month of January, GCC equity markets greeted its investors in celebratory fashion, recording its highest monthly gains in over two years. Investor sentiment was bullish, as the influx of foreign funds, uptick in oil prices and expansionary budget policies are all expected to support corporate earnings growth in 2019. The story was no different in the global markets, as equities continued to be the flavour of the month among investors....