Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Oil Glut:light in the end of the tunnel



OPEC has decided not to cut output, despite record levels of crude in inventories and weak demand forecasts, with some cartel members believed to have ignored previous commitments to cut.
OPEC sees no need to change its guidance to oil exporters – even though oil prices are hovering around a six-month high of $63/bbl. At their meeting in Vienna members agreed stick to the current levels of output, despite oversupply, with OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri, saying the organization is looking to foster economic recovery.
”The market is oversupplied, but we are seeing a light in the end of the tunnel. There is a slow recovery and we don’t want to send the wrong signal to the economy.”
With recent production cuts of 4.2 million barrels per day, OPEC members lost revenues totaling $400 million Al Badri says.
Some countries can’t withstand such losses and have exceeded their quotas – undermining OPEC’s authority,

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

North Sea Aldous Major South 1.6 bbl



Statoil ASA , together with partners Petoro AS, Det norske oljeselskap ASA and Lundin Norway AS, has confirmed significant additional volumes in its appraisal well in the Aldous Major South discovery (PL265) in the North Sea.
The results of appraisal well 16/2-10 have increased production license PL265 estimates to between 900 million and 1.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.
This is a doubling of the previously announced PL265 volumes of between 400 and 800 million barrels of oil equivalent.
It has previously been confirmed that there is communication between Aldous in PL265 and Avaldsnes in PL501, and that this is one large oil discovery.
“Aldous/Avaldsnes is a giant, and one of the largest finds ever on the Norwegian continental shelf. Volume estimates have now increased further because the appraisal well confirms a continuous, very good and thick reservoir in Aldous Major South,