UAE fintech Tabby raises $58 million in Series C funding round to expand product offerings
Oil Updates — Raw Edges Up; IEA says China’s COVID-19 reopening to pressure oil demand
RIYADH: Oil prices rose on Wednesday, extending gains in the previous session, driven by optimism that the lifting of China’s strict COVID-19 curbs will lead to a recovery in fuel demand in the world’s top oil importer.
Brent crude futures were up 76 cents, or 0.88 percent, at $86.68 a barrel by 4 p.m. 10 a.m. Saudi time, after a 1.7 percent rally in the previous session.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 87 cents, or 1.09 percent, to $81.05, after rising 0.4 percent on Tuesday.
China’s reopening of COVID-19 will push oil demand in 2023 to new high: IEA
The lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in China is set to boost global oil demand this year to a new record high, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday, while price sanctions against Russia could reduce supply.
“Two wild cards dominate the oil market outlook for 2023: Russia and China,” the Paris-based energy watchdog said in its monthly oil report.
“Russian supply is slowing under the full impact of sanctions (while) China will drive almost half of this global demand growth although the shape and speed of the reopening is uncertain.”
Weak industrial activity and mild weather helped cut oil demand by almost a million barrels per day in OECD developed countries in the last quarter of 2022.
But despite possible but likely mild recessions in Europe and the US, China’s expected reopening is set to boost nearby Asian economies and see it take the lead from India as the world leader in oil demand growth.
Guyana expects proposals from India on long-term crude oil purchases
Guyana expects to soon receive a proposal from India for long-term purchases of the South American country’s oil, President Irfaan Ali said on Tuesday, another attempt to reach a government-to-government agreement that could potentially lead to better sales terms for Guyana.
Guyana’s government is entitled to a share of crude oil produced off the nation’s coast by a consortium led by Exxon Mobil Corp. In 2022, Ali’s government received a total of 13 cargoes of crude oil, and it expects to receive and export 17 cargoes this year. said the finance minister earlier this week.
“India has made it very clear that it has an interest in being one of the buyers of Guyana’s oil,” Ali told a news conference at the State House residence in Georgetown.
He added: “The technical teams will work and see what proposals India puts forward.”
Ali traveled to India earlier this month, where he met with Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and urged oil companies to participate in an incoming bidding round for oil and gas exploration blocks.
Venezuela’s PDVSA freezes most oil exports for contract review
The new head of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA has suspended most oil export contracts while his team reviews them in a move to avoid payment defaults, according to an internal document seen by Reuters and people familiar with the matter.
Since US trade sanctions were first imposed on PDVSA in 2019, the company has increasingly turned to little-known middlemen to distribute oil exports, leading to deep price discounts and problems with payments affecting cash flow.
The freeze order is causing port delays, as loaded vessels have been sent away awaiting new directions, the people said.
PDVSA’s new CEO Pedro Rafael Tellechea wrote last week to the heads of the company’s Supply and Trade, Domestic Market, International Market, Finance and Foreign Affairs departments notifying them of the contract suspensions. The letter did not specify how long the freeze would last.
The suspension so far has affected little-known firms that act as intermediaries in PDVSA’s sales to Asian refiners. Loader chartered by the American oil company Chevron Corp. and Cuba’s Cubametales have not been affected by the contract review, according to separate documents and sources.
(With input from Reuters)
