OPEC cuts production, Iraq cuts exports and China seeks more oil

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'.
OPEC ministers agreed to cut crude oil production by 1 mn bpd from 1st January, whilst leaving the group's production ceiling unchanged at 27 mn bpd. Cuts were allocated amongst the seven countries deemed to be overproducing the most ( see Global Energy Review , OPEC, Latest Developments). OPEC's President, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, said OPEC's oil price target should be raised to at least $30 to reflect current dollar weakness. Freight rates fell sharply in the wake of OPEC's decision on output. VLCC rates between the Persian Gulf and Asia went down immediately by 25% and lost a further 60% by the end of the year. Saudi Arabia agreed to cuts of 500,000 bpd. The kingdom meanwhile has added 800,000 bpd to its production capacity with the formal opening of the Qatif and Abu Safah fields, bringing total capacity to 11 mn bpd. The Saudi government stepped up security following renewed threats by al-Qaeda to attack oil installations there. Two car bombs later exploded in Riyadh. In a radical departure from normal trading practice, Saudi Arabia said it would explore the idea of selling oil under long term contracts on a take-or-pay basis. Such arrangements are common in the natural gas industry but rare in the case of oil.     

Iraqi law opposed, worries about security and a petrol mystery

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'.
Iraq's Cabinet has approved a controversial draft law permitting foreign oil investment and allowing regional governments to negotiate directly with foreign companies. Many in Iraq say the law is being imposed on the government by Washington as a way of ensuring that US oil companies have a large role in the production of Iraq's oil. There is also opposition to the idea that regions such as Kurdistan and the Shi'i-dominated south should have an important role in oil policy. Moreover, there is still no firm agreement on how Iraq's oil revenues are to be shared between the various provinces. An important gas export project looks unlikely to go ahead, following Kuwait's decision not to refurbish a pipeline designed to import gas from Iraq's South Rumailah field after Iraq failed to build the infrastructure to export the gas.     

Explosions in Iraq, UK and Nigeria and more new refineries elsewhere

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'.
Iraq's latest round of elections, on 15th December, returned mainly Shi'ite parties, to protests from Sunnis and some secular parties. The country continued to suffer from high levels of violence. Oil installations were bombed, and road-tanker drivers were attacked in what was clearly a move designed to stop the delivery of refined products to Baghdad. The oil minister, Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, resigned in protest against a government decision to increase Iraq's heavily subsidized fuel prices. He has been temporarily replaced by the Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmad Chalabi. Opposition to the price rises led to a 10-day strike at Iraq's main refinery at Baiji. Operations continued to be adversely affected after the strike because of sabotage to the 200,000 bpd pipeline bringing crude oil to Baiji from Kirkuk. Sabotage to a pipeline serving the Daura refinery cut production there, and severe gasoline shortages were reported across the Baghdad region. The export pipeline from Kirkuk to Ceyhan was reopened after being idle for most of 2005, but throughputs are nowhere near capacity levels. Exports of crude oil from Basrah were disrupted by power cuts and bad weather.     

Bombs, hurricanes and more chaos in Iraq

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'.
The oil market's roller-coaster continued into July with rising prices for US gasoline ahead of the 4th July holiday and a jump in prices for WTI on fears of hurricane damage to US Gulf production. August Nymex gasoline settled at a record $1.8056/gall on the 7th July as figures were released showing US demand at record weekly levels. On the same date, a series of fatal terrorist bomb attacks in London propelled IPE Brent to its highest-ever level of $60.70/bbl whilst, in Asia, Dubai traded at an all-time high of $55.80/bbl. The market's strength rapidly proved to be evanescent. Within hours of the London bombings, Brent had given up $5.00/bbl. Crude oil and gasoline prices eased in subsequent days and middle distillate lost some of its recent strength relative to gasoline as US stock figures showed a steady improvement in inventory levels. Volatility returned towards the end of the month on worries about gasoline shortages in both the US and Europe and more price records fell on 1st August on news of the death of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. WTI gained $1.00 on the day, settling at a record $61.57/bbl on Nymex, having been even higher during the day's trading, at $62.30/bbl. On the IPE in London, Brent rose to its highest-ever intra-day level of $60.98/bbl, before settling slightly lower. Some product prices also went into previously uncharted territory: notably jet fuel in North West Europe, which went above $600/t.     

Another hurricane, high prices and more chaos in Iraq

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'.
Another hurricane, this time called Rita, battered the US Gulf Coast, sending oil prices up worldwide, though not to the heights seen when its predecessor, Katrina, arrived. As before, a large swathe of US refinery capacity was temporarily put out of action: this time mainly in Texas. For around a week in late September, when Rita arrived, nearly 4.1 mn bpd of crude distillation capacity was taken off-line. At the same time, some 0.9 mn bpd was still unusable as a result of the depredations of Katrina in late August, leaving the US briefly minus nearly one third of its refinery capacity. The situation improved as some capacity was brought slowly back on-line, but by the beginning of October around 3.0 mn bpd was still not back in operation. The main price effects of Katrina were on gasoline, prompting demands in the Congress and elsewhere for investigations into overcharging by refiners and retailers ( see 'Focus'). A record weekly increase in the first week of September propelled the average price of regular gasoline across the US to $3.07/gall. Rita's principal effect was on heating oil, which went up in the last week of September by nearly 20% to $2.51/gall in the US Gulf. US crude oil prices remained below their immediate post-Katrina record highs ( see 'The Month in Brief', September 2005 ) despite the loss of the entire 1.5 mn bpd production in the Gulf of Mexico following Rita's arrival.     

Iraq exports more, Ecuador exports less and OPEC remains undecided

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'.
Crude oil exports from Iraq rose to a post-invasion high of 1.8 mn bpd amid signs of a fall in attacks on oil installations and a lessening of organized violence inside the country. October's total was boosted by a 113,000 bpd increase in exports via Ceyhan, compared with the previous month, to 283,000 bpd. Iraq is nevertheless unable to guarantee an uninterrupted flow of oil through Ceyhan and has withdrawn an offer to supply crude from there on three-month term contracts. The export pipeline was again sabotaged in late November. Iraq has begun the construction of a 200,000 bpd crude pipeline to Abadan in Iran in order to boost exports from the south of the country. Reports persist about large scale smuggling of crude oil out of Iraq.     

More price records, OPEC produces more and Iraq exports less

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'.
Oil prices surged to new highs as Norwegian oil workers threatened to strike. WTI futures settled at a record $60.54/bbl on 27th June while, on the same day, heating oil broke through all previous records on Nymex to reach $1.6761/gall. August IPE Brent remained just below the $60 mark, but the October and November contracts both closed above $60/bbl for the first time, with November the higher of the two at $60.58/bbl. These new price levels proved unsustainable as many traders cashed-in their profits to close-out the second quarter. The record prices appeared not to indicate any actual shortage of crude oil. US imports touched 10.97 mn bpd in the week-ending 24th June: the second-highest on record. As if accepting this as proof that it was producing sufficient crude oil, OPEC shelved plans to discuss a possible 0.5 mn bpd increase in quotas to 28.5 mn bpd. The cartel had earlier decided that it would raise its output ceiling from 27.5 mn bpd to 28.0 mn bpd with effect from 1st July, at its meeting in Vienna on 15th June.     

Hurricane in US, chaos in Iraq and even more price records

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'.
A hurricane named Katrina devastated oil installations along the US Gulf Coast as well as the city of New Orleans, sending oil prices to new record levels. Nearly 1.4 mn bpd of offshore oil production was shut-in, along with 8.3 bn cfd of the Gulf's natural gas. More production was closed down onshore along with nearly 2.4 mn bpd of refining capacity. Crude and product prices shot up worldwide. The 30th August saw October WTI close at a record $69.81/bbl, having traded earlier in the day up to $70.85/bbl. On 31st August, Nymex gasoline closed at a new high of $2.6145/gall as the Gulf Coast's refineries remained off-line. Gulf spot prices rose above $3/gall. The following day, October heating oil set a new record by closing at $2.1985/gall. Records fell outside the US, with Tapis at $70.97 on 31st August. The previous day saw IPE October Brent settle at a record $67.57, whilst the November and December contracts both saw trades above $69.00/bbl. Natural gas prices also moved into record territory in the US, topping $12 per mn BTU on Nymex during the morning of 30th August.     

对拓宽油气资源领域的一点意见

我国油气工业的发展在于：①逆冲断裂带的勘探。②非构造类型油气藏的勘探，如岩性油藏、尖灭油藏、水动力油藏等。这两类领域的勘探要提高地球物理勘探工作的水平。③水合物天然气藏应给予足够的注意。国外开采特稠油油藏的经验要注意学习，为我所用。（秦同洛摘     

THE MONTH IN BRIEF: Islamic State forces pushed back in Iraq,Yemeni oil threatened,and Ebola hits African oil trade

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in “Upstream Review.”