Iran Says Three OPEC Members to Veto Saudi-Proposed Supply Boost

Iran Says Three OPEC Members to Veto Saudi-Proposed Supply Boost

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Iran says Venezuela and Iraq will join it in blocking a proposal to increase oil production that’s backed by Saudi Arabia and Russia when OPEC and its allies meet in Vienna this week. “Three OPEC founders are going to stop it,” Iran’s representative to the bloc Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said in comments to Bloomberg on Sunday. “If the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Russia want to increase production, this requires unanimity….

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Oil Trades Near Three-Year High as OPEC Members Reassure on Cuts

Oil Trades Near Three-Year High as OPEC Members Reassure on Cuts

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Oil traded near the highest close in more than three years as Iraq echoed a call by the United Arab Emirates and other producers for OPEC-led output cuts to continue, despite recent price gains. Futures were little changed in New York after rising 4.7 percent last week. The production curbs have contributed to stability in the market and should remain, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said Saturday. Yet Brent crude at $70 a…

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OPEC’s Angola Ditches Dollar Peg as Kwanza Falls at Auction

OPEC’s Angola Ditches Dollar Peg as Kwanza Falls at Auction

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola devalued its currency as the OPEC member sought to revive an economy still reeling from the oil-price crash four years ago. The kwanza fell 11 percent to 187.95 per dollar by 3:35 p.m. in Luanda and depreciated 10 percent to 221.75 against the euro. The move came a day after the central bank allowed the currency to weaken in its first auction of foreign exchange since announcing it would end a dollar…

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OPEC Crude Output Drops to Six-Month Low on Angola Maintenance

OPEC Crude Output Drops to Six-Month Low on Angola Maintenance

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Crude production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries dropped again in November to a six-month low. Total production fell 80,000 barrels a day to 32.47 million a day last month, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts, oil companies and ship-tracking data. That was the lowest level since May, when output was 32.29 million. Angola led the declines in November, with a drop of 100,000 barrels a day from…

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Goldman’s an Oil Bull in 2018 With 9% Total Returns Forecast

Goldman’s an Oil Bull in 2018 With 9% Total Returns Forecast

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts oil prices will retain their strength, at least through 2018. The bank raised its forecast for U.S. West Texas Intermediate as well as global benchmark Brent crude, saying OPEC and its allies showed a stronger commitment than expected to extending their output curbs at the producer group’s meeting last week. It expects positive total returns of 9 percent from crude over the next 12 months, according to a…

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Wild Swings in Iraq Oil Production Give OPEC Another Problem

Wild Swings in Iraq Oil Production Give OPEC Another Problem

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – OPEC has an Iraq problem: the group’s second-biggest exporter is lurching between quota busting and production-crimping crisis, clouding the policy-making picture as ministers decide how long they need to extend output curbs. After consistently exceeding its output quota all year, Iraqi production plunged in October when clashes between the federal army and fighters from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region disrupted fields in the disputed Kirkuk province. While the conflict has calmed, exports from…

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Oil Output Cuts `Only Viable Option’ for Market, OPEC Head Says

Oil Output Cuts `Only Viable Option’ for Market, OPEC Head Says

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The oil market is re-balancing at a quickening pace and production cuts are the “only viable option” to restore stability, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said.    The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries should decide at its meeting later this month whether or not to extend the cuts, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in a speech at a conference in Abu Dhabi. Neighbouring Oman backs prolonging the output limits beyond March and sees…

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