Page 14 - MEOG Week 15

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US oil sanctions against Iran are unjust: Rouhani
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela were unjust in a telephone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday and called for the two countries to cooperate together within the OPEC+ group.
Washington reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 when U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
Iranian officials have said the sanctions have hampered efforts to combat a coronavirus outbreak in the country.
“America’s cruel and illegal sanctions on oil production against Iran and Venezuela are against international regulations and human principles,” Rouhani said, according to the official presidency website.
He added, “We need to continue cooperation for reduction of production and the return of stability to prices.”
The OPEC+ group of oil producers, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other countries, agreed at the weekend to cut output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in May and June, representing about 10% of global supply.
reUters
Oman orders government
agencies to cut spending by
at least 10%
Oman’s finance ministry has told all government agencies to cut their operating budgets by at least 10% this year to counter
a slide in oil prices, including by reviewing salaries and benefits.
The move comes after the government cut the budget allocated to government agencies for 2020 by 5% last month in response to the financial challenges the oil-exporting nation faces.
The ministry said the decision was being taken as part of efforts “to deal with the financial and economic conditions affecting the Sultanate as a result of the sharp drop in oil prices”, state media reported on Tuesday.
All operational budgets would be reviewed and exceptional bonuses for state employees would be halted, according to the finance ministry. It said the decision applied to all ministries, agencies and public entities, as well as security and military bodies.
Oman, whose sovereign bonds are rated ‘junk’ by all major rating agencies, is expected to see its deficit widen this year because of lower oil prices. Its economy, burdened by high levels of debt, is also struggling under
a slowdown caused by the new coronavirus outbreak.
As of April 14, Oman had registered 813 coronavirus cases, with 4 deaths.
reUters
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Saudis join UAE, Kuwait in extra 2.8mn b/d cut
The size of the crude production cut pledged by Opec+ in May and June will come to 12.5mn b/d, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said today, with Saudi Arabia remaining ready to take further action if needed and if other producers do the same.
Citing an Opec+ agreement finalized yesterday to cut 9.7mn b/d from October 2018 output levels, the overall size of the Opec+ cut
will be 12.5mn b/d when topped up by further voluntary cuts of 1.3mn b/d by Saudi Arabia, 1mn b/d by the UAE, and 500,000 b/d by Kuwait, Prince Abdulaziz said in a broadcast telephone interview. Saudi Arabia and Russia are cutting from an 11mn b/d baseline.
He also pointed to a contribution of 7mn b/d from G20 countries, which would partly be provided by cuts and partly by plans to buy crude to put into strategic storage. He gave no details of the breakdown, saying
the Paris-based IEA would be making an announcement on 15 April.
Markets have not reacted significantly to the announcement of the cuts because they had already been priced in last week, he said.
“We are still hoping that this situation can be mitigated within the next couple of months ... and I hope that once we turn the curve away from the descending curve, things will be a lot better,” he said.
ArGUs
IOC gets first shipload of 1 million barrels crude oil from UAE to fill strategic reserves
India is capitalizing on low global oil prices to fill its underground strategic oil reserves, with the first shipload of 1 million barrels of crude oil from the UAE arriving at Mangalore as part of efforts to shore up supplies to meet any supply or price disruption.
While the 5.33 million tonne of emergency storage -- enough to meet its oil needs for 9.5 days -- was built in underground rock caverns in Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh by the government, state-owned oil firms have been asked to buy oil at cheaper rates from the market and fill them up.
“Under the guidance of MoP&NG, IndianOil is importing crude oil to strengthen India’’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves while taking advantage of prevailing low crude prices. First such cargo of 1 million barrels of Upper Zakum Crude oil is being unloaded
at Mangalore since yesterday,” IOC Director (HR) Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra tweeted.
Oil prices have declined by more than 60 percent since January and benchmark crude still trading under $32 per barrel despite an unprecedented deal by the world’s biggest producers to cut output to steady a market pummeled by the coronavirus.
The storages at Mangalore and Padur are half-empty and there was some space available in Vizag storage as well. These will now be
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Week 15 15•April•2020