WTI $48.23 +11c, Brent $51.29 +9c, Diff -$3.06 -2c, NG $3.06 -2c, NG $2.33 -3c

Oil price

Little to report, with a 70 cent rally today oil seems in a pretty good place albeit in very quiet markets. All the usual and existing influences remain, President Trump has signed off the Bill with lawmakers trying to up the amount.

The UK has achieved a formal Brexit deal and one which looks like they are well placed to grow the economy in 2021, certainly better than if there was no deal.

There will be much going on at Opec+ with the first, now monthly, meeting scheduled for the 4th January. Mr Novak said at the weekend that ‘$45-55 seems to be the optimal level to allow for an Opec recovery in production’. The January meeting is expected to consider another 500,000 b/d increase for February if data permits.

And of course just because its the Christmas break doesn’t mean I have missed the US retail gasoline data either…A gallon of gasoline will cost an average of $2.243  this week which is up 1.9c w/w, and 12.3c m/m but still down 32.8c y/y.

Genel Energy

Genel has announced that payments have been received from the KRG  for oil sales during November 2020.

The Taq Taq partners have received a gross payment of $3.8 million, with Genel’s net share of the payment being $2.1 million. The Tawke partners have received a gross payment of $38.5 million, with Genel’s net share of the payment being $9.4 million.

Previously announced sales from Sarta will be included in invoices relating to December 2020 onwards which is incredibly good news. I am increasingly confident that 2021 is looking very positive for Genel based on its financial strength and across the board potential for growth.

Gulf Keystone Petroleum

GKP has announced that it too has received a payment from the KRG, a gross payment of $10.9 million ($8.6 million net to GKP) has been received from the Kurdistan Regional Government for Shaikan crude oil sales during November 2020.

PetroTal Corp

PetroTal has announced that social issues affecting the Northern Oil Pipeline, operated by Petroperu, have now been resolved.  As a result, PetroTal has now recommenced oil deliveries at Saramuro (Pump Station #1), for sales into the ONP. The social disruption had impacted the ONP’s operations for 85 days and, as a result of continued dialogue between the indigenous communities and the Peruvian government, an agreement was reached that addresses the community’s concerns.

Petroperu has commenced pumping oil from Pump Station #1 to Pump Station #5, thereby allowing the awaiting barges to start unloading PetroTal’s oil.  Petroperu is inspecting a section of the pipeline beyond Pump Station #5 for possible repairs resulting from heavy rains and landslides in that area.

In the interim, PetroTal will continue to control output of oil production to manage sales availability through the ONP storage, Iquitos refinery and other options.  Upon full commencement of the ONP operations, expected by mid-January 2021, the Company will again increase oil production to approximately 10,000 barrels of oil per day.

Manuel Pablo Zuniga-Pflucker, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We are pleased that the Peruvian government and indigenous communities have reached resolution on the social concerns, and that PetroTal will be able to again rely on continued availability of the ONP by Petroperu.  The ONP serves an important role for all oil producers in the jungle area of Peru and having continuous, reliable operations is a necessity for continued production, development and expansion of Peru’s oil resources.”

This has been a credit to both Petroperu and PetroTal who have worked together to ensure that the social disruption was addressed and skilfully settled. With the plan to increase back to 10,000 b/d the outlook for the company is strong and I also hear that Remus, who recently took that large stake in the company has many plans and will be highly supportive.

Malcy speaking on IGTV 

Just before Christmas I was invited by IGTV to talk abut my thoughts for oil in 2021, the link is below.

IG Look Ahead 2021: Outlook for Oil

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Malcy's Blog