US oil inventories decreased by 3.6 million barrels $1 a barrel.. an increase for West Texas crude from last week

US oil inventories decreased by 3.6 million barrels $1 a barrel: The American Petroleum Institute (API) announced yesterday,
Tuesday, April 13, 2021, that US crude oil inventories decreased by 3.608 million barrels for the week ending April 9th.

Analysts had expected a decline in inventories by 2.889 million barrels for this week.

In the previous week, the (API) recorded a decline of 2.618 million barrels
after analysts had expected a decline of 1.436 million barrels in US crude oil inventories. 

Weekly crude oil prices

Oil prices rose the day before the data was released, as the monthly OPEC oil market report
indicated a rise in oil demand for 2021 compared to the March report,
along with reports of strong Chinese import data and increased tensions in the Middle East.

At midday, WTI was trading at $ 60.34, (1.07%) higher throughout the day, and $ 1 higher over the same time last week.

The benchmark Brent crude oil price rose at $ 63.85 a barrel, up 0.90% over the course of the day.

After the data was released, the WTI crude index was trading at $ 60.35, while Brent crude was trading at $ 63.86 a barrel.

Weekly oil production rates

While crude oil inventories are declining,
US oil production fell to 10.9 million barrels per day during the week ending April 2,
according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration,
and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast also points to a modest increase in US production in May.

The American Petroleum Institute reported an increase in gasoline inventories by 5.565 million barrels in the week ending April 9,
after an increase of 4.553 million barrels the previous week.

Analysts had expected an increase of 786 thousand barrels for this week.

As for distillate inventories, they decreased this week,
reaching 3.006 million barrels during this week,
after an increase of 2.810 million barrels last week.

With $12 billion, Aramco sells a share of its entity to EIG

Saudi Aramco has agreed with a consortium led by EIG Global Energy to sell it a 49% share in Aramco for oil pipelines.

Aramco Oil Pipelines is a new commercial entity,
whose shares are valued at about $ 25 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Aramco is considering selling a share of its entity,
as it is looking for $10 billion to $ 15 billion in revenue.

Some have cited Apollo Global Management and the China Silk Road Fund among potential buyers.

Reports surfaced last October that Aramco was in talks to structure a deal that could be worth more than $10 billion to sell part of the pipeline business to asset managers, including BlackRock, the world’s largest company.

And in February of this year, media reported that the company was discussing the idea of ​​providing $10 billion to incentivize potential buyers.

Reports have also stated that potential buyers are also looking to finance up to $10 billion of the transaction price through loans.

The sale is the latest step by Saudi Arabia to compensate for the sharp drop in oil revenues due to the epidemic and the resulting price collapse by liquidating assets, such as the pipeline network.

Saudi Arabia, with its pipeline network and oil assets,
recorded a 50% decrease in its profits for the year 2020 due to weak demand and the collapse of prices.

Even with the recent price increase, oil is still too low for Saudi Arabia.

US officials are calling for Biden to ban new oil permits

Some officials are calling for President Joe Biden’s administration to impose a ban on new oil and gas exploration permits in federal lands and waters and to halt the energy infrastructure for fossil fuels.

In his first week in office, Biden has halted new oil and natural gas leases,
pending completion of a review of regulations.

Local elected officials have now demanded that the federal government do its part in avoiding a climate crisis.

“We can ban fracking in the City of Denver, but if we don’t do this at a national and international scale,
we will continue to destroy our habitability on our planet,” Denver City Councilman Chris Hinds,
one of the signatories of the letter, said in a statement by the Hill.

The 375 local and government officials also want the Biden administration to end support for the fossil fuel industry and to revoke permits for drilling at sites less than 2,500 feet from homes and schools.

Officials also call on the federal government to “support a fair transition to clean energy for workers and communities affected by fossil fuels.”

The continuing crisis of the Sharara field, the largest oil field in Libya.

The largest oil field in Libya, the Sharara field, which has a daily production of 300,000 barrels,
may witness a disruption of crude oil exports from it if the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) continues to threaten them to close exports if their demands to pay wages are not met.

The PFG issued an ultimatum demanding compensation payments, according to Argus.

Until mid-March, the Sharara oil field was pumping crude oil at a daily rate of 280,000 barrels,
until it was threatened by the guards to disrupt exports due to unpaid wages and allowances,
and this is not new in the Libyan oil industry, which has been suffering from conflicts,
since the coups that occurred in the Arab world in 2011.

February

In February of this year, an oil tanker left the Libyan port of exports of the Harika Oil Port without oil after the Petroleum Facilities Guard refused to load the ship with crude oil due to late payment of salaries.

March

And in March, hope that Libya could see more stability in future oil production was revived,
with a new cabinet being sworn in, that has been the first government of national unity since 2014.

Libya, exempt from OPEC cuts, surprised many oil market watchers after it managed in just a few months to restore its oil production to 1.25 million barrels per day from less than 100,000 in September 2020,
when the eight-month blockade of its oil ports ended. 

Bloomberg

In an interview with Bloomberg Agency last month, Libyan Oil Minister Mohamed Aoun said that Libya may be able to maintain the current level of its oil production of about 1.2 million barrels per day until the end of this year as the oil sector has finally received sufficient funding for the maintenance and development of the fields.