RIYADH: Actions speak louder than words. Nope, strike that and reverse it. Rhetoric from Saudi’s oil minister today is emphatically rallying crude prices, as Khalid al-Falih said Saudi would ‘take any action to help the market rebalance’. This is somewhat at odds with yesterday’s OPEC report that showed Saudi production had reached an all-time high. For a second day we find ourselves saying ‘Hum dee dum’. Hark, here are five things to consider in oil markets today.
ExxonMobil is trying to figure out how to export Qua Iboe, Nigeria’s largest export stream, by using an alternate pipeline. Qua Iboe is under force majeure, and is expected to be so for the next few months (some rumors are channeling Wyclef Jean, saying ‘Gone ‘Till November‘).
Our ClipperData below show how sabotage and supply issues have collectively hit certain key Nigerian grades, dropping export loadings from above 1 million barrels per day in January by 60 percent last month to just over 400,000 bpd. That said, total loadings have held up rather well, as alternate grades such as Agbami and Akpo have risen to the challenge to offset losses primarily in Qua Iboe and Forcados. Through the first third of August, there have been no loadings whatsoever of Qua Iboe.
