“La sabiduría de la vida consiste en la eliminación de lo no esencial. En reducir los problemas de la filosofía a unos pocos solamente: el goce del hogar, de la vida, de la naturaleza, de la cultura”.
Lin Yutang
Cervantes
Hoy es el día más hermoso de nuestra vida, querido Sancho; los obstáculos más grandes, nuestras propias indecisiones; nuestro enemigo más fuerte, el miedo al poderoso y a nosotros mismos; la cosa más fácil, equivocarnos; la más destructiva, la mentira y el egoísmo; la peor derrota, el desaliento; los defectos más peligrosos, la soberbia y el rencor; las sensaciones más gratas, la buena conciencia, el esfuerzo para ser mejores sin ser perfectos, y sobretodo, la disposición para hacer el bien y combatir la injusticia dondequiera que esté.
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES Don Quijote de la Mancha.
15 de mayo de 2017
Oil Jumps as Saudis, Russia Favor Extending Output Deal to 2018
by
Grant Smith
Ministers agree pact should extend through to end of March
OPEC deal is working and inventories decreasing: Al-Falih
Oil jumped to its highest level in more than two weeks after the
Saudi Arabian and Russian energy ministers said they are in favor of
extending a production-cut deal for nine months.
Futures added as much as 3.6 percent in New York.
While output curbs that started Jan. 1 are working, global inventories
aren’t yet at the level targeted by OPEC and its allies, Saudi Energy
Minister Khalid Al-Falih said in Beijing alongside his Russian
counterpart, Alexander Novak. The ministers agreed the deal should be
extended through the first quarter of 2018 at the same volume of
reductions, they said.
"While
this announcement should allay some concerns in the market and lead to a
short-covering rally, given the current bearish tint to sentiment,
there is no guarantee of a sustained rally," said Amrita Sen, chief oil
analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. in London.
Russia and Saudi Arabia, the largest of the 24 producers that agreed to reduce supply for six months, are reaffirming their commitment
to the deal amid growing doubts about its effectiveness. An increase in
Libyan output, together with a surge in North American production and
signs of recovery in Nigeria, may undercut OPEC’s strategy to re-balance
the market and prop up prices.
West Texas Intermediate for June
delivery climbed as much as $1.74 to $49.58 a barrel before trading at
$49.48 on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:26 p.m. in London. Total
volume traded was almost double the 100-day average. The contract
gained 3.5 percent last week.
Brent for July settlement added as
much as $1.75, or 3.4 percent, to $52.59 a barrel on the London-based
ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract increased 7 cents to $50.84 on
Friday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.67 to July
WTI.
Extending
the curbs at already agreed-upon volumes is needed to reach the goal of
reducing global inventories to the five-year average, the energy
ministers of the world’s biggest oil producers said in a joint press
conference. They will present their position at a meeting of OPEC and
other nations on May 25 in Vienna.
OPEC members agreed in November
to cut output by 1.2 million barrels a day. Several non-members,
including Russia, reached an accord in December to contribute a combined
600,000 barrels a day of reductions.
“Preliminary consultations show that everybody is committed”
to the output agreement and no country is willing to quit, said Novak.
“I don’t see reasons for any country to quit.”
Oil-market news:
Kazakhstan
won’t automatically join an extension of the OPEC-led cuts and will
discuss the nation’s level of participation at the May 25 meeting,
Interfax reported citing Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev.
Rigs
targeting crude in the U.S. increased for a 17th week to 712, the
highest since April 2015, Baker Hughes data showed on Friday. The number
of working rigs has more than doubled from a 2016 low of 316 in May and
is up more than 30 percent so far this year.
Money managers
have cut their bullish Nymex WTI bets by 34,290 positions to 168,814,
weekly CFTC data on futures and options show. Net-long positions on
Brent fell by 41,879 lots to 280,678.
Libya is ratcheting up oil output with less than two weeks to go before the OPEC meeting.
