UBS | 2015 has seen a sharp decline in oil prices, and we exit the year at around a 7-year low. However, we see reasons to be upbeat – we are certainly more optimistic than we have been for the past 2 years, and more constructive than merely extrapolating from current market conditions.
MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | 13.8 million people checked in Spanish hotels last month, 5.5 % more than February’s last year, according to official data. Frontur Spain highlights that 6.2 million tourists have visited the country so far this year. Bankia analysts highlight how this crucial industry for the country’s GDP seems to be overcoming the crisis, growing for the third consecutive month.
MADRID | Repsol Sinopec Brasil reported it estimates that Block BM-C-33, in the deepwater Campos Basin, contains resources of more than 700 million barrels of light oil and 3 trillion cubic feet of gas. Partner companies are now working on an appraisal plan for the area. Repsol Sinopec Brasil is the operator of the discovering consortium, holding 35%, also joined by Statoil (35%) and Petrobras (30%). Block BM-C-33, off the coast…
WASHINGTON | Second part of our conversation with Colin Fenton, global head of Commodities Research and Strategy at J.P. Morgan. What will be the effect of the closing of Iranian exports to Europe. Will it take a lot of time or effort to adapt European oil refineries to other types of oil? It always take some time to adapt, and reorientation of supply pathways, especially with trade barriers, tends to have…
WASHINGTON | Colin Fenton is the global head of Commodities Research and Strategy at J.P. Morgan. Fenton believes that there is margin for higher energy prices, with limited economic damage. Brent and WTI are behaving virtually like “two different commodities”, as one trader put it last week. Asia, tied to Brent oil, has relatively strong oil demand and limited supply, while the US is experiencing an energy production renaissance in the context…