Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666
Here are some more selected news articles for the week ending 02 January 2021. Go here for Part 1.
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Supply Crunch, Brexit Deal Push Global Gas Prices Higher – LNG Recap -Global natural gas prices remain strong coming off a week shortened by Christmas and heading into another with limited trading activity as the New Year holiday nears. The Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) contract for February delivery finished the short week on Thursday at $6.321/MMBtu, while the UK’s National Balancing Point finished at $7.015 and the Japan Korea Marker prompt month contract kept climbing to finish at $11.000. TTF traded near two-year highs after the Christmas holiday on colder weather and optimism over a Christmas Eve Brexit deal in which terms were finally reached over trade and other issues for the UK to leave the European Union (EU). European prices climbed higher Monday. In North Asia, spot prices for February delivery remain above $13.00 as bids support the mark on cold weather and a supply crunch.Meanwhile, in the United States, front-month Henry Hub finished lower last week at $2.512 as milder temperatures forecast over the next two weeks are seen dragging down heating demand. The U.S. benchmark fell again on Monday, with the January contract falling to $2.305 before expiring. “January is normally one of the highest demand months of the year for natural gas, driven primarily by heating demand, so mild weather next month would be quite bearish for prices,” said Schneider Electric analyst Christin Redmond of the U.S. natural gas market. “The current weather outlooks have traders so confident about winter supply that the remainder of the winter strip is now trading at a discount to the 2021 summer strip.”As Henry Hub prices fall and overseas benchmarks move upward, the arbitrage window for U.S. LNG deliveries remains wide open, particularly to Asia. According to NGI data, the spread between the Gulf Coast and the Asian market was at $7.429 on Christmas Eve, well above the $6.304 spread recorded on the same day a week earlier. As a result, U.S. feed gas deliveries remain at or near capacity and stood over 11 Bcf/d on Monday. The shipping market continues to remain tight as it has since colder weather set in across the Northern Hemisphere in recent weeks. Shipbroker Braemar ACM said that vessel rates were up by more than 35% across three different classes of LNG carriers between November and December. Spot vessel rates haven’t budged and were at $180,000/day in the Atlantic Basin, where demand remains elevated to capture particularly strong winter spreads to Asia, and $170,000/day in the Pacific Basin.
LNG Shipbuilders See Influx of Orders as Year Comes to an End – Two of Asia’s leading shipbuilders saw an influx of orders for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers this month, capping an otherwise slow year for newbuilds. Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering said in a regulatory filing last week that it landed various contracts to build nine LNG carriers. KSOE is scheduled to deliver one vessel to a Panamanian shipping company in 2024, while another two ships will be delivered to a buyer in Bermuda in 2023. KSOE subsidiary Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries will build the ships. KSOE announced other deals earlier last week to build six more LNG vessels for two undisclosed companies. In another deal, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd said it signed a contract with an African owner that’s worth more than $700 million for four LNG carriers that are expected to be delivered in 2024, according to a regulatory filing. Despite the late surge in orders, it’s been a slow year for new LNG vessels as the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the global economy and the natural gas trade. According to shipbroker Braemar ACM, just 19 vessels in the large conventional class with sizes of 160,000-190,000 cubic meters have been ordered this year. Vessels of that size have become more common as global supplies of LNG have increased. Last year, owners ordered 67 vessels in that class, Braemar said. Activity in the global LNG trade slowed this year as the pandemic took a bite out of energy demand. But trading has increased with colder weather, which has strained vessel availability with only so many on the water at one time.Increased U.S. LNG exports to Asia this winter have driven vessel spot charter rates to two-year highs. Spot vessel rates on Tuesday were at $180,000/day in the Atlantic Basin and $170,000/day in the Pacific Basin, according to NGI data provided by Fearnleys. Japan Korea Marker prices have reached levels not seen in years, with spot deals assessed at over $13.00/MMBtu in early February. Stronger prices have lifted the February arbitrage spread between the Gulf Coast and Asia to $7.725 for those with vessels chartered and to $5.312 for those who need to secure a vessel.
Troops Fight Off Attack Near $20B LNG Project — Mozambique said its security forces repelled an attack by Islamist insurgents on a town close to the site where Total SE is building a $20 billion natural gas facility. The attack took place about 21 kilometers (13 miles) from Total’s project overnight on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense, and is the second this month on the town of Mute in the northern Cabo Delgado province. It accused the militants of trying to derail the investment. Fighters who’ve aligned with Islamic State in August have already seized the port town of Mocimboa da Praia, about 42 kilometers south of Mute, raising the stakes in a conflict that’s killed about 2,500 people and caused 570,000 to flee their homes since it started three years ago. Mozambique’s government has struggled to contain the insurgency and President Filipe Nyusi has faced criticism for refusing outside help. Leaders from the Southern African Development Community are set to meet in January to agree on a plan to prevent the conflict from spilling across Mozambique’s borders.
As 2020 Ends, Door Remains Closed to New Oil and Gas E&P Contracts in Mexico – As 2020 draws to a close, the door remains closed for new exploration and production (E&P) contracts in Mexico’s oil and gas sector, with little visibility as to when they might resume. With bid rounds, farmout tenders and service contract migrations frozen until further notice by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, upstream activity will in the meantime be limited to state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and the 111 E&P contracts awarded from 2015-2018 under the previous government following the 2013-2014 market-opening energy reform. A recently published five-year plan for oil and gas auctions published by energy ministry Sener offered some hope that bid rounds may return, although Sener may have just released the document in order to comply with the law, according to analysts at Talanza Energy Consulting. The reform’s mechanisms for awarding new upstream contracts remains halted despite dire financial circumstances facing Pemex. In a decree published Monday in Mexico’s federal register, Lopez Obrador authorized the deferral until January 7 of production-sharing duties owed to the government by Pemex that were supposed to be paid in November. The relief was not extended to private sector operators, whom Lopez Obrador has antagonized since taking office in December 2018. To justify the extension, Lopez Obrador cited the unexpected decline of Mexico’s crude oil export basket price due to the destruction of global oil demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The basket price averaged $38.07/bbl in the third quarter, down 29.6% year/year. The deferral follows legislation introduced in December by Senator Armando Guadiana that would see Pemex’s profit-sharing duty reduced to 35% from the current effective rate of 58%. However, even if the tax break is approved, Pemex will likely require additional government support in order to increase capital spending without taking on more debt, Fitch Ratings analysts said recently. Pemex’s total financial debt stood at $110.3 billion as of September 30, up 24.9% from year-end 2019. Pemex said the increase was “mainly due to the drawn amounts from credit facilities and the depreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar during the period.”
New Fuel Permit Rules in Mexico Said Damaging to Energy Sector Competition – New regulation over the permitting process involved in the importing and exporting of fuels in Mexico published in the country’s Official Gazette on Dec. 26 could prove harmful to competition in the Mexican energy sector. petroleum trade Mexico’s Comision Federal de Competencia Economica (Cofece), the federal economic competition commission, published a statement last week warning the rules would “seriously hamper competition and free markets in the commercialization of petroleum products, and would affect consumer access to supply options at the best possible prices.” Still, Mexico’s Energy Ministry (Sener) made the requirements for permits official over the holiday weekend. Read the details, in Spanish, here. One of the major changes in the published rules is the reduction in duration of refined fuel permits for private sector companies to five years, from twenty years. This reduces incentives to invest in long term transportation and storage infrastructure, Cofece alleges. The bill also establishes unclear and burdensome requirements for requesting permits and grants wide discretion to Sener in their ability to revoke them. It turns the granting of permits into “a public policy instrument” to control the makeup of the energy sector. In sum, the rules would essentially hand Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) a more dominant monopoly position in the marketing of refined fuels within Mexico, according to Cofece.
Argentina Natural Gas Production Down 13% in October – Natural gas production in Argentina fell by 12.9% year/year in October to 121.9 million cubic meters/day (MMm3/d), or 4.3 Bcf/d, according to the latest report by the IAE Argentine Energy Institute. Production was down from 4.37 Bcf/d in September. Analysts attributed the drop to restrictions in place because of the coronavirus pandemic. Argentina has had one of the strictest lockdowns in place globally since the pandemic began to spread in March. In November, executives at Argentina’s state energy firm Yacimientos Petrol’feros Fiscales SA (YPF) said their oil and gas fields were starting to return to work after the complete shutdown in April that became “the worst” month in the company’s history. YPF shale production in the Vaca Muerta formation has returned to pre-Covid levels, the executive said, as wells have come back online at the flagship Loma Campana field. Power demand on Argentina’s national grid was down 6.6% year/year in October at 323 GWh/day. Gas production was down in October in Neuquen, home to most of Vaca Muerta. Neuquen, the largest gas-producing province in Argentina, saw production fall 16.3% year/year to 2.61 Bcf/d in October. Natural gas production in Neuquen was 2.65 Bcf/d in September. Production from Vaca Muerta in October fell to 1.06 Bcf/d, from 1.25 Bcf/d in October 2019. Meanwhile, the national government handed out 23 contracts in its natural gas plan ‘Plan Gas 4’ in mid-December. Winning companies included YPF, Tecpetrol SA and Pampa Energia SA.
Russian Gas Gets New Rival in Europe — Azerbaijan started commercial natural gas exports to Europe via the U.S.-backed Southern Gas Corridor, helping the region to diversify supplies away from Russia. Gas pumped from the BP Plc-led Shah Deniz deposit in the Caspian Sea began flowing into Italy, Greece and Bulgaria on Thursday, BP and Azerbaijan’s state energy company Socar said in a joint statement. The European Union has worked for years to ease its dependence on Russia, which accounts for about a third of the region’s gas supplies. The Southern Gas Corridor, which took $33 billion and seven years to build, includes the Shah Deniz field and more than 2,000 miles of pipelines connecting the Caspian Sea with Europe via Georgia and Turkey. Azerbaijan will ship 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe every year over the next quarter-century, with 8 billion of that going to Italy and 1 billion each to Greece and Bulgaria. “Some people were skeptical about the project” at the outset, Socar President Rovnaq Abdullayev said. “Now the mission is accomplished. Azerbaijan’s natural gas has arrived in Europe.” Shah Deniz, which means King of the Sea in Azeri, is the nation’s largest gas deposit, containing about 1 trillion cubic meters of the fuel and 2 billion barrels of condensate, according to BP estimates. Azerbaijan plans to ship gas to more countries in Europe in the future as additional Caspian Sea fields start production. BP leads Shah Deniz with a 28.8% interest. Other partners in the project include Socar, Turkiye Petrolleri AO, Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Lukoil PJSC and a unit of Iran’s national oil company.
Russian annual oil output falls for the first time since 2008 on OPEC+ deal, pandemic(Reuters) – Oil production in Russia declined last year for the first time since 2008 and reached its lowest level since 2011 following a global deal to cut output and sluggish demand caused by the coronavirus, statistics showed on Saturday. Russian oil and gas condensate output declined to 10.27 million barrels per day (bpd) last year, according to energy ministry data cited by the Interfax news agency. In tonnes, oil and gas condensate output dropped to 512.68 million in 2020 from a post-Soviet record-high of 560.2 million, or 11.25 million bpd, in 2019. The sharp decline was almost in line with expectations. The 512.68 million tonnes reading for 2020 was the lowest since 511.43 million tonnes in 2011, and the first annualised decline since 2008 amid the global financial crisis and falling oil prices. Russia agreed to reduce its oil production in April last year by more than 2 million barrels per day, an unprecedented voluntary cut, along with other leading oil producers and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The move was designed to bolster the oil market beset by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the April agreement, a record for global supply reductions, the group known as OPEC+ has progressively reduced the cuts and is expected to release an extra 500,000 bpd into the market in January. OPEC+ is due to hold its next summit on Monday, Jan. 4. Russia has been expected to increase its oil output by 125,000 bpd from the New Year. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, in charge of Moscow’s ties with OPEC+, has said Russia would support a gradual increase of the group’s output by another 500,000 bpd starting in February.
Petrobras Makes Oil Find – Petrobras announced Tuesday that it has confirmed oil of “excellent quality” at well 9-BUZ-48D-RJS, which is located in the extreme northwest of the Buzios field in the Santos Basin. Situated 116 miles from Rio de Janeiro, the well was drilled at a water depth of 6,069 feet. Tests carried out from a depth of 18,175 feet confirmed the presence of an oil reservoir of “excellent quality”, according to Petrobras, which said the discovery reinforces the potential of the pre-salt in the Buzios field. Petrobras is the operator of the Buzios field consortium with a 90 percent interest. CNOOC holds a five percent stake in the project and CNODC holds the remaining five percent interest. In April this year, Petrobras announced that it had identified the presence of oil in an exploratory well located in the Campos Basin. The well, informally called Natator, is located 80 miles from Macae, in water depths of 3,543 feet. During the same month, the company revealed that it had identified the presence of oil in the pioneer well of the Uirapuru block, which is located in the Santos Basin pre-salt. The Santos Basin is the largest offshore sedimentary basin in Brazil, covering total area of over 135,000 square miles, all the way from Cabo Frio to Florianopolis, Petrobras’ website highlights, adding that the first investments in exploration and production studies for this basin date back to the 1970s.
Eni Finds Oil in Egypt Desert – Eni has announced a new oil discovery in the Meleiha Concession in the Western Desert of Egypt. Achieved through the Arcadia 9 well on the Arcadia South structure, the find is located a mile south of the main Arcadia field already in production. The well was said to have encountered an 85 foot oil column in the Cretaceous sandstones of the Alam El Bueib 3G formation. Arcadia 9 has registered a stabilized rate of 5,500 barrels of oil per day, Eni revealed. Following the discovery, two development wells, Arcadia 10 and Arcadia 11, were drilled back to back. The first one encountered a 25 foot oil column and the second one an 80 foot oil column within the Alam El Bueib 3G formation. The three wells share the same oil-water contact in the discovered reservoir, Eni highlighted. Arcadia 11 was also said to have encountered 20 feet of oil pay in the overlying Alam El Bueib 3D formation. Through its subsidiary Ieoc, Eni holds a 38 percent interest in the Meleiha concession. Lukoil holds a 12 percent stake and EGPC holds the remaining 50 percent interest. Eni has been present in Egypt since 1954 and is the country’s main producer. The company’s current equity hydrocarbon production is said to be around 320,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
India – NIO, NPC sign MoU on oil spill management-The Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography has signed a memorandum of understanding with New Delhi-based National Productivity Council (NPC) to jointly work in the areas of climate change, environment-related data analytics, combating oil spills, and exploration of renewable energy, a statement said on Saturday.”The aim of this MoU is primarily to develop a long-term joint working partnership in the areas of environment management, climate resilience in coastal zones and communities, oceanographic data analytics, environmental impact studies and modelling to predict environmental impact, besides identifying remedial and mitigation measures and contributing to policy research,” the statement said.The NIO, which functions under the aegis of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and the NPC, an arm of the central government’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, will also focus on assessment of macro and microplastics in the country’s rivers, seas and other marine bodies.The two organisations will also jointly carry out “oceanographic modeling and data analytics pertaining to environmental factors and pollutants and related impact assessments in Coastal Regulatory Zone, marine environment and forecasting”. Preparation of emergency plans and conducting risk analysis related to oil spills as well as “periodic monitoring of environmental conditions and assessment studies prescribed for projects in CRZ, ports, harbours, etc” is also a part of the MoU.
Iraq aims to boost southern ports crude export capacity – – Iraq aims to increase crude oil export capacity from its southern ports to 6 million barrels per day from the current 3.5 million barrels a day capacity, Karim Hattab, deputy oil minister for distribution affairs said in a statement. Hattab said the increased capacity would be after 2023 and that the plan includes building 24 storage tanks.
Iraq plans to produce 6 mln b/d crude oil after 2023 – On Saturday, Iraqi deputy oil minister, Karim Hattab, said that they are planning to double the country’s crude oil production to 6 million barrels per day after 2023. In a statement, Hattab said”The goal is to implement large-scale projects, including the installation of another 24 tanks to increase export capacity from the current 3. 5 million to 6 million barrels per day after 2023,” Hattab was quoted by the ministry as saying during his inspection of oil storage facilities on the Al-Faw peninsula. According to Hattab, the ministry is also planning to build an offshore pipeline linking the Al-Faw storage facilities to ports that export oil. Last week, the ministry reported that Iraq’s oil output totaled 81 million barrels in November.
Iran slashes gas exports to Iraq, threatening electricity shortages -Iran has slashed the amount of natural gas it exports to Iraq and threatened further cutbacks over unpaid bills, increasing the likelihood of more electricity shortages in Baghdad and other major cities. Iraq has been receiving 5 million cubic meters a day since Iran cut its daily exports from 50 million cubic meters two weeks ago, Ahmed Moussa, a spokesman for Iraq’s electricity ministry, said in an interview. The Iranian government told Iraq it will reduce its supplies to 3 million cubic meters a day starting Sunday, but has not yet implemented the move, he added. Iran started cutting exports to its neighbor, which is OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer, after Iraq fell behind on its gas payments. Iraq owes around $2.7 billion in unpaid bills, Moussa said. Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian will meet Iraqi officials in Baghdad on Tuesday to discuss the issue, the spokesman said. Power production has dropped by around 7 gigawatts as a result of the gas supply curbs, Moussa said. Baghdad and other central locations have been hit hardest by electricity shortages. While Iraq’s supply of Iranian gas has been disrupted, its electricity imports have continued as normal, he added.
CHINA DATA: Nov crude imports from Oman hit fresh high at 1.25 mil b/d, up 33% on year | S&P Global Platts – China’s imports of Oman crude oil surged 63.7% in November to a record high of 5.1 million mt, or 1.25 million b/d, from October, making the producer the third-biggest crude supplier in the month, data from the General Administration of Customs, or GAC, showed on Dec. 26. The previous high was at 4.16 million mt, or 983,101 b/d, in December 2019, GAC data showed. The volume brought imports from Oman at 36.2 million mt in January-November, jumping 21.9% year on year. Saudi Arabia returned to the top spot with a month-on-month increase of 42.8% in shipments delivered in November, at 8.48 million mt, or 2.07 million b/d. These led crude imports from the Middle East to jump 15.9% year on year at 5.19 million b/d over the January-November period to take 47.1% market share compared with 44.3% in the same period last year. Volume increase was also seen from North America, 137.7% on the year at 428,000 b/d in the period, making the region’s market share gain 2.1 percentage points to 3.9% due to an 154.6% growth in US crude imports. Crude imports from the US rebounded 122.2% from October at 3.61 million mt, or 882,451 b/d, in November. The volume was 7% lower than the record high of 952,254 b/d imported in September. Imports from Africa and South America fell 14.6% and 8.8%, respectively, at 1.56 million b/d and 1.25 million b/d in January-November, GAC data showed. China’s top crude suppliers (‘000 mt):
China’s Energy Dependence To Grow Despite Major Oil Discoveries — Energy independence is an important precondition for any country which allows for relatively unbound foreign and economic policies. China’s growing reliance on imports concerning fossil fuels is a major headache for Beijing. Therefore, increasing domestic production is high on the agenda. Despite some successes in exploration and production activities, import reliance is expected to rise over the next couple of years. Beijing has instructed its three domestic energy champions PetroChina, CNOOC, and Sinopec, to increase spending on domestic resources. In the next five years, these companies have vowed to invest 517 billion yuan ($77 billion), which is a growth of 18 percent year-on-year. These investments have already achieved reversing falling domestic oil production. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the production of petroleum and other liquids in China has increased to 4.9 million barrels per day (mbpd). Despite the increase, foreign oil dependency has reached 70 percent and the number is expected to grow. Announcements of the discovery of new oil and gas fields are not a rare occasion in China these days. According to media group Netease, some 200 million tonnes (around 1.5 billion barrels) of oil and 300 million tonnes of gas have been discovered in November only. CNOOC has started using China’s first domestically designed and produced self-operated large-scale deepwater rig and the world’s largest oil and gas storage platform on the coast of Hainan. The company also made a significant discovery in the shallow waters of the Pearl River Mouth Basin. Due to growing investments, the Chinese energy sector is hitting new records this year. Despite these successes, the industry is facing an uphill battle due to insatiable domestic demand for oil. Stellar economic growth has led to a booming market for energy, but the level of reliance on fossil fuels is different. Dependence on coal is limited due to significant domestic production and gas has a moderate share in the national energy mix. Oil, however, is the biggest challenge.
Oil Trading Changing Forever After Wrong Virus Bet – In January, as a mysterious illness ripped through the Chinese city of Wuhan, global oil prices plunged. Two thousand miles away in the island state of Singapore, one of the most powerful men in the world of commodities trading, Lim Oon Kuin, quietly added to his vast stockpiles of fuel – making a bet that China would successfully control the spread of the new disease. That gamble soured quickly. While China did curb the coronavirus at home, the pandemic that followed brought crude oil prices tumbling as much as 70%. Banks tried to recover loans from Lim’s company, Hin Leong Trading Pte, triggering one of the biggest scandals in the oil industry this century. Lim’s empire collapsed, owing $3.5 billion to 23 banks, and the fallout from the debacle is still reverberating into 2021, shaking out large tracts of the vast and often opaque $4 trillion global oil-trading industry. The losers are likely to be the hundreds of small trading firms, many of them employing only a handful of people, who will find it expensive, if not impossible, to meet the increased demands for information from banks that have become wary of lending them money. Those gaining from the crisis are the big global trading houses such as Trafigura Group and Vitol SA, that retain the confidence of the finance companies and are better able to absorb the costs of increased oversight. A sign of those changes came earlier this month when banks in the major oil trading hub of Singapore issued new guidelines for financing that could curb some of the practices that led to the shock from Hin Leong, whose creditors, including HSBC Holdings Plc. and Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings Ltd., are still fighting to recover funds. Netherlands-based ABN Amro Bank NV has said it will pull out of commodity trade finance altogether, and others, including France’s BNP Paribas SA, said they were scaling back or reviewing their businesses. More than 20 veteran traders and industry bankers told Bloomberg News in interviews that financing for the industry is tightening, with the contraction likely to continue next year as bankers apply stricter standards or cut their exposure to smaller merchants.
Russian gov’t considers $45-$55 a barrel oil price range optimum – Russia’s government considers the oil price range of USD45 to USD55 per barrel optimum in the current market situation, which allows preventing the market from overheating and supporting producers, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters. “The range of prices of USD45 to USD55 per barrel is optimum for recovery of our production, which we have let strongly down, otherwise we will never restore production, others will do, whereas we will remain at our level all the time,” Novak said. The head of the commodity strategy department at Saxo Bank, Ole Hansen, said earlier the price of Brent crude oil might decrease amid reports about a new strain of the coronavirus that may push the infecting rates up and lead to new lockdowns. That may halt the growth of futures and even get them back to USD46 per barrel in the short-term. On December 14, Britain’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock said British scientists had identified a new coronavirus strain that might be to blame for high infection rates in southeastern England. On December 19, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said according to the current findings, the new strain might be 70 percent more contagious. However, there is no proof yet of a greater risk of lethal outcome. The World Health Organization has said the mutated strain has already reached Australia, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
Novak Backs Further OPEC+ Output Hike— Russia plans to support a further gradual increase in OPEC+ production at the next meeting in January, because crude prices are within an optimal range. “To restore our output, that we’ve reduced a lot, the price range of $45 to $55 a barrel is the most optimal,” Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters in Moscow. “Otherwise we’ll never restore production, others will restore it.” Brent crude has averaged about $50 a barrel since early December, when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies adopted a new plan to make gradual output increases. The group, which is led by Russia and Saudi Arabia, will boost daily crude production in monthly increments of as much as 500,000 barrels next year, instead of the previous plan to add almost 2 million barrels from Jan. 1. OPEC+ ministers will gather every month to discuss the size of each increment, allowing the group to react to uncertain demand as the Covid-19 pandemic continues. The next meeting, scheduled for Jan. 4, will determine how much supply should be added to the market in February. “If the situation is normal, stable, we will support the increase,” Novak said, when asked if Russia wants a further hike of 500,000 barrels a day in February. “We must reach levels that were envisaged earlier, from Jan. 1, gradually, without pulling the market too much.” That change would mean OPEC+ is still withholding about 6.7 million barrels a day from the market in February, compared with the current supply cuts of 7.7 million barrels a day. It’s unclear whether Saudi Arabia, the leader of OPEC+ alongside Russia, will back an increase in crude output. Last week, after face-to-face talks with Novak in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Crown Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said he wants to keep market speculators “on their toes.” “Nobody will know what we will do on the 4th of January until the day of the meeting,” Abdulaziz said.
Oil Steady as Virus Pessimism Balanced by Stimulus — Oil steadied — after posting its first weekly loss since October — as pessimism over a new strain of Covid-19 that’s threatening more travel restrictions was balanced by the passage of a U.S. stimulus bill into law. Futures in New York traded near $48 a barrel after sliding 1.8% last week. Tougher restrictions were extended to much of England to try and stem the virus mutation, while American officials warned of a post-Christmas surge of infections. Japanese industrial production missed analyst expectations to come in unchanged last month from October, more evidence that the resurgent pandemic is stalling the economic recovery in some parts of Asia. Crude pared losses of as much as 1.5% after President Donald Trump signed the long-awaited bill containing $900 billion of virus relief that’s expected to boost energy demand in the world’s largest economy. Trump had previously expressed his displeasure with the package that Congress approved last week. Oil is finishing the year on a somber note as the short-term demand risk of more travel restrictions outweighs optimism over vaccine rollouts, which are already underway and will eventually boost energy demand. The OPEC+ alliance will also return 500,000 barrels a day of output to the market from January. West Texas Intermediate for February delivery fell 0.1% to $48.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 7:47 a.m. in London. Brent for February settlement declined 0.2% to $51.20 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange after closing up 0.2% on Thursday. Crude’s futures curve is reflecting the pessimism. Brent’s prompt timespread is 5 cents a barrel in contango, a bearish market structure where near-term prices are cheaper than later-dated ones. The spread was as much as 13 cents in backwardation earlier this month. President Trump, meanwhile, has raised geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, accusing Iran of being responsible for a rocket attack near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. The Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry said the claims were baseless. The country’s oil minister said this month that Iran was planning to double its production in 2021, which will clash with OPEC+ efforts to gradually increase supply without flooding the market.
Oil rises after Trump signs aid bill – Oil rose towards $52 a barrel on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s signing of a coronavirus aid package and the start of a European vaccination campaign outweighed concern about weak near-term demand. Brent crude rose 43 cents, or 0.84%, to $51.72 a barrel, reversing an earlier decline. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude added 45 cents, or 0.93%, to $48.68. “The signing of the U.S. stimulus bill, with the possibility of an increased size, should put a floor under oil prices in a shortened week,” said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at broker OANDA. Trump, whose presidency is set to end next month, had earlier threatened to block the $2.3 trillion aid and spending package. Oil has recovered from historic lows reached in the spring as the emerging pandemic hammered demand. And in a further sign of progress against COVID-19, Europe launched a mass vaccination drive on Sunday. But, the emergence of a new variant of the virus, first seen in Britain and now detected in other countries, has led to movement restrictions being reimposed, hitting near-term demand and weighing on prices. And Brent is still below the $52.48 level reached on Dec. 18, which was its strongest since March. Oil remains vulnerable to any further setbacks in efforts to control the virus, said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi, in a note. Also coming into focus will be a Jan. 4 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+. The group is slowly tapering record oil output cuts made this year to support the market. OPEC+ is set to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day in January.
Oil gains on hopes U.S. pandemic stimulus payments to spur fuel demand – Oil rose on Tuesday, for the third time in four sessions, on expectations for rising fuel demand as the United States may expand their pandemic aid payments and a final Brexit deal is set to stabilize trade between Europe and the UK. Brent crude futures climbed 36 cents, or 0.7%, to $51.22 a barrel, as of 0151 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures added 34 cents, or 0.7%, to $47.96 a barrel. Crude rose along with a gains in Asian shares, with Japanese stocks hitting a 29-year high, on rising investor risk appetite as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to raise pandemic relief payments to $2,000 from $600. The Senate still needs to vote on the measure. Forecasts for tightening U.S. crude oil stocks also added support to prices. U.S. crude oil stockpiles are expected to have declined last week, while refined products inventories likely rose, a preliminary Reuters poll ahead of this week’s data showed on Monday. Five analysts polled by Reuters estimated, on average, that crude stocks likely fell by 2.1 million barrels in the week to Dec. 25. Still, concerns over coronavirus lockdowns are capping gains. A new variant of the virus in the United Kingdom has led to the reimposition of movement restrictions, hitting near-term demand and weighing on prices, while hospitalizations and infections have surged in parts of Europe and Africa. A Jan. 4 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, also looms over the market. OPEC+ is tapering record oil output cuts made this year to support the market. The group is set to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January and Russia supports another increase of the same amount in February. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday he expected there would be 5 million to 6 million bpd additional oil demand in 2021, which has not fully recovered from the pandemic. Money managers raised their net-long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to December 21, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Monday. The speculator group raise its combined futures and options position in New York and London by 4,455 contracts to 325,787 during the period.
Oil Prices Climb On Stimulus Hopes – Oil has seesawed back and forth over the past week, sandwiched between very strong bullish and bearish forces on each side. Covid-19 is at its worst in many parts of the world, but vaccinations are picking up in earnest as well. Brent edged back above $51 per barrel after the house passed a major stimulus bill on Monday evening. “Markets feel very rangy into the New Year but should find support today from broader risk markets as stocks are soaring on the prospects of larger stimulus checks,” said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi. The terms of the OPEC+ production pact could berevised if oil demand recovers next year faster than currently expected, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is still in charge of coordinating Russia’s oil policy with OPEC, told Rossiya TV news channel in an interview on Monday. Rising JKM prices for LNG in Asia brighten the outlook for U.S. LNG exports. “We assume near-max utilization rates of US LNG export facilities next year,” Bank of America said. Oil and gas companies in North America and Europe wrote down around $145 billion in assets in the first three quarters of 2020, the most since 2010. Prices are rebounding, but the write-downs also reflect long-term concerns. “They are coming to grips with the fact that demand for the product will decline, and the write-downs are a harbinger of that,” KPMG’s Regina Mayor told the WSJ. Japan said it would end sales of gasoline vehicles by the mid-2030s, the latest major economy to chart a course away from the internal combustion engine. Internal planning documents reviewed byBloomberg Green reveal detailed emissions projections for individual projects from ExxonMobil. For instance, the Golden Pass LNG project would emit 3.1 million metric tons, and the liquefaction process would emit as much as a coal-fired power plant. Investors are growing increasingly concerned that carbon-intensive projects will be subjected to future regulation or taxation, and they are pressuring Exxon to detail more of their risk.
Oil Rise Aided by Dollar – – Oil pushed higher with support from a weakening dollar as investors weighed a worsening short-term demand outlook against an eventual rebound as Covid-19 vaccines are rolled out. Futures in New York rose past $48 a barrel after falling 1.3% Monday. A dip in the dollar boosted the appeal of commodities like oil that are priced in the currency. Crude was also aided by an improvement in broad market sentiment after the House backed higher stimulus checks following President Donald Trump’s signing of a $900 billion virus relief package. The coronavirus continued to surge unabated, however. Southern California is set to extend a lockdown amid a surge in cases, while Germany is concerned the slow pace of its vaccine rollout could prolong the economic damage from the pandemic. The virus is also making a comeback in Asia, with Thailand tightening restrictions and South Korea’s daily death toll rising to a record. Crude’s vaccine-driven rally has faltered in the last couple of weeks on signs it may have gotten ahead of the recovery in energy demand. The OPEC+ alliance is also set to add another 500,000 barrels a day of output to the market from January, while Russia’s deputy prime minister said last week the nation would support a further gradual increase in production in February. “Renewed concern over the virus will limit the upside for oil in the near term” and noise around Russia supposedly favoring adding more output in February won’t help either, said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Groep NV in Singapore. Price moves will continue to be driven by Covid-19 developments, he said. West Texas Intermediate for February delivery rose 0.9% to $48.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 7:49 a.m. in London. Brent for February settlement climbed 0.9% to $51.33 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange after falling 0.8% on Monday. OPEC+ will meet next week to decide on production levels for February, with traders looking out for indications of changing sentiment among its members. Over the longer term, Iranian plans to hike oil output may undermine the alliance’s efforts to raise production while avoiding flooding the market.
Oil holds steady on U.S. inventory draw, but demand fears weigh – Oil held steady on Wednesday as a U.S. coronavirus fiscal aid package and a decline in crude oil inventories supported prices. Brent crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $51.19 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was unchanged at $48. “Oil prices have remained supported by a weaker U.S. dollar overnight and have finally found a friend in the API inventory report,” said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi, a broker. “This morning the American Petroleum Institute reported a much larger draw versus consensus in crude oil inventories for the week ending December 25.” The dollar fell to its lowest in more than two years against the euro as currency traders looked past a new delay in U.S. stimulus checks and maintained bets that additional financial aid was still likely. The Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives voted to meet President Donald Trump’s demand to increase direct Covid-19 aid payments to Americans hurting from the pandemic to $2,000. Asian shares retreated as investors cashed in on a recent rally, while the euro flirted with highs not seen in more than 2-1/2 years on as hopes of a gradual global economic recovery. Oil prices could gain strength as vaccination programs around the world begin next year, allowing countries to relax restrictions on movement and business activity. U.S. physical crude oil grades strengthened on Tuesday as the API reported a decline in stockpiles, dealers said. Crude oil stocks fell by 4.8 million barrels last week to about 492.9 million barrels, exceeding analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a draw of 2.6 million barrels, data from API showed. In the short-term, concerns over coronavirus lockdowns are likely to cap gains. A new variant of the virus in the United Kingdom has led to the reimposition of movement restrictions, hitting near-term demand and weighing on prices, while hospitalizations and infections have surged in parts of Europe and Africa. Fossil-fuel demand in coming years could remain softer even after the pandemic as countries seek to limit emissions to slow climate change. Major oil companies, such as BP and Total SE, published forecasts that include scenarios where global oil demand may have peaked in 2019. A Jan. 4 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, also looms over the market. OPEC+ is tapering record oil output cuts made this year to support the market. The group is set to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, and Russia supports another increase of the same amount in February.
Oil prices dip as demand concerns counter U.S. stimulus (Reuters) -Oil prices fell on Monday as concerns about weakening fuel demand and the prospect of higher OPEC+ output outweighed optimism over a U.S. stimulus package. Oil prices strengthened earlier in the day, with Brent rising above $52 a barrel, as Democrats aimed for larger $2,000 COVID-19 relief payments following U.S. President Donald Trump’s signing of a $2.3 trillion stimulus deal. But a new variant of the virus in the United Kingdom has led to restrictions on movement being reimposed, hitting near-term demand and weighing on prices, while hospitalizations and infections surged in parts of Europe and Africa. Brent crude settled at $50.86 a barrel, falling 43 cents, or 0.84%, after trading as high as $52.02 earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled at $47.62 a barrel, losing 61 cents, or 1.26%. “We continue to focus on this pandemic and what January is going to bring,” “The prospects of more lockdowns are looming and I think that is what’s holding things back.” A Jan. 4 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, also looms over the market. “While much focus will remain on the demand side of the global oil balances this week and into the new year, the supply side of the equation will be garnering more attention next month after OPEC+ cranks up its production allowances,”
Oil Prices Rise as U.S. Crude Stock Draw Supports but Demand Hopes Dim – (Reuters) -Oil prices settled higher on Wednesday, supported by a draw in U.S. crude inventories and Britain’s approval of a second coronavirus vaccine but pressured by swelling year-over-year supply. Brent crude futures settled up 25 cents to $51.34 a barrel, off the session high of $51.56 and well lower than the $66 price that started the year. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled up 40 cents to trade at $48.40, substantially down from about $62 at the start of 2020. Both contracts slipped early the session as a bigger fiscal aid package in the United States looked increasingly unlikely, dampening hopes for a swifter recovery of oil demand that has been hammered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Prices rallied after an Energy Information Administration report showed crude inventories fell by 6.1 million barrels in the latest week to 493.5 million barrels. [EIA/S] But traders noted that U.S. crude inventories still were ending the year more than 10% higher than the last week of 2019. “We couldn’t even pull down storage levels with a 6.1 million inventory draw which is sad but a reality, and it took the wind out of the sails for a big rally” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. On the supply front, U.S. energy firms this week added 3 oil and natural gas rigs to the best quarter for boosting the rig count since the second quarter of 2017, according to data from Baker Hughes. A Jan. 4 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, is set to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January. Oil prices found some support on Wednesday from the U.S. dollar hitting its lowest against a basket of currencies since 2018, making oil cheaper for holders of other currencies. Raising hopes of a faster normalization of travel and work, Britain on Wednesday became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.
Oil Prices Settle Higher on Final Day of 2020 | Rigzone — West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil prices posted increases on the final trading day of 2020. The February WTI futures price gained 12 cents, settling at $48.52 per barrel. The light crude marker Thursday traded within a range from $47.77 to $48.58.Brent crude for March delivery finished Thursday’s session at $51.80 per barrel, reflecting a 17-cent gain.Although oil prices have recovered since plunging this past spring amid steep pandemic-driven demand destruction, the benchmarks are still 20-plus percent overall for the year. By comparison, the closing WTI and Brent per-barrel prices on Jan. 2, 2020, were $61.18 (21 percent higher) and $66.25 (22 percent higher), respectively.The price of a gallon of reformulated gasoline (RBOB) often moves in the same direction as the oil benchmarks, but such was not the case Thursday. January RBOB posted a slight loss – well under a penny – to close just below $1.41. Henry Hub natural gas futures finished higher, with the February contract adding nearly 12 cents to settle at $2.54.
Oil edges higher, but posts 20% annual drop in tumultuous 2020 (Reuters) -Global crude prices edged higher on Thursday but lost more than a fifth of their value in 2020, as lockdowns to combat the novel coronavirus depressed economic activity and sent oil markets reeling. Still, Brent and U.S. crude benchmarks have more than doubled from April’s nadir as producers cut output to match weaker demand. News of coronavirus vaccine distributions also bolstered prices in the fourth quarter, helping futures recover to the highest in about 10 months. On the last trading day of 2020, Brent rose 17 cents to settle at $51.80 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 12 cents to settle at $48.52 a barrel. Brent fell 21.5% for the year, with WTI falling 20.5%. Prices for 2020 bottomed in April as fuel demand collapsed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and after a price war between oil giants Saudi Arabia and Russia. WTI plummeted to a record low negative-$40.32 per barrel, while Brent fell to $15.98 barrel, the lowest since 1999. From there prices drifted higher and took off once vaccine optimism hit the market. “The first half was remarkable and unprecedented with a steep move lower and a snapback rally,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital Management in New York. “Then it was like watching paint dry for several months through October.” Though prices have climbed the last two months, additional lockdowns have weighed again on fuel demand and a new, highly infectious variant of the virus has raised alarms. A monthly Reuters poll on Thursday showed oil prices are not expected to make much progress in 2021. And the demand outlook for fuel still remains murky. U.S. gasoline futures fell 17% for the year, while U.S. heating oil futures dropped 27%. Some commodity markets, including spot Asian LNG and silver, were ending 2020 on a strong note, with recovering demand and widespread stimulus packages buoying prices. Rollouts of vaccines to combat the virus and trillions of dollars’ worth of fiscal support were expected to boost investment and spending in 2021.
‘So Frustrated’: Iranians’ Fears Skyrocket That They Won’t Get Access To COVID-19 Vaccines – Amid the launch of mass COVID-19 vaccination drives in the West, there’s growing concern among Iranians that they could be left behind. They fear U.S. sanctions and what some regard as the Iranian clerical establishment’s failure to prioritize the well-being of its citizens. Iranians, including health workers, have taken to social media to call on their leaders to purchase vaccines against the coronavirus amid allegations by Iranian officials that U.S. sanctions are impeding their ability to procure them through COVAX, a global payment facility aimed at ensuring vaccine distribution around the world. The concern over Iranians’ access to vaccines was also highlighted in a December 22 statement by more than two dozen rights groups and humanitarian organizations, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), who called on “all stakeholders to ensure that Iranians have swift, unencumbered, and equitable access to safe, effective, and affordable COVID-19 vaccines.” Without inoculations, many more Iranians are likely to die from the Middle East’s worst COVID-19 outbreak, which has already infected more than 1.1 million Iranians and claimed the lives of nearly 54,000, according to officials figures. Health officials have suggested that the country’s real coronavirus death toll could be twice that number. Earlier this month, Iranian Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said in a social-media post that “inhumane sanctions by the U.S. government” were preventing the country from making any payment for vaccine doses via “the official channel of the World Health Organization (WHO).” Republican U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed stifling sanctions on Iran in 2018 after withdrawing the United States from a multilateral 2015 nuclear deal that exchanged sanctions relief for curbs on Iran’s disputed nuclear program. Democratic President-elect Joe Biden has said the United States will rejoin the accord if Tehran returns to strict compliance, although there is at least one effort afoot among Republicans in the U.S. Senate to prevent that.
Iran’s President Claims Washington Demanding That Coronavirus Vaccine Transaction Run Through U.S. Bank – Following an announcement that Tehran had won approval from the United States to use foreign-currency reserves to buy coronavirus vaccines, Iran’s president has claimed that Washington is now demanding that such a transaction go through a U.S. bank. President Hassan Rohani told a meeting of the government’s coronavirus-response team on December 26 that Iran sought to transfer money from an unidentified third country, and that it had received approval from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). However, Rohani claimed, while the OFAC “had initially indicated that it was not a problem,” it “later said that the money had to first pass through a U.S. bank before it reaches [the recipient].” Rohani blasted the alleged demand, which the Treasury Department has not confirmed, and questioned whether the United States might confiscate the funds. On December 24, Iranian central bank chief Abdolnaser Hemmati said that the OFAC had approved the transfer of around $244 million to a Swiss bank in order to purchase 16.8 million doses of vaccines from COVAX, a global COVID-19 vaccine-allocation plan led by the World Health Organization (WHO). While punitive financial sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran over its nuclear and regional activities prevented such transactions, Washington had been constrained by global public opinion to make an exception in this case, Hemmati claimed on Iranian state TV. Iran has been hard-hit by COVID-19, with nearly 1.2 million coronavirus cases recorded along with more than 54,000 deaths. Those numbers, which would make Iran the worst-affected country in the Middle East, are considered to be far lower than the actual figures released by Iranian health authorities.
B-52s fly over Persian Gulf as Washington escalates war threat against Iran –For the third time in little more than a month, the Pentagon has sent a pair of B-52 Stratofortress long-range heavy bombers to the Persian Gulf in a threat of war against Iran. This threat is being steadily escalated on the orders of US President Donald Trump as he continues to demand the overturning of the results of November’s US presidential election. The warplanes, which are capable of launching both nuclear and conventional weapons, flew low over the Gulf after a midair refueling over the Eastern Mediterranean in a 30-hour round-trip flight from their base in North Dakota. They were escorted by a squadron of F-16 fighter planes. A U.S. Air Force B-52H “Stratofortress” from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., is refueled by a KC-135 “Stratotanker” over the Persian Gulf. (Senior Airman Roslyn Ward/U.S. Air Force via AP) Without mentioning Iran by name, the chief of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations throughout the Middle East, left no doubt as to the target of the provocative bomber deployment. “The United States continues to deploy combat-ready capabilities into the US Central Command area of responsibility to deter any potential adversary, and make clear that we are ready and able to respond to any aggression directed at Americans or our interests,” said CENTCOM commander General Frank McKenzie in announcing the Gulf overflight. “We do not seek conflict, but no one should underestimate our ability to defend our forces or to act decisively in response to any attack.” The B-52 flights are only part of a continuous and ominous US military buildup in the region. Last week, the Navy sent the nuclear-powered submarine USS Georgia, armed with cruise missiles, along with accompanying warships, into the Persian Gulf, joining the USS Nimitz carrier strike group already deployed there. The Israeli and other Middle Eastern media have also revealed that Israel has dispatched its own submarine through the Suez Canal in an apparent approach to the Persian Gulf. The Dolphin-class submarine is capable of firing nuclear cruise missiles. Meanwhile Israel has continued its airstrikes against Iranian-linked targets in Syria, bombing the Nabi Habil area near Damascus on Wednesday.
Saudi women’s rights activist sentenced to nearly 6 years(AP) – One of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent women’s rights activists was sentenced Monday to nearly six years in prison, according to state-linked media, under a vague and broadly worded counterterrorism law. The ruling nearly brings to a close a case that has drawn international criticism and the ire of U.S. lawmakers. Loujain al-Hathloul has already been in pre-trial detention and has endured several stretches of solitary confinement. Her continued imprisonment was likely to be a point of contention in relations between the kingdom and the incoming presidency of Joe Biden, whose inauguration takes place in January – around two months before what is now expected to be al-Hathloul’s release date. Rights group “Prisoners of Conscience,” which focuses on Saudi political detainees, said al-Hathloul could be released in March 2021 based on time served. She has been imprisoned since May 2018, and 34 months of her sentencing will be suspended. Her family said in a statement she will be barred from leaving the kingdom for five years and required to serve three years of probation after her release. Biden has vowed to review the U.S.-Saudi relationship and take into greater consideration human rights and democratic principles. He has also vowed to reverse President Donald Trump’s policy of giving Saudi Arabia “a blank check to pursue a disastrous set of policies,” including the targeting of female activists. Al-Hathloul was found guilty and sentenced to five years and eight months by the kingdom’s anti-terrorism court on charges of agitating for change, pursuing a foreign agenda, using the internet to harm public order and cooperating with individuals and entities that have committed crimes under anti-terror laws, according to state-linked Saudi news site Sabq. The charges all come under the country’s broadly worded counterterrorism law. She has 30 days to appeal the verdict. “She was charged, tried and convicted using counter-terrorism laws,” her sister, Lina al-Hathloul, said in a statement. “My sister is not a terrorist, she is an activist. To be sentenced for her activism for the very reforms that MBS and the Saudi kingdom so proudly tout is the ultimate hypocrisy,” she said, referring to the Saudi crown prince by his initials. Sabq, which said its reporter was allowed inside the courtroom, reported that the judge said the defendant had confessed to committing the crimes and that her confessions were made voluntarily and without coercion.
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