THE MONTH IN BRIEF: Oil back above $70, Venezuela in more trouble and Iraq tries again on Kurdish export deal

• Published date: 01 April 2018
• Date: 01 April 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/oet.12562

THE MONTH IN BRIEF

Oil back above $70, Venezuela in more trouble and Iraq tries

again on Kurdish export deal

Brent rose above $70/bbl for the first time since January on

talk of imminent cuts in Iraqi exports because of loading

problems at Basrah and remarks by Saudi Arabia’s Energy

Minister, Khalid al-Falih floating the idea of extending

OPEC’s production cuts beyond their expiry in December

into 2019. A further boost to crude prices came from the

growing hostility of President Trump’s administration to

Iran and the implied threat to reimpose sanctions lifted after

the 2015 deal on Iran’s enrichment of nuclear fuel. A hawk-

ish tone emerged following a meeting in Washington

between President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince, Muham-

mad bin Salman, and was later reinforced by the appoint-

ment of John Bolton, who is noted for his anti-Iranian views,

as National Security Adviser. Prompt-month Brent futures

settled at $70.45 on March 23: some $6.62 over their March

1 level. Oil markets were also affected by other events ema-

nating from Washington, including earlier in the month the

dismissal of Rex Tillerson as US Secretary of State and his

replacement by another Iran hawk, former CIA Director,

Mike Pompeo. As if this were not enough, President Trump

sparked fears of a trade war when he imposed tariffs on

imports of steel and aluminium on a number of countries,

including China, which retaliated by proposing a tariff on

imports of US ethanol.

Iran was not the only focus of US attention. President

Trump also signed an executive order barring US firms from

being party to any transactions using Venezuela’s digital

currency alternative to the dollar, known as the petro. Mean-

while, Venezuela was forced to shut 3 refineries because of

a lack of crude and a shortage of staff, as oil production con-

tinued to fall there. A deal to export up to 60 000 bpd of

crude from Kirkuk by road tanker to Iran was reported to

have been abandoned because of security concerns, forcing

Iraq to reopen talks with the Kurdistan Regional Govern-

ment (KRG) on exporting Kirkuk’s crude once more via the

KRG’s pipeline to Ceyhan.

The United States announced restrictions on the involve-

ment of US companies in oil operations in South Sudan.

Rosneft said it would go it alone after ExxonMobil quit joint

projects because of US sanctions. Exports of Papua New

Guinea’s Kutubu crude were interrupted by an earthquake.

Iran cut oil deliveries to Syria, citing unpaid debts. China

and Venezuela revived a plan for a 400 000 bpd refinery in

Guangdong. Norway’s Statoil said it would change its name

to Equinor.

How to cite this article: Oil back above $70, Vene-

zuela in more trouble and Iraq tries again on Kurdish

export deal. Oil and Energy Trends. 2018;43:6.

https://doi.org/10.1111/oet.12562

DOI: 10.1111/oet.12562

6© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/oet Oil and Energy Trends. 2018;43:6.