Petrobras, Contango Market: Your Daily Energy News

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News highlights gathered by Industrial Info and IIR Energy (Sugar Land, Texas) dealing with the energy markets.

PRODUCTION
Petrobras to Cut Production, Capex - Brazilian oil company Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) on Thursday said it was dialing back short-term production, delaying a dividend payment and trimming its 2020 investment plan. Petrobras said it was reducing oil production by 100,000 barrels per day through the end of March due to lower global demand. Petrobras said it would cut capital spending this year to $8.5 billion from $12 billion by delaying offshore exploration and work on platforms and refineries. (Reuters)

CRUDE OIL
U.S. Department of Energy Ditches Plan to Buy Oil for Strategic Petroleum Reserve - The U.S. Department of Energy said on Thursday it has ditched plans to purchase crude for the nation's emergency reserve due to a lack of funding from Congress, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump's plan to give relief to energy companies amid the global oil market collapse. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette had asked lawmakers for $3 billion to purchase up to 77 million barrels to fill the reserve, but the stimulus package passed by the Senate on Wednesday did not include the funding. The initial purchase was to be 30 million barrels. (Reuters)

Brent Crude's Fall Creates Steepest Contango in 11 Years - This Reuters article discusses how the discount on front-month Brent crude oil futures to later contracts increased to an 11 year high on Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to cause an unprecedented slump in global demand. The spread on the May to November contracts had widened to as much as minus $10.31 per barrel at 1004 GMT, a level not seen since January 2009. The so-called contango market structure implies traders expect oil prices to be higher in the future, in this case when the virus pandemic has hopefully passed, leading them to store crude onshore or in some cases at sea. (Reuters)

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About Industrial Info
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