Riyadh: Tuesday saw a slight increase in oil prices as traders focused on supply cuts by the world's two largest oil exporters, Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as a weaker dollar. This helped oil prices recover some of their losses from the previous session.
At 8:38 a.m. Saudi Arabian time, Brent crude futures increased 38 cents, or 0.49 percent, to $78.07 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude increased 40 cents, or 0.55 percent, to $73.39.
Prices decreased 1% on Monday as a result of higher expectations for future US interest rate increases and investor take-profit orders following last week's 4.5 percent increase.
Also Read: The Rise of Social Entrepreneurship: Doing Well by Doing Good
The benchmark prices increased as a result of supply reductions by Saudi Arabia and Russia planned for August. The US dollar also gained support by falling to a two-month low. A declining dollar lowers the cost of crude for owners of other currencies and frequently increases demand for oil.
Russia announced last week that it would reduce its oil exports by 500,000 bpd next month, and Saudi Arabia said last week that it would extend the 1 million barrel per day cuts at least through August.
With China's demand and OPEC+'s cuts, the oil market will tighten, according to the IEA.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, or OPEC+, have agreed to cut their oil production, which will likely keep the market tight in the second half of the year despite a weak global economy, according to the head of the International Energy Agency on Monday.
According to IEA Chief Fatih Birol, "Even in slow economic growth, China and other developing countries' demand is strong."
Also Read: The Role of Big Data in Business Decision-Making
"We still believe that we may see tightness in the market in the second half of this year," he continued, "especially when combined with the production cuts coming from key producing countries."
BP pays $10.75 million to resolve a US market manipulation case.
US energy regulators announced in a filing that oil major BP had agreed to pay a civil penalty of $10.75 million to address claims that company traders had manipulated natural gas markets in 2008.
The Houston Ship Channel's next-day gas market was allegedly manipulated by BP between mid-September and November 30, 2008, in violation of the Natural Gas Act, according to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In the case, BP made payments totaling $24.35 million in civil fines in December 2020 and $250,295 in unjust profit disgorgement in January 2021. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit remanded the case back to FERC to reassess the civil penalty, but the company paid those fines against its will.
The case is resolved by the settlement that was disclosed in the filing late on Friday.
According to the agreement, FERC stated that BP would not ask for the $250,295 in disgorgement it has already paid back.
In addition, the regulator stated that its Office of Enforcement "will not object should BP choose to seek to reclaim the excess payment of $13,606,686 through a suit" in the US Court of Federal Claims or any other forum with appropriate jurisdiction.
The case concerned actions taken by BP traders to profit from market turbulence around the time Hurricane Ike made landfall in the Houston region in September 2008.
The Houston Ship Channel Gas Daily index was allegedly suppressed and the value of BP's stock was increased through illegal physical gas sales, according to the FERC's Office of Enforcement.
President: Poland wants NATO pipelines to extend further east.
Before departing for Vilnius, where the NATO summit will take place starting on Tuesday, President Andrzej Duda said that Poland wants NATO to talk about extending its Cold War-era oil pipeline system further east.
"We will undoubtedly bring up the issue of NATO pipelines and fuel supply pipeline expansion. Because they are the remains of what was constructed during the Cold War, they end in Germany today, Duda told reporters.
Also Read: Godrej Aerospace to start Manufacturing parts for Boeing and Airbus
"We would like the alliance to finally decide that it will finance the expansion so that they reach NATO's eastern flank after more than 20 years of our presence in the alliance," he continued.
Across Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, the Central Europe Pipeline System of NATO is a high-pressure pipeline network that carries jet fuel, petrol, diesel fuel, and naphtha.