Kuwait decided to scrap a deal to form a $17.4 billion petrochemical joint venture with Dow Chemical, potentially upsetting the largest US chemicals company’s plans to buy rival Rohm & Haas.
Top exporter Saudi Arabia is set to cut oil supplies further in the new year, potentially taking output below its agreed the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) target, as it strives to shore up a collapsing market, oil market sources said.
Major US airlines are cheering the jaw-dropping decline in fuel prices, but at the same time are wincing that some of the insurance they bought to hedge against fuel spikes seems to have been a waste of money.
Rosneft sees low output growth MOSCOW: Russia’s largest and fastest growing oil firm, Rosneft, said its output growth will be insignificant in 2009, after a healthy rise in 2008, due to the impact of the financial crisis.
Russia should not slash oil export duty to zero and will keep on track its 2009 spending plans drafted during years of economic boom, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said.
British oil and gas producers Venture Production and Dana Petroleum said their jointly held Grouse oilfield in the central North Sea started production and met initial targets.
Crisis-stricken Ukraine may count its $2 billion debt for Russian gas deliveries against future fees for Russian gas transit to European customers, a Gazprom spokesman said.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) began processing crude oil at a new refinery in western India, almost doubling company output and creating the world’s biggest refining complex just as global oil demand retreats.
