As the global oil and gas markets are recovering from the steep sell-off last Monday, threats in the market are not just linked to demand-supply concerns. Cybersecurity specialists reported this week that hackers managed to get access to a large amount of data from Saudi oil giant Aramco. The company has confirmed that around 1TB of (confidential) data was stolen from its servers. According to AP sources, the data has been put on offer on the darknet for a price of $50 million.

Crude oil prices briefly dipped after the Energy Information Administration reported a crude oil inventory build of 2.1 million barrels for the week to July 16.

After a period of relative stability in the oil market where U.S. crude benchmark WTI was trading above $70 a barrel for more than a month, traders are now bracing for a wild ride for the rest of the summer.

America Looks For A Balance Between Oil Needs And Climate Reality

Houston Scrambles To Remain The Energy Capital Of The U.S.

After plunging nearly 7% on Monday, oil prices saw a leveling off and even a smidgeon of a rebound on Tuesday in what many hope will be a new state of calm in the market.

From OPEC to U.S. shale, from fracking to negative oil prices, from endless political debates to inventories, the fossil fuel industry is never short on headlines. But the industry has a few lesser-known tidbits that might come as a surprise to even the savviest oil industry connoisseur.

Saudi Arabia remained China’s single largest crude oil supplier in June, ahead of Russia, although Saudi shipments to the world’s top oil importer fell by 19 percent last month amid lower overall imports, according to official Chinese customs data cited by Reuters.

The recent OPEC+ meeting ended with an agreement that would gradually increase the cartel’s monthly production until in late 2022 all of the 9.7 mm BOPD that had originally been withheld from the market, was restored. There was already an agreement in place through December of 2021, but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s, (KSA) desire to extend it to the end of next year was a bone of contention with the United Arab Emirates, (UAE). This agreement was not reached easily and required some negotiation and compromise to achieve. It has been widely reported that the crux of the disagreement between KSA and the UAE, was the latter’s desire for a higher output ceiling from which its share of curtailment would be calculated. This, while certainly true, is not the only factor in the new assertiveness demonstrated by the UAE in OPEC affairs.

Figures released last week show that China’s crude oil imports in the first half of 2021 declined for the first time in eight years.

Oil prices are likely to record their worst week since March under the double blow of additional OPEC supply coming to markets and unfavorable fuel inventory data from the United States.

Indian refiners imported in June 2021 the lowest volume of crude oil in nine months, as purchases slowed down in April and May when India imposed regional mobility restrictions to curb a resurgence in COVID cases, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting tanker data from trade sources.