UAE fintech Tabby raises $58M in Series C to expand its offering

Riyadh: Oil prices rose on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session, on optimism that the lifting of strict COVID-19 restrictions in China will lead to a recovery in fuel demand in the world’s largest oil importer.

Brent crude futures were up 76 cents, or 0.88%, at $86.68 a barrel by 10 a.m. Saudi time, after rising 1.7% in the previous session.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 87 cents, or 1.09%, to $81.05, after gaining 0.4% on Tuesday.

China’s COVID-19 reopening will push oil demand to new high in 2023: IEA

China’s lifting of COVID-19 restrictions will push global oil demand to a record high this year, while price-cap sanctions on Russia could dent supply, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

“The outlook for the oil market in 2023 is subject to two uncertainties: Russia and China,” the Paris-based energy watchdog said in its monthly oil report.

“A slowdown in Russian supply amid the full impact of sanctions (while) China will drive nearly half of global demand growth, although the shape and pace of its reopening remains uncertain.”

Weak industrial activity and mild weather helped cut oil demand by nearly 1 million bpd in the final quarter of 2022 in developed OECD countries.

But while a mild recession is possible but likely in Europe and the U.S., China’s expected reopening will fuel a rebound in nearby Asian economies and look set to overtake India as the leader in global oil demand growth.

Guyana wants India’s long-term offer to buy crude oil

Guyana hopes to soon receive an offer from India to buy long-term oil from the South American country, President Irfaan Ali said on Tuesday, in a new attempt at an intergovernmental agreement that could lead to better sales terms for Guyana.

The Guyana government is entitled to a share of crude oil produced off the country’s coast by a consortium led by Exxon Mobil Corp. Ali’s government has received 13 shipments of crude oil in 2022 and is expected to receive and export 17 shipments this year, the finance minister said earlier this week.

“India has made it clear that they are interested in being one of the buyers of Guyana oil,” Ali told a news conference at the state capitol in Georgetown.

“The technical team will work to see what India proposes,” he added.

Ali traveled to India earlier this month, where he met Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and encouraged oil companies to bid for upcoming blocks for crude and natural gas exploration.

Venezuela’s PDVSA freezes most oil exports for contract review

The new head of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA has suspended most oil export contracts while his team reviews them to avoid payment defaults, according to an internal document seen by Reuters and people familiar with the matter.

Since the United States first imposed trade sanctions on PDVSA in 2019, the company has increasingly turned to little-known middlemen to distribute its oil exports, leading to steep price discounts and payment problems affecting its cash flow.

The freezing order has caused delays at the port because the loaded vessel has been removed and awaits new instructions, the people said.

PDVSA’s new chief executive, Pedro Rafael Tellechea, wrote last week to the heads of the company’s supply and trade, domestic market, international market, finance and foreign affairs departments, informing them of the contract suspension. The letter did not specify how long the freeze would last.

So far, the suspension has affected little-known companies that act as middlemen in PDVSA’s sales to Asian refiners. Cargoes chartered by U.S. oil company Chevron and Cuba’s Cubametales were not affected by the contract revision, according to separate documents and sources.

(Input from Reuters)