RIYADH: Oil prices fell on Wednesday after rising in the previous three sessions as the market tussled between concerns about the global economy and tight global oil supplies.
Brent crude futures for August dropped 84 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $117.14 a barrel by 0444 GMT. The August contract will expire on Thursday and the more-active September contract was at $113.17, down 63 cents, or 0.6 percent.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures slid 54 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $111.22 a barrel.
Nigeria raises $482 million from marginal oilfield licenses
Nigeria has raised more than $482 million from the issuance of oil prospecting licenses after it offered 57 fields for bidding, the petroleum regulator said on Tuesday.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission said over 70 percent of the awardees have fully paid for their licenses, two years after bids were sought for the oil blocks. It did not say how many licenses were issued.
Marginal fields are smaller oil blocks located onshore or in shallow waters and are typically developed by local companies.
The NUPRC, which was established last year after Nigeria passed a new petroleum law, said 30 oil fields were awarded between 1999 to 2010, with 17 producing. The latest round of 57 oilfields began in 2020.
Nigeria’s oil minister said on Friday that after meeting with oil companies he expects to see some improvement in the sector that will enable Africa’s top producer to meet its OPEC production quota by the end of August.
Exxon, Imperial to sell Canada shale assets
US oil major Exxon Mobil Corp. and Imperial Oil Ltd. said on Tuesday they will sell their Montney and Duvernay shale oil and gas assets in Canada to Whitecap Resources Inc. for $1.48 billion.
Exxon and Imperial, which jointly own the assets, began marketing them at the start of this year, hoping to capitalize on a rebound in oil and gas prices.
The assets were valued at up to $1 billion in January by industry insiders.
A strong run-up in commodity prices since then, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stoking global supply concerns, has pushed up the value of oil and gas properties across North America.
Imperial’s share in the sale will be around $729 million, the companies said on Tuesday.
The assets being sold include 567,000 net acres in the Montney shale play, 72,000 net acres in the Duvernay basin and additional acreage in other areas of Alberta.
(With inputs from Reuters)
