RIYADH: Oil prices rose on Thursday as hopes of a robust fuel demand recovery in top oil consumer China offset losses arising from strength in the greenback and a large build in US crude inventory.
Brent crude futures rose 46 cents, or 0.54 percent, to $85.84 per barrel at 08.30 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 57 cents, or 0.73 percent to $79.16 a barrel.
The International Energy Agency said that oil demand will rise by 2 million barrels per day in 2023, up 100,000 bpd from last month’s forecast to a record 101.9 million bpd, with China making up 900,000 bpd of the increase.
Guyana sees potential for lucrative carbon-offset business
Guyana, which has jumped into the forefront of offshore oil exploration, is using its inland forests to tap carbon markets, in a business, the government sees as more profitable than using the acreage for mining or agriculture, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said on Wednesday.
The South American country, one of the fastest growing oil-producing nations after a consortium led by Exxon Mobil Corp. discovered billions of barrels of oil in the last decade, has 90 percent of its territory covered by forests.
Its sales of carbon credits could generate $4 billion to $5 billion for the country, Jagdeo told an energy conference.
Mining and agriculture sustained the economy before Guyana, among South America’s most underdeveloped nations, started producing oil in 2019.
Guyana’s more than 18 million hectares of forests are estimated to store some 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The country aims to maintain 99.5 percent of its forests.
The decision was not made “based on altruism,” Jagdeo said during the second day of Guyana’s Energy Conference and Expo.
“We are monetizing these resources and we are utilizing these resources to develop our country,” he said.
Marathon Oil beats fourth-quarter profit estimates
Oil and gas producer Marathon Oil Corp. on Wednesday beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit, boosted by higher crude prices as the geopolitical crisis in eastern Europe crimped global energy supplies.
Marathon forecast 2023 spending to be in the range of $1.9 billion to $2 billion, higher than expectations of $1.4 billion for 2022, and said it expects its 2023 production to be 395,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Production in the reported quarter stood at 333,000 boepd, compared to 353,000 boepd in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Houston, Texas-based Marathon’s adjusted net income stood at 88 cents per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, beating analysts’ average expectation of 84 cents per share, according to Refinitiv IBES.
(With input from Reuters)
