On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump crushed any hopes of a trade deal with China when he announced that China “broke the deal” and that, as a consequence, the U.S. will enforce even higher tariffs on some imports from China starting on Friday, May 10. Is oil resolving trade war in talks?

According to some experts, however, the dip in crude prices is just temporary. With global crude supply tightening thanks to sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, as well as a surprise decline in U.S. crude production, long-term price projections are looking up. In fact, West Texas Intermediate and Brent futures are up by 30 percent or more year to date, and MarketWatch reports that analysts at Barclays are extremely optimistic, already increasing their third-quarter forecasts by $4 each for both benchmarks.

The United States has become one of the most important energy producers–and currently the fastest growing producer of “global energy supplies” — thanks to the shale oil boom in the West Texas Permian Basin. At the exact same time, China has become the fastest-growing energy consumer, especially when it comes to oil and liquefied natural gas–both of which the U.S. has in spades. “So while the dispute around tariffs goes far beyond trade balances,” argues Sheppard, “energy is one area where the two countries have a mutual interest in finding common ground.

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Source: oilprice.com

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U.S. shale oil—which just four years ago was the world’s second most expensive oil resource—is now the second cheapest source of new oil supply globally, just behind the giant onshore oil fields in the Middle East, Rystad Energy said on Thursday.

Rystad Energy estimates in its latest cost of supply curve update that the average Brent Crude breakeven price for tight oil is now US$46 a barrel, just four dollars above the average $42 per barrel breakeven oil price for the giant onshore fields in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries.

According to the Q1 Dallas Fed Energy Survey, with executives from 82 E&P firms chiming in, average breakeven prices to profitably drill a new well in the U.S. range from $48 to $54 per barrel, depending on the region. Drillers need $50 a barrel on average to profitably drill a new well, down from $52 per barrel when the same question was asked last year. Average breakeven prices in Midland in the Permian were $48, the lowest-cost in the U.S., and the lowest-cost region in the past three years.

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Source: oilprice.com

Men work 100 hours a week. Roads are a mess. Electricity can be in short supply. But “anyone with a pulse” can make $100,000. You won’t believe what’s happening in the Permian Basin.

PECOS, Texas — Welcome to the Permian Basin, six hours west of Dallas.

Compared to the last West Texas oil boom in 2014, there’s almost four times more oil flowing in the Permian Basin.

Oil and gas companies have turned this dusty, desert landscape into a heavy industrial zone. Small towns, once sleepy, are now exploding. The pace is so frantic, I want to know if Texas has the infrastructure and resources to keep this up?

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Source: WFFA.com