Oil prices soared more than 3 per cent on Monday, with Brent hitting its highest in more than two years, after major producers said the global market was on its way to re-balancing, while Turkey threatened to cut oil flows from Iraq's Kurdistan region toward its ports.
The November Brent crude futures contract settled up US$2.16, or 3.8 per cent, at $59.02 a barrel, its highest since July, 2015.
US West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery rose $1.56, or 3 per cent, to settle at $52.22 a barrel, the highest since April.
"It's all driven by the idea that the production cut is starting to work and the rebalance is underway," said Gene McGillian, director of market research at Tradition Energy in New York.
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Even as both contracts rallied, concerns about US production growth weighed on WTI, widening its discount, he said.
The spread between WTI and Brent futures widened to $6.61, its steepest since August 2015.
Turkey has said it could cut off a pipeline that carries oil from northern Iraq to the global market, putting more pressure on the Kurdish autonomous region over its independence referendum.
The Iraqi government does not recognise the referendum and has called on foreign countries to stop importing Kurdish crude.
"If this boycott call proves successful, a good 500,000 fewer barrels of crude oil per day would reach the market," Commerzbank said in a note.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and several other producers have cut production by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) since the start of 2017, helping lift oil prices by about 15 per cent in the past three months.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq, who chaired Friday's meeting in Vienna of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, said output curbs were helping to cut global crude inventories to their five-year average, OPEC's stated target.
Russia's energy minister said no decision was expected before January on whether to extend output curbs beyond the end of March. Other ministers suggested such a decision could be taken before the end of this year.
Iran expects to maintain overall crude and condensate exports at around 2.6 million bpd for the rest of 2017, a senior official from the country's state oil company said.
The energy minister from the United Arab Emirates said the country's compliance with OPEC's supply cuts was 100 per cent.
Nigeria is pumping below its agreed output cap, its oil minister said.
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Key developments in maritime dispute
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
