Libya's Agoco cuts oil output further due to protests

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco) has cut oil production by another 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) due to protests that have closed off its headquarters for nearly two weeks, a spokesman said on Saturday.

"There is no rational reason for high oil prices," writes Ali Naimi, Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, in today's Financial Times. Well, I can think of one-- if oil prices were lower, the world would want to consume more than is currently being produced.

“I’m very optimistic we will get the contractual support we will need and what I would hope is the pipeline goes all the way to Saint Joh.” – Russ Girling Crude from Alberta’s oil sands sells at a 30% discount to its U.S. counterpart. TransCanada Corp. Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling plans to narrow that gap whether or not his Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico wins approval from the Obama administration.

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell said Tuesday it has shut down 70,000 barrels per day of oil production after thieves attacked a pipeline to draw off oil in southern Nigeria.Shell Petroleum Development Company (SDPC), the company's subsidiary in Nigeria, said it was working to repair leaks on the 90-kilometre-long (60 miles) Nembe Creek line.The line had to be shut down on December 24, the company said, blaming thieves for the problems, with the repairs due to be finished by the end of the month.

Worldwide shale oil production could add $2.7-trillion to the global economy annually by 2035 by slashing the price of crude by as much as $50 a barrel, PwC said on Thursday. Shale oil production could surge to 14 million barrels per day, or as much as 12 percent of total oil output from around 1 percent now, as it expands from its U.S. base over the next two decades, the world’s largest accounting firm said in a report.

Husky Energy Inc, Canada’s No.3 integrated oil company, said it expects higher output in 2013 as it increases oil production and cuts back on natural gas. Husky, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, said it expects to produce 310,000 to 330,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2013. The forecast includes a planned decrease in natural gas production and an increase in light, medium and heavy oil production, reflecting the shift to higher netback opportunities, Husky said in a statement.

Rosneft reported one of the largest rises in crude output among the Russian oil majors last year More crude from state-owned top producer Rosneft kept Russian oil output the highest in the world last year, ahead of Saudi Arabia, Energy Ministry data showed on Wednesday. Crude output edged up almost 1% to a new post-Soviet high of 10.37 million barrels per day (bpd), but the increase could halt this year due to depleted oil fields in West Siberia.