Crude

Hurricane Barry took a 276,000 b/d bite out of U.S. crude oil production in July, the largest decline in monthly production in more than a decade, but that decline was temporary and geographically isolated to the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico (GOM), according to the Energy Information Administration, which expects production to increase through the end of the year.

Rattler Midstream LP, a subsidiary of Diamondback Energy Inc., and Oryx Midstream, late Thursday struck a $355 million agreement to buy Permian Basin-focused Reliance Gathering LLC.

Surging domestic production again prompted the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to lower its Henry Hub spot price average for 2020, and the crude forecast also moved lower on a weakening global economy.

China announced on Friday it plans to impose tariffs beginning Sept. 1 on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods, including domestic oil, in response to rising taxes set to be imposed by the Trump administration.

Energy Transfer LP (ET) has launched another open season to test support for crude shipments from the Bakken/Three Forks formation to Texas.

The Hiland Crude LLC unit of Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) and a subsidiary of Tallgrass Energy LP (TGE) are holding a joint binding tariff open season through July 28 to test support for crude transportation service from Bakken Shale origin points to delivery points along the Pony Express system and to the Cushing hub.

Plentiful oil production growth from countries that are not members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) should adequately supply “any likely level” of demand through 2020, helping to contain prices for consumers in a “vulnerable” global economy, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The Port of Corpus Christi, about 200 miles south of the energy capital of Houston, is expected to emerge over the coming decade as the nation’s No. 1 crude export hub because of major investments in shipping facilities and pipeline infrastructure, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Crude oil prices have taken a hit in recent weeks amid concerns over global economic growth prospects, just as U.S. production is on track to reach record levels and as recent data points to swelling domestic stockpiles, leaving the market to navigate “rising supply and demand uncertainties,” according to analysts.