US and Canadian oil producer suffer the most from current oil price collapse

Oil price has collapsed and is not going to rebound quickly. But not all the oil-consumer countries benefit from low prices in the same way. And not all oil-producer countries suffer equally.

Oil prices change as the values of currencies do. Purchase or sale contracts for oil are usually long term ones, the price of oil in such contracts does not change very frequently. Fluctuating exchange rates of currencies are still enormously important for the economies. Oil for $40 per barrel does not mean that this barrel is also as cheap in all countries as consumers have to buy dollars in order to purchase a barrel. Or producers sell their barrels for dollars and then exchange these dollars for their own currency. The domestic price based on the exchange rate is not always stable. Continue reading →

Near zero eurozone inflation hands ECB ‘green light’ for fresh stimulus boost

Eurozone inflation was stuck near zero in November, giving the ECB the “final green light” to unleash a fresh wave of stimulus on Thursday in an attempt to boost growth and ward off the threat of deflation. Consumer prices rose by just 0.1pc in the year to November. Source: Telegraph

Turkey replaces Russian gas to Azerbaijani

Ankara would consider additional supplies of liquefied natural gas. If Russia stops supplying natural gas to Turkey, Ankara will increase gas purchases from Azerbaijan and Iran. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek of Turkey, TRT Haber TV channel reported in Tuesday. Source: Newz.AZ

QE May Give Market Twitches in 2016 as Euro-Area Bond Sales Ebb

Shrinking bond sales by euro-region governments are poised to magnify the market impact of the ECB’s stimulus plan next year, whatever its policy decision on Thursday. Gross issuance will fall 3.9 percent to 863 billion euros ($916 billion) from last year’s level, according to the average of six estimates from banks. Source: Bloomberg

IEA Chief Reiterates Forecast for $80 Oil

Oil prices will start climbing in 2017, rising to $80 a barrel in coming years as production declines in some regions and global demand continues to grow, the executive director of the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. Source: WSJ

Warm countries launch Sun-energy alliance

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched in Paris an alliance of 121 sun-drenched countries, rich and poor, to dramatically boost the use of solar power. The alliance issued a declaration vowing to mobilise more than $1 trillion (940 million euros) in investment by 2030. Source: AFP/France24

Bank of England to Ease Capital Pressure on U.K. Banks

The Bank of England said that capital requirements wouldn’t continue to creep up in coming years stating that lenders needed to hold Tier 1 equity of 11% of risk adjusted assets by 2019, a target that most banks have nearly already hit. Source: WSJ