WTI $44.84 -$2.21, Brent $54.67 -$2.41, Diff $9.03 -20c, NG $2.73 -1c

Oil price

It was a bad week for the oil price as the joy of February becomes the reality of March, the strong greenback also put paid to any rally and both WTI and Brent fell nearly 10% on the week. It was a two way pull, as ever increasing stocks with decreasing places in which to store them was countered by another big fall in the rig count. Baker Hughes reported that the overall rig count was down by 67 units to 1125 with the number for oil being down 56 to 866 rigs. In Canada the fall was far greater in percentage terms and whilst the long term nature of the oil sands will not change much it bodes badly for the longer term.

This week is a big one for macro stuff with the ECB continuing with QE, the Fed meeting tomorrow for two days, the UK budget on Wednesday and elections in Israel on Tuesday. The Fed meeting will likely to prevaricate on rates again although we have been warned that the heat of the economy will now be measured on a meeting by meeting basis, what a farce… In the UK it is generally acknowledged that Gideon will throw a fish to the oil and gas industry, this will be helpful but must neither be wasted nor trivialised, the industry has hardly covered itself in glory lately.

Faroe Petroleum

Faroe has announced that it has spudded its Shango well in the Norwegian North Sea, this high impact well is 5 km from the Skirne field and the prospect has been named Skirne East by Total, the operator. This is the start of an exciting drilling campaign which will include two wells on the Pil discovery at Blink and Boomerang and one on the Snilehorn discovery at Bister. All these wells are fully funded and Faroe remains firmly on the bucket list as we approach the seasons drilling.

Aminex

The Tanzanian Government has agreed to defer a two well drilling commitment by Aminex who say that it is in order to assess possible exploration on the deep-water sector of the Nyuni area including 3D seismic.

Sundry

Eni announced on Friday that it was cutting its dividend payment by 30%, along with a 14% cut in capex it will still struggle to balance the books by the looks of it although indicates that dividends may be restored in 2017.

The FT reports today that Total is auctioning off its stake in Laggan-Tormore, old news I think as i’m sure it made the blog last week…

BG is rumoured to be investing in a $4bn gas deal in Egypt for domestic and export sales, apparently if they go ahead the Government have said that they will pay them the money they owe which is nice of them…

Caza has announced that it has received the $4m initial tranche of the recently announced Yorkville loan. Caza is a bucket list stock that has struggled recently as it has to prioritise its drilling commitments alongside keeping licences which are primarily held by production. Being in New Mexico is a big advantage compared to, say, Texas but finances are still tight, hence this Yorkville deal. This will inevitably mean that the upside that I had hoped for this year looks like being postponed and while I am still a big fan of Caza it may necessitate going onto the subs bench for a while.

Afren continues to crater, down 26% this morning at 3.45p and  I am hearing that a number of the hoped for deals just did not materialise in the end and the board were left with little choice, equity holders have really been taken to the cleaners here…

And the Sunday Times asks why Borders & Southern are not participating in the drilling campaign in the Falklands, the indication that a lifestyle company is better than no company at all. The next few weeks might be a good guide as to whether that decision has been a good one but there is little benefit either way for them, especially if the South is not fruitful…

And finally…

At Twickenham on Saturday where England comfortably but not without some hiccups, saw off Scotland who look like being in receipt of the wooden spoon this time next week. With many English fans cheering on Wales who beat Ireland and with France easily beating Italy in Rome next Saturday is going to be very close…

In the Cricket World Cup, Ireland join England and Scotland on the plane home after losing to Pakistan, there were some Irish fans who thought they might make to cut but not as many as English ones…

The Premiership was quite interesting at the weekend both at the top and the bottom. With Chelski dropping two points and the Noisy Neighbours three, both Man Who and the Gooners caught up, tonight the HubCap Stealers attempt to do the same in Swansea. At the bottom, with Burnley winning, the Eagles beating the Super Hoops and the Maccams shipping 4 at home to the Villa, along with Leicester and the Tigers drawing and the Baggies taking all three it is genuinely all to play for. Mr Poyet’s job looks increasingly at risk, often the case as manager of that club…

In the F1 it is very much as you were with Lewis Hamilton cruising home from Rosberg and little else, in fact it didn’t seem that one way or another that many actually turned up on the grid…