Geopolitics to drive oil prices once again

I have picked up some news items from Oil & Energy Insider that support my hypothesis that US Shale output will continue to rise but some of the oil producing countries may become victim of commotion, anarchy and proxy wars. This will automatically reduce the supplies from these countries and there will be no pressure on OPEC to extend output cuts anymore.

Energy sector analysts are desperately awaits the outcome of OPEC’ meeting in Vienna scheduled for 25^th May. While the overwhelming expectation is that the cartel will agree on a six-month extension of the production cuts. However, now top OPEC officials are wondering if it will be enough. OPEC’s monthly report revised expected US shale growth sharply upwards, predicting output to increase 64 percent more than originally expected. That equates to projected growth from US shale of 950,000 bpd this year. OPEC fears that an extension will boost prices just enough to allow shale companies to lock in hedges once again, ensuring another wave of supply.

Tensions between Libya’s Presidential Council (PC) and the National Oil Corporation (NOC) are growing. The PC, which presently functions (that could change any day) as the head of state and military, and which is responsible for selecting members of the government, is ostensibly in control of investment decisions concerning Libyan oil. It was given this power via a resolution passed earlier this year. But the cracks in this set-up are already showing. The NOC is now accusing the PC of using the resolution to give German Wintershall a free pass in terms of compliance terms that it had agreed to with the NOC back in 2010. The NOC is now saying that the PC’s liberal stance on Wintershall is costing Libya $250 million because the dispute between the NOC and Wintershall has led to the shutdown of 160,000 bpd in production capacity. So, what does this mean for Libya? For the moment, production continues to rise. It’s now jumped to 780,000 bpd for the first time since 2014. And while elsewhere such a dispute might not rock any serious boats, in Libya this is the stuff of bloody changes in power. The NOC and PC are only hanging on to a modicum of control in the face of numerous militia factions that shift alliances with the wind. If the PC refuses to meet the NOC’s demand to revoke the resolution that gave it control over investment decisions, we could very easily see another shift in power in Libya. The NOC is bent on raising production a million bpd by the end of the year, and if it feels the PC is getting in its way, it may have the power to sideline it. The bottom line: The market responds in a knee-jerk fashion to any increase in production in Libya, but it’s important to keep in mind that Libya’s oil output on any given day is fragile at the very best.

For the first time in history, Tunisia has deployed armed forces to guard its oil and gas fields in the south, under threat from ongoing protests. Protests in the south have been going on for several years now, as the North African state tries to turn its economy around in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring. But so far, planned government reforms have not been met with much enthusiasm. The south of the country still feels marginalized, and high unemployment—particularly among youth—and a perceived misdistribution of resource wealth are fanning some dangerous flames. Resource wealth, by regional comparison, is pretty low, but it’s enough to get the Tunisian youth up in arms. In 2013, Tunisia’s crude oil production hit a historic low of 60,000 bpd. By the end of 2016, it had fallen to 49,000 bpd. Right now, media puts production at 44,000 bpd, and if the youth is not appeased, even this paltry resource volume could be at risk.

Kenya’s first planned oil exports are also at risk. Residents of Kenya’s Turkana South have threatened to block the planned transportation of crude oil to Mombasa. Transportation of the oil from the Turkana fields is expected to start early next month, but locals are threatening to block it to buy time for more negotiations on revenue-sharing, job allocation and infrastructure deals. In mid-March, Kenya greenlighted a crude oil export agreement with Tullow Oil, Maersk International and Africa Oil, with pilot exports slated to start in June in a major milestone for the East African country, which was put on the oil map with a massive 2012 discovery. The companies have stored 70,000 barrels of crude oil, which will be used for part of the pilot program. Three companies announced that they will immediately begin transporting crude oil from the South Lokichar field in the prolific Turkana basin to the Kenyan Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL) at the port of Mombasa. From there, it will be exported to market in June—that is, unless protests get in the way. The South Lokichar field is being explored and developed by a joint venture between three companies. It is estimated that there are about a billion barrels of oil in the Lokichar area. 

Pakistan Stock Market Fails in Breaching 50,000 mark

At Pakistan Stock Exchange, bullish sentiment resurfaced in the later part of the week ended 5^th May 2017. The rally was driven by upbeat about earning of listed companies and offtake announcements by Cements, Urea & POL products). This elevated the benchmark index by paltry 1.1%WoW to close at 49,851 points, a little shy of 50,000 mark. Bearish sentiments plunged average daily turnover by 26.4%WoW to nearly 264 million shares.

Key news flows during the week were: 1) CPI based inflation for April’17 declining to 4.78%YoY as compared to 4.92%YoY a month ago, 2) Ministry of Finance agreed to release Rs104 billion to settle pending power subsidy claims for the current financial year, 3) SECP announced the criteria for mutual funds’ investment in the listed companies, restricting investments in illiquid and unprofitable stocks and 4) Supreme Court of Pakistan formed the joint investigation team (JIT) comprising of six members from various agencies to investigate aspects of the Panama papers case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family.

Stock leading the bourse included: NCL, BAFL, EPCL, LUCK, whereas the laggards were: AGTL, PIOC, SNGP and PTC. FIPI data points to foreign investors pulling out US$19.28 million during the week accelerating their exit over last week’s net outflow of US$10.71 million. The month of May remains a critical for markets as 15^th May approaches closer, for the MSCI revision. Additionally, CPEC summit around middle of this month in Beijing is expected to boost investors’ sentiment for Construction and Materials sector. Investors also await the federal and provincial budgetary incentives expected for the final budget before next election. 

OCAC recorded April'17 POL industry sales of 2.22 million tons rising 16%MoM/11%YoY beating the average seasonal uptick, based on strong retail fuels sales growth (MOGAS/HSD sales up 12/11%MoM and 14/5%YoY respectively) and increased generation on furnace oil (FO). From a cumulative perspective 10MFY17 industry sales now stand at their highest recorded mark of 21.04 million tons (up 12%YoY) where retail fuel growth led the charge (MOGAS/HSD sales growth of 17/12%YoY), supported by FO sales growth of 10%YoY. Growth in all three of these segments, which make up 96% of total industry volumes, bodes well for market penetrating OMCs focusing on these segments for growth.

CPPA reported generation numbers for February/March of 2017 where 6.38/7.62TwH were generated. The weighted average cost of generation during the months stood at Rs5.18/6.22/KwH up 31/12%YoY marking a general rise in the cost of generation in the public sector. Cumulative 9MFY17 generation amounts to 76.54TwH rising 5.8%YoY, aided in large part by 5.2%/65.2%YoY increases in FO/Nuclear generation, at a total net dependable capacity of 11,812MW (50% load factor on nameplate generation capacity of 23,623MW). Thermal sources for generation supplied 67% of total units produced where FO/HSD based generation persisted (30.1/1.2%). In a power policy backdrop riddled by long standing, systemic impediments, a one-off payment before summer, is a stop-gap measure at best, kicking the can down the road. Investors agree, as evidenced by the 9.2%CYTD (ex-KEL) decline in the sector's performance, where an investment case for KAPCO on yield remains compelling, while a 'chink' in NEPRA's tariff setting authority may give long term space to push through lucrative tariff for an extension.

Power mix remain steady as generation from renewable, ex-hydel showed a marked rise with Solar/Wind/Bagasse based projects increasing units generated by 310/69/63%YoY, but maintain meager shares of 0.6/1.0/0.8% in the national power mix during 9MFY17. Thermal sources for generation supplied 67% of total units produced as compared to 65% in 9MFY16, where FO/HSD based generation persisted (30.1/1.2% vs. 30.2/1.7% during 9MFY16). RLNG's share in the power mix continued to climb (4.9% as of 9MFY17) leading to decline in the share of units produced from gas, and is expected to continue tracking upwards as public sector RLNG projects near completion. Moreover, RLNG's cost of generation for 9MFY17 averages at Rs7.0/KwH, while March'17 cost of generation stood at Rs7.93/KwH, making RLNG based generation 23.2/49.0% cheaper than FO/HSD sourced units during the month.

Over the period, combined weighted cost of units generated by state-owned power plants inched up by 3%YoY, despite a 12%YoY increase in cost of generated units on FO (Rs8.8/KwH for 9MFY17). Additional allowances for debt repayment, higher repatriation of funds to provinces has also pulled up the cost of generation on Hydel by 21%YoY to Rs0.12/KwH, still the cheapest source of energy in the country. Feb/March'17 weighted average cost of generation stood at Rs5.18/6.22/KwH up 31/12%YoY marking a general rise in the cost of generation by public sector GENCOS.

Prominent power sector developments include: 1) Ministry of finance giving a nod to pay Rs104 billion as part of FY17's provisioned power sector, consumer subsidy, 2) Prime Minister M expressing dissatisfaction over persistent power blackouts, burdened by soaring shortfalls (5000-6500MW) and 3) CCI in its latest meeting approving amendments to NEPRA Act 1997 curtailing powers of the regulator when setting consumer/power tariffs. In a power policy backdrop riddled by long standing, systemic impediments, a one-off payment before summer, is a stop-gap measure at best, kicking the can down the road. Investors agree, as evidenced by the 9.2%CYTD (ex-KEL) decline in the sector's performance, where an investment case for KAPCO on yield (FY17/18F D/Y of 11.9/12.2%) remains compelling, while a 'chink' in NEPRA's tariff setting authority may give long term space to push through lucrative tariffs for an extension.

Pakistan stock market performance in April 2017 and outlook

Pakistan stock market suffered from two contentious issues, political uncertainty and SECP probe of the erring brokers. The market posted 2.2%MoM paltry gains. While Supreme court judgment fell short of disqualifying the prime minister, investigations against certain brokers, dented investors’ confidence.

While AKD Securities termed investors’ participation healthy with daily trading volume for the month averaging at 240 million shares, activity remaining concentrated in mid-tier stocks. The volume leaders emerged: ASL, TRG and EPCL. In terms of price performance at the main board, Automobiles and Parts were clearly ahead gaining 21.8%MoM on above expected financial results coupled with new model launches, while trailing far behind were Oil & Gas, Cements and Textiles.

The triggers included formal MSCI EM inclusion in May'17 and expectations of populist budgetary measures; any further regulatory tightening by SECP continues to hang in the balance. The brokerage house continues to advocate scrips potentially making it to MSCI EM index (OGDC, HBL, UBL, MCB, LUCK, PSO, HUBC, ENGRO and NML) while also favoring Auto names like INDU and PSMC. However, foreigners continued to sell (April'17 net outflow of US$36.3 million) taking CYTD outflows to US$198.7 million. Going into May'17, AKD Securities expects formal MSCI EM inclusion and anticipated populist budgetary measures to catalyze performance. However, further regulatory tightening along with political noise are key concerns.

Intimidating Iran

Ever since Donald Trump has been elected President of United Sates, pressure is mounting on him to re-impose sanctions on Iran. The Arab monarchs have also form a joint force to avert any perceived threat from Iran. Ironically, the Arabs have been brain washed to believe “Iran is a bigger threat as compared to Israel”. I just pulled out one of my articles, written as back as 29^th April 2012 from the archives for the readers. My special thanks to Facebook for keeping this in my memories.

Over the years the United States and Israel have been trying to intimidate Iran and want it to make the first move. They want to put all the blame on Iran to convince the world, as they (Zionists) control media, that Iran was the first to strike and now they have the reasons to attack the country. Both the United States and Israel have been constantly propagating that Iran is a threat for them and for the entire world. Over the years Iran has applied restraint but it is feared that repeated provocations may end Iran’s patience.
The United States really tested Iran’s patience in 2012, before the super power entered into a deal with Iran. It was deployment of F-22, America's most sophisticated stealth jet fighters at a base in the United Arab Emirates that is less than 200 miles from Iran's mainland. However, the US Air Force adamantly denied that presence of jets was a threat to any country. These F-22 fighters were placed in hangars at UAEs' Al Dafra Air Base, just a short hop over the Persian Gulf from Iran's southern border.
Reportedly, spokesperson of US Air Force avoided confirming the exact location of the F-22s, but told these had been deployed at a base in Southwest Asia. He also clarified that the F-22s were simply taking part in a scheduled deployment and were not a threat for Iran. However, he informed that it was a very normal deployment to strengthen military relationships, promote sovereign and regional security, improve combined tactical air operations and enhance interoperability of forces.
The spokesman declined to say what the Raptors' mission was in the region this time around or how many planes had been deployed, citing operational security. However, he said because of the F-22's next-generation capabilities, any number of planes deployed in the region is a significant move.
The F-22 has been officially combat-operational since December 2005 but no plane was used in Iraq, Afghanistan or in the US-led no-fly mission over Libya, may be because the sophisticated jets simply haven't been needed yet. However, when it comes to dealing with Iran, the US and its allied take extra care to avoid any embarrassment.
Lockheed Martin's in-charge for the F-22 program had told that the plane was perfectly suitable for undertaking more sophisticated adversaries and could be used in deep penetration strike missions in well-defended combat zones inside places like North Korea or Iran.
History tells that all the US missions against Iran faced some kind of adversity and F-22 may not be an exception. The new deployment comes in the midst of the Air Forces' continuing battle with a rare but sustained oxygen problem plaguing the F-22. Since 2008, nearly two dozen pilots have reported experiencing "hypoxia-like symptoms" in mid-air. The problem got so bad that the Air Force grounded the planes fo fixing the problem but never could.
Despite the ongoing issues, the US Air Force says the F-22 is ready for war, should it be called. It says "If our nation needs a capability to enter contested air space, to deal with air forces that are trying to deny our forces the ability to maneuver without prejudice on the ground, it will be the F-22 that takes on that mission”.
Often Pakistani’s fail to understand why the Middle Eastern countries are extending support to the United States in a bid to make Iran bow down? Is the inherent dislike of Arabs for Iran is so high that they are ready to join any endeavor to wipe out the country that has withstood sanctions for more than three decades?