Crude Oil Sets Stage For Possible Lower Opening On Wednesday Morning

March crude oil closed lower on Tuesday and the low range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening on Wednesday.

Stochastics and the RSI are oversold but remain neutral to bearish signaling that sideways to lower prices are possible near term.

If March extends this year's decline, December's low crossing at 38.00 is the next downside target.

Closes below December's low crossing at $38.00 would open the door for a possible test of psychological support crossing at $30.00 later this winter.

Closes above the 20 day moving average crossing at $42.15 would temper the near term bearish outlook in the market.

Closes above the reaction high crossing at $48.59 are needed to confirm that a short term low has been posted.

First resistance is the 20 day moving average crossing at $42.15.

Second resistance is the reaction high crossing at $48.59.

First support is today's low crossing at $38.41.

Second support is December's low crossing at $38.00.

"Chevron Locked Into Contracts.......Also Trying To Unload Big Foot"

"Chevron, BP Locked Into $200 Million Oil Wells Amid Crude Price Declines"
Chevron Corp. other oil producers are locked into drilling offshore wells that cost as much as $200 million each because of rig contracts that were signed when crude was soaring above $140 a barrel....Complete Story

"Pemex May Weather Financial Crisis by Avoiding Marginal Projects, CEO Says"
Petroleos Mexicanos, the state owned oil company, is in better shape to weather the global financial crisis because it avoids marginal projects such as oil sands, Chief Executive Officer Jesus Reyes Heroles said....Complete Story

"Chevron Approaches Oil Cos over Big Foot Farm Out"
Chevron Corp. has approached rival oil producers about the possibility of acquiring part of its stake in the Big Foot oil field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico....Complete Story

"Mitsubishi, Petrobras Team Up to Build $830MM Deepwater Drillship"
Mitsubishi Corp and Petrobras have agreed to jointly build an $830 million ultra-deepwater drillship, slated for delivery in June 2010....Complete Story

Crude Oil Signals Bearish Pricing Possible Near Term

March crude oil was slightly higher overnight due to short covering as it continues to trade sideways to lower off the late January high.

Stochastics and the RSI are oversold but remain neutral to bearish signaling that sideways to lower prices are possible near term.

If March extends the decline, January's low crossing at $39.11 is the next downside target.

Closes above the 20 day moving average crossing at $42.23 are needed to confirm that a short term low has been posted.

Closes above the reaction high crossing at $48.59 are needed to confirm that a trend change has taken place.

First resistance is the 10 day moving average crossing at $40.77.

Second resistance is the 20 day moving average crossing at $42.23.

First support is last Friday's low crossing at $38.60.

Second support is December's low crossing at $38.00.

Crude Oil Industry News For Monday

"Crude Oil Rises on Speculation Economic Stimulus Plan Will Revive Demand"
Crude oil rose the most in two weeks on speculation that a U.S. stimulus plan will revive demand in the world’s largest energy consuming country....Complete Story

"Oil Sands Explorer UTS Energy Rejects Total's $506 Million Takeover Offer"
UTS Energy Corp.’s board said Total SA’s C$617 million ($506 million) offer for the Canadian oil sands explorer is inadequate and recommended shareholders reject the bid by Europe’s third largest petroleum company....Complete Story

"Saudi Arabia Keeps China Oil Cos at Arm's Length"
Despite burgeoning trade between China and Saudi Arabia, progress is slow for China's biggest oil and gas companies in securing equity stakes in Saudi's oil and natural gas fields....Complete Story

"OPEC Shelves 35 Oil Projects, Warns of Falling Investment"
OPEC nations have collectively postponed 35 oil drilling projects that had been in various stages of development a sign that the cartel is starting to feel the impact of low crude prices....Complete Story

"Nigerian Oil Workers Strike over Attacks, Kidnappings"
Oil workers in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta went on strike Monday to complain about a lack of protection from militant groups who attack oil facilities and kidnap workers....Complete Story

Crude Oil Industry Headline News For Friday

"Venezuela Oil Workers Pressure Rig Companies As Woes Mount"
Oil workers aligned with the government of President Hugo Chavez are pressuring rig companies to continue drilling, despite the state's failure to pay for those services at a time of rock-bottom oil prices....Complete Story

"Surge in US Crude Stocks Blunts OPEC Cuts"
Despite OPEC's cut of 1.3 million barrels a day in January, the growing supply glut is a serious setback to the cartel's efforts to curb the crude oil contango....Complete Story

"Crude Oil Falls as U.S. Unemployment Rate Surges, Signaling Lower Demand"
Crude oil fell to a two week low after unemployment in the U.S. climbed in January to the highest level since 1992, signaling that the recession in the world’s biggest energy consuming country is deepening....Complete Story

"Korea National Oil, Ecopetrol Acquire Peru's Petro Tech for $900 Million"
Korea National Oil Corp. and Ecopetrol SA bought Petro-Tech Peruana SA of Peru for $900 million to increase production as falling crude prices reduce the cost of acquiring commodity assets....Complete Story

Oil Industry Stock Market Winners and Losers

Winners

Brigham Exploration 7.46%
Goodrich Petroleum 6.44%
McMoRan Exploration 6.26%
Halliburton 6.15%

Losers

Edge Petroleum -11.11%
FMC Technologies -10.04%
Allis-Chalmers Energy -7.16%
Devon Energy -6.17%
Meridian Resource -5.88%

Change based on the last 2 days of trading

Crude Oil Industry Headline News

"Oil Rises, Rebounding From Two Week Low, on Signs of Stronger Fuel Demand"
Crude oil rose, following a rally in the stock market, and as a government report showed U.S. fuel consumption increased....Complete Story

"Chevron Reports New Discovery in Gulf of Mexico That May Rival Jack Find"
Chevron Corp., the second biggest U.S. oil company, made an oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico that may rival the 500 million-barrel Jack prospect found in 2004....Complete Story

"US Lawmakers Preparing to Draft New Offshore Drilling Laws"
Federal lawmakers are gearing up to legislate a new offshore drilling plan that could restrict development in major areas of the Outer Continental Shelf, but allow some acreage previously closed to access to be opened for exploration....Complete Story

"China's Sinopec Takes A Close Look at Mexico's Oil Patch"
China's Sinopec Group is the first integrated oil company to test the waters in Mexico after Congress passed an energy reform last fall....Complete Story

"Apache Won't Resort to Layoffs at This Time"
Oil and gas producer Apache Corp. will hold on to its employees despite the fact that energy price and profits have plummeted in recent months....Complete Story

Crude Oil Industry Headline News For Wednesday

"Pan-European Oil Pipeline in Doubt"
An oil pipeline linking the Caspian basin and Italy by 2012 appears to be in doubt due to a lack of clear commitment from partner countries Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Italy.....Complete Story

"Oil Declines After Report Shows Larger Than Expected U.S. Inventory Gain"
Crude oil fell after a government report showed that U.S. inventories jumped more than twice what analysts forecast....Complete Story

"Petrobras to Sell 10-Year Bonds on Market Gabrielli Called Too Expensive"
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, is selling dollar bonds today, a week after Chief Executive Officer Jose Sergio Gabrielli said he put off plans to issue debt because international markets are "too expensive"....Complete Story

Crude Oil Industry Headline News For Tuesday

"U.S. Refiners, Steelworkers Reach Tentative Contract Accord, Avert Strike"
Refiners reached a tentative agreement on a new contract for about 30,000 unionized employees, averting a strike that would have affected almost two thirds of U.S. capacity to make gasoline, diesel and other fuels....Complete Story

"BP Reports Its First Quarterly Loss in Seven Years as Oil Prices Decline"
BP Plc, Europe’s second-biggest oil company, posted its first quarterly loss in seven years and predicted demand for crude will continue to fall in 2009 as the global recession deepens....Complete Story

"Iraq Extends 2nd Bidding Round of Oil Contracts"
The Iraqi Oil Ministry gave a two-week extension for foreign oil firms to send in documentation for the second round of licensing for long-term development contracts....Complete Story

"BP Says Oil Majors Could Merge with State Oil Cos"
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said western oil majors could merge with state owned oil companies but dismissed mergers between the majors themselves....omplete Story

Crude Oil Industry Headline News For Monday

"Oil Falls on Speculation Fuel Demand Will Drop More as Recession Deepens"
Crude oil fell on speculation that the recession in the U.S., the world’s biggest energy consuming country, will deepen and reduce demand....Complete Story

"Gasoline Futures Fall, Narrowing Refiner Margins, as Strike May be Averted"
Gasoline futures fell the most in almost a month and refinery margins narrowed on speculation a strike by workers at U.S. fuel plants may be averted....Complete Story

"Oil Industry Wary of New US Interior Secretary's Policies"
Despite Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's vow to draft a comprehensive energy policy that includes new domestic oil and gas drilling, the industry is watching with a wary eye....Complete Story

"Iraq Oil Fields Ready for Revival, Await Foreigners"
Iraq has launched a bidding round for some of its largest oil and gas fields, which it hopes will attract multibillion dollar investments. There is still some confusion over the deals, scheduled to be awarded by June....Complete Story

Crude Oil Industry Headline News

"Total in Fresh Talks with Venezuela on Expanding Ops"
Total is in fresh talks with the Venezuela government about expanding its operations in the South American nation....Complete Story

"Exxon, Chevron Top Analyst Earnings Estimates on Refining Gains"
Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., the biggest U.S. oil companies, exceeded analyst earnings estimates as increased fourth quarter refining profits blunted the impact of a record drop in crude prices....Complete Story

"Mexico's President Meets with Top Oil Cos, Talks Energy Reform"
Mexican President Felipe Calderon met with top executives from some of the world's largest oil companies at the World Economic Forum in Davos....Complete Story

"Nigerian Militants to End Truce in Oil-Rich Delta"
Nigeria's main militant group said on Friday it was calling off a ceasefire after a military strike on one of its camps in the Niger Delta, warning of a "sweeping assault" on the oil industry....Complete Story

"California Rejects Offshore Oil Deal"
California's Land Commission said no to an offshore oil drilling deal saying it would open the door for further offshore development. Environmental groups and the Plains Exploration and Production company....Complete Story

Chevron 4th Quarter Conference Call

Chevron Corp. (ticker CVX) reports fourth-quarter 2008 results Friday January 30, in a conference call at 11:00 AM ET hosted by Dave O'Reilly, Chevron's chairman and chief executive officer, Pat Yarrington, Chevron's vice president and chief financial officer, and James Aleveras, Chevron's general manager of investor relations. To take in the conference call by phone just dial 703-639-1116 or 866-219-5256. The conference ID is 1320201. Or on the internet you can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website. Just Click Here!

Crude Oil Industry Headline News

"Shell Remains Bullish on Long-Term Energy Prices"
Royal Dutch Shell Plc expects energy to be expensive in the long term as the world tries to meet growing demand without harming the environment, its chief executive said on Thursday....Complete Story

"OPEC Ready for Further Output Cut"
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stands ready to make further cuts in oil supply if prices remain subdued, the cartel's secretary general said Thursday....Complete Story

"Shell to Boost Investment Despite Oil Drop"
Oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to buck an industry-wide trend of investment cuts on the back of a $100/barrel drop in crude prices and lift its capital expenditure....Complete Story

Crude Oil Industry Headline News

"Exxon Allowed to Drill on Contentious Alaska Oil Field"
Alaska officials gave ExxonMobil permission to proceed with drilling on a dormant North Slope oil and gas field that had been the subject of a legal battle....Complete Story

"Obama's Interior Secretary Voices Openness for Offshore Drilling"
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar indicated Tuesday that the Obama Administration could be open to expanded offshore drilling and is considering doing away with the controversial "royalty-in-kind" program....Complete Story

"ConocoPhillips Has Big Loss But Shares Up"
ConocoPhillips reported a massive fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday compared with a year-earlier profit, but the company's shares rose about 1% in premarket trading....Complete Story

New Trading Video "USO and DTO"

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Crude Oil Industry Headline News

"Crude Oil Futures Decline on Speculation That U.S. Recession is Deepening"
Crude oil fell the most in two weeks after a report that U.S. home prices tumbled, a sign that the recession in the biggest energy-consuming country is deepening....Complete Story

"Shell Unloads Oil Cargo, Phibro Tanker Lifts Anchor as Contango Disappears"
Royal Dutch Shell Plc sold a cargo of crude stored off the U.K. and a vessel hired by Citigroup Inc.’s Phibro LLC left its anchorage in Scotland for the U.S. as the incentive to keep oil in tankers disappears....Complete Story

"Baker Hughes Will Cut 1,500 Jobs, Including 200 in Houston"
Baker Hughes has begun laying off nearly 4% of its global work force, including some employees in Houston, making it the latest major oil field services company to announce cuts in response to building industry headwinds....Complete Story

Crude Oil Industry Headlines News

"Petrobras' P-51 Kicks Off Production in the Campos Basin"
The P-51 semisubmersible platform went on stream Jan. 24, beginning production of well MLS-99 in the Campos Basin's Marlim Sul field....Complete Story

"Infrastructure Investment: Eni OKs 2 Greater Longhorn Developments"
For a combined investment of $341 million, Eni plans to add a subsea well to the Longhorn development and increase production capacity on the Appaloosa field's Corral platform....Complete Story

"Schlumberger Says Mideast Job Cuts Below 5% Global Average"
Schlumberger will cut jobs in the Middle East amid slowing oil field activities, but less than the global average of 5%....Complete Story

Crude Oil Industry Headline News

"Pemex Plans $20B E&P Investment to Boost Production"
Pemex plans to invest nearly $20 billion this year in exploration and production, with $2.2 billion slated for Cantarell and $2.3 billion for Chicontepec....Complete Story

"A Rebound in Oil Prices May Presage Pick Up in Demand"
Oil dropped and rebounded after the EIA reported a larger-than-expected build-up in crude oil and gasoline stocks, a move that suggests the market is seeing a change....Complete Story

"Schlumberger's Net Falls 17%; Gould Says Job Cuts Affect 5,000 Worldwide"
Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oilfield-services provider, said fourth-quarter profit fell 17 percent as a collapse in petroleum prices slowed exploration spending by customers. The company said job cuts “concern” 5,000 people worldwide....Complete Story

Crude Oil Stock Market Winners and Losers

Winners

Meridian Resource 21.88%
Parallel Petroleum 19.91%
NATCO Group 19.14%
Allis-Chalmers Energy 18.97%
Berry Petroleum 17.36%

Losers

Daugherty Resources -5.42%
Parker Drilling -1.13%
Duke Energy -0.20%
TransCanada PipeLines Limited 0.95%
Trican Well Service Ltd. 1.34%

Change based on the last 2 days of trading

Crude Oil Industry Headline News

"Oil Declines as U.S. Crude, Fuel Inventories Increase More Than Expected"
Crude oil futures plunged after a U.S. government report showed a bigger than forecast increase in crude and fuel inventories as the recession curbed demand....Complete Story

"Saudi Arabia Will Cut Production 300,000 Barrels Below Quota, Khelil Says"
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, will cut production by 300,000 barrels a day below the quota agreed on with OPEC to prop up prices, Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said....Complete Story

"US Interior Department to Go Ahead with Offshore Drilling Plan"
A proposal issued in the final days of the Bush administration to expand offshore drilling in previously banned areas will move forward under the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Reuters reported Wednesday....Complete Story

"Iceland Opens First-Ever Offshore Licensing Round"
Applications are now being accepted in the First Oil and Gas Licensing Round in Icelandic Waters....Complete Story

"Energy Companies Find Money Pipeline Is Open Again"
Credit markets are showing some signs of life after months of inactivity, with energy companies helping to lead a surge in new debt and equity deals in recent weeks....Complete Story