LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) – Europe’s energy price
manipulation probe has turned regulatory attention to secretive
trading units at oil companies with huge turnover and
millionaire staff with risk appetite higher than at Wall
Street’s biggest banks.

Regulators have scrutinised banks, trading houses and
commodities markets more closely following the Libor benchmark
rigging scandal but trading desks at oil majors have largely
escaped attention.

LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) – North Sea oil output is set to
fall by just over 10 percent in June from May largely due to
maintenance in the Ekofisk region, which is expected to support
Norway’s light, sweet grades.

Output from 12 crude streams tracked by Reuters will average
1.734 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, based on the latest
information from loading schedules and trading sources, down
from the 1.932 million bpd in May.

LONDON/NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) – Investors are staying
away from commodities, fearing that the worst is yet to come
after prices plunged in April on signs of slower world economic
growth.

Wealth managers have been pulling money from commodities
since the start of the year, culminating in a major sell off in
April when investors dumped gold, copper and oil.

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) – Brent crude oil prices held
above $101 a barrel on Thursday, although scepticism set in that
Wednesday’s rally would be sustained as traders focused on the
weak outlook for global demand and rising supply.

Recent disappointing data from Europe and top oil consumers
the United States and China have stoked worries about global
demand for oil, dragging down prices by more than 5 percent
since the start of April and fuelling speculation about supply
cuts.

LONDON, April 19 (Reuters) – Commodity funds took a beating
in the first quarter, with the average actively managed fund in
the Lipper Global Commodity sector down 1.83 percent, as market
volatility provided no clear direction.

A cross-commodity sell-off in mid-April led by safe-haven
gold has since compounded the pain. Gold plunged about 13
percent over last Friday and Monday – its worst two-day fall in
30 years.

LONDON, April 19 (Reuters) – Oil prices climbed towards $100
a barrel on Friday, recovering some ground after a steep six-day
fall, although worries about lower global demand and oversupply
kept a lid on the rebound.

Analysts said the market seemed to be stabilising after a
week of heavy liquidation, in which prices tumbled from over
$106 along with a rout in gold and industrial metals.

LONDON (Reuters) – Investors in commodity exchange traded products (ETPs) unwound their holdings to jump on the equity market rally in March, resulting in total redemptions of $3.2 billion globally, according to BlackRock data.

Gold suffered an investor exodus for a third consecutive month, bringing first-quarter ETP outflows to $9.2 billion, but white metals – silver, platinum and palladium – escaped the sell-off, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said.

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) – New operators and better
technology are set to reverse a decline in Britain’s North Sea
oil and gas output over the next few years, and could help the
country’s economy return to health.

Although output is expected to decline another 3-6 percent
this year, it will rebound by almost a third by 2017 as some 50
oil and gas fields start production on the United Kingdom’s
Continental Shelf, industry body figures show.

LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) – China’s state oil company is
prioritising a fix for Britain’s biggest oilfield, the
accident-prone Buzzard, which plays a part in setting global oil
prices.

CNOOC has taken a controlling stake in the North Sea field
central to the price of benchmark Brent crude and which, every
time it shuts, can raise costs for some of China’s oil imports.

LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) – Brent crude oil futures fell
below $110 a barrel on Friday, pressured by higher-than-expected
supply from the North Sea and OPEC, and investors selling out of
commodities in favour of equities.

Brent futures fell $1.25 to $109.90 a barrel at 1217
GMT. Brent is down for the fourth consecutive week, its longest
weekly losing streak since May 2012.