According to data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), short positions in West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures contracts held by producers or merchants totaled more than 540,000 as of Oct. 11, the most since 2007. Source: News

Adelaide-headquartered Santos Ltd. has agreed to sell all its remaining Victorian assets to fellow Adelaide company Cooper Energy Ltd. for up to $82 million (Aus.). Source: News

Sentinel Peak Resources California LLC, backed by Denver-based private equity Quantum Energy Partners, has agreed to buy Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s (FMMR) onshore oil and gas assets in California for $742 million. Source: News

Gastar Exploration Inc., Houston, will develop 60 wells in its Kingfisher County, Okla., STACK play acreage. The drilling program will target the Meramec and Osage formations within the Mississippi Lime in three townships covering 18,000 net undeveloped acres. Source: News

Light, sweet crude oil prices gained modestly to settle at $50.85/bbl for the December contract on the New York market Oct. 21, but prices were staying flat on Oct. 24 after Iraqi oil officials said they expect to be excluded from a proposed production cut by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Source: News

Venezuela’s turmoil shows no signs of being resolved anytime soon, two speakers agreed during an Oct. 14 discussion at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, DC. They said indications that some of the current top officials at state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) are trying to be more pragmatic with foreign partners may be the only […]

US Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democrats Benjamin L. Cardin (Md.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), and Edward J. Markey (Mass.) have asked US President Barack Obama to halt construction of the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline until affected Indian tribes are consulted and a fuller environmental review can be conducted. Source: […]