U.S. oil output expected to flatline until 2025, easing glut concerns
The U.S. sees oil production flatlining for most of this year before reaching a record in early 2025. That would ease concerns about a supply glut that has weighed on prices.
Shut-ins from frigid weather caused output to drop to 12.6 million barrels a day in January from a record 13.3 million-barrel clip in December, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a forecast Tuesday. Production will rebound to just shy of record levels this month before decreasing slightly for the rest of the year, and won’t reach a high until next February, the agency said.
Lower output from the U.S. at a time when OPEC and its allies are reining in their own exports could support global crude prices, which are down more than 20% from last year’s highs. The EIA continues to expect a global supply deficit of about 120,000 barrels a day in 2024.
But the agency’s forecast stands in contrast to that of the International Energy Agency, which sees continued supply growth from the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Guyana contributing to a global surplus of 500,000 barrels a day.
To be sure, the pace of U.S. production growth in 2023 surprised some forecasters, with record supplies from the Americas dampening the impact of OPEC+ cuts later in the year.
The EIA lowered its forecast for U.S. oil demand this year to 20.39 million barrels a day, down from a previous estimate of 20.45 million barrels a day. The forecast for U.S. jet fuel demand was revised lower by about 1.8% to 1.68 million barrels a day.
Amazon is laying off hundreds in its health care operation
Amazon.com Inc. is laying off hundreds of employees in its health care division, stepping up an ongoing campaign to trim costs.
The job cuts will impact “a few hundred roles” between the One Medical chain of doctors offices Amazon acquired last year and the company’s online pharmacy operation, Neil Lindsay, chief of Amazon Health Services, said in a note to employees on Tuesday.
The layoffs follow rolling reductions in late 2022 and early 2023 that totaled more than 27,000 employees, as Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy looked to cut costs after expanding rapidly during the pandemic. He has also axed dozens of projects concocted during the Jeff Bezos era.
Since then, Amazon has continued trimming across its businesses, without announcing mass workforce reductions. Cuts in the past several months fell on the division responsible for its voice-activated Alexa assistant as well as in the music unit, the Prime Video and studios business, as well as Twitch, the livestreaming subsidiary, among other units.
Lindsay told employees the company had “identified areas where we can reposition resources so we can invest in invention and experiences that have a direct impact on our customers.”
He added that Amazon’s health businesses were “seeing tremendous growth.”
Business Insider reported the latest round of layoffs earlier.
Amazon’s cuts add to what’s become nearly daily announcements from technology companies that they’re eliminating positions. So far this year, some 32,000 tech workers have lost their jobs, according to Layoffs.fyi, a startup that has been tracking job cuts in the industry since the pandemic.
DocuSign Inc. on Tuesday announced its own layoffs, which will affect about 6% of its workforce.
From wire reports