Egyptian gov’t retracts oil hedging contracts as crude falls short of budget forecast

EXCLUSIVE- Gov’t walks away from fuel hedging plan as oil price plunge sees crude trading below budget prediction: The Finance Ministry has pulled fuel hedging contracts it was due to finalize with two banks as crude prices proved lower than annual budget projections, a government source told Enterprise. Even though it has jumped in recent days on the back of a decision by OPEC and its allies to cut production, crude is still below the USD 67/bbl Egypt had projected in its yearly budget, meaning there is no need for hedging during this fiscal year. The state sees prices in a comfortable range into 2019, the source said, so hedging is off the menu for the moment.