Showing posts with label OPEC prices. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OPEC prices. Show all posts
AFRICA: Nigeria discord helps send oil futures past $91
Published | 08-Feb-2008
Oil futures jumped back above $91 today, building on the previous session's gains on renewed concerns about supply disruptions and also advancing on waning fears of a recession that would curb demand.
Crude gained on word that oil exports from Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer and a major U.S. supplier, could fall by as much as 1 million barrels a day due to the nation's deteriorating security situation and planned maintenance. Nigeria is locked in a long-running battle with rebels intent on hurting the nation's crude infrastructure.
Prices also rose on news that North Sea oil production has been cut by 280,000 barrels a day due to technical problems at a Total SA oil field, and that Russian crude output could fall this year due to the depletion of a large oil field, said JBC Energy GmbH, an energy research firm in Vienna, in a research report.
Concerns that Venezuela might retaliate in some way after ExxonMobil Corp. won court orders freezing assets of its state oil company also pushed prices higher. ExxonMobil is seeking compensation for assets lost when Venezuela appropriated company assets last year as part of President Hugo Chavez's nationalization of several large oil projects.
Crude gained on word that oil exports from Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer and a major U.S. supplier, could fall by as much as 1 million barrels a day due to the nation's deteriorating security situation and planned maintenance. Nigeria is locked in a long-running battle with rebels intent on hurting the nation's crude infrastructure.
Prices also rose on news that North Sea oil production has been cut by 280,000 barrels a day due to technical problems at a Total SA oil field, and that Russian crude output could fall this year due to the depletion of a large oil field, said JBC Energy GmbH, an energy research firm in Vienna, in a research report.
Concerns that Venezuela might retaliate in some way after ExxonMobil Corp. won court orders freezing assets of its state oil company also pushed prices higher. ExxonMobil is seeking compensation for assets lost when Venezuela appropriated company assets last year as part of President Hugo Chavez's nationalization of several large oil projects.
Meanwhile, energy investors found reason to hope that the U.S. economy will dodge a serious downturn.
"Crude traders also responded positively to the news that Congress has passed an economic stimulus package aimed at boosting consumption and staving off a recession," said Addison Armstrong, director of exchange traded markets at TFS Energy Futures LLC in Stamford, Conn., in a research note.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery jumped $3.66 to settle at $91.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil also rose on worries that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut production in a bid to keep prices from falling too low. Oil prices are more than 10 percent below their record of $100.09 a barrel reached early last month, and many analysts believe prices could fall further if economic conditions deteriorate.
Analysts said technical factors also lifted oil futures. Twice in recent weeks, oil prices have dipped to nearly $86, only to bounce back. That price, which crude futures have failed to broach since early December, is now seen as a psychologically important support level that may keep prices trading in a narrow range around $90 for the foreseeable future.
"If we break below that, I think we're going to see further weakness," said Adam Hewison, president of INO.com, a financial Web site that specializes in futures trading.
At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices fell 0.6 cent overnight to a national average of $2.966 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Retail gas prices, which typically lag the futures market, have retreated from levels above $3 a gallon in recent weeks, following oil's downward tack. However, prices are 77 cents higher than a year ago, and the Energy Department predicts they will rise to new records near $3.50 a gallon this spring.
Other energy futures also rose today. March heating oil futures jumped 9.56 cents to settle at $2.5541 a gallon on the Nymex, and March gasoline rose 8.94 cents to settle at $2.3572 a gallon.
"Crude traders also responded positively to the news that Congress has passed an economic stimulus package aimed at boosting consumption and staving off a recession," said Addison Armstrong, director of exchange traded markets at TFS Energy Futures LLC in Stamford, Conn., in a research note.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery jumped $3.66 to settle at $91.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil also rose on worries that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut production in a bid to keep prices from falling too low. Oil prices are more than 10 percent below their record of $100.09 a barrel reached early last month, and many analysts believe prices could fall further if economic conditions deteriorate.
Analysts said technical factors also lifted oil futures. Twice in recent weeks, oil prices have dipped to nearly $86, only to bounce back. That price, which crude futures have failed to broach since early December, is now seen as a psychologically important support level that may keep prices trading in a narrow range around $90 for the foreseeable future.
"If we break below that, I think we're going to see further weakness," said Adam Hewison, president of INO.com, a financial Web site that specializes in futures trading.
At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices fell 0.6 cent overnight to a national average of $2.966 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Retail gas prices, which typically lag the futures market, have retreated from levels above $3 a gallon in recent weeks, following oil's downward tack. However, prices are 77 cents higher than a year ago, and the Energy Department predicts they will rise to new records near $3.50 a gallon this spring.
Other energy futures also rose today. March heating oil futures jumped 9.56 cents to settle at $2.5541 a gallon on the Nymex, and March gasoline rose 8.94 cents to settle at $2.3572 a gallon.
Source: Associated Press
OiL WORLD: United States calls to raise output, the OPEC rejects it
Published | 21-Jan-2008
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries dismissed further calls to boost oil output from top consumer the United States, saying the global market is well supplied and the producer group has little control over oil prices near $90 a barrel. US energy secretary Sam Bodman had earlier urged Saudi Arabia and
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise supply.
His appeal came just days after President George W. Bush asked the group for more oil on a separate visit to Riyadh, and less than two weeks before OPEC's next meeting on February 1.
"I don't think there is a need to increase because the market is well supplied," Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah Al Attiyah said on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise supply.
His appeal came just days after President George W. Bush asked the group for more oil on a separate visit to Riyadh, and less than two weeks before OPEC's next meeting on February 1.
"I don't think there is a need to increase because the market is well supplied," Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah Al Attiyah said on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is keeping a close eye on the market and stood ready to pump more when needed, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries secretary-seneral Abdullah Al Badri said.
"If we reach the conclusion the fundamental data warrant an increase in production, then our oil ministers will not hesitate to decree this," Badri said. "But at present we see no need for this."
Bodman and Bush, concerned about the impact of high prices on the world's largest economy, have said more oil would help ease tight supplies.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries officials say that speculation has divorced the oil price from market fundamentals, leaving it with little power to tame high energy costs.
"You have to segregate the physical market from the paper market," Al Attiyah said. "We've checked with our clients and they've confirmed that they don't feel there is a need for more oil. Oil inventories are comfortable."
Al Attiyah said he would meet with Bodman later this week. Last week, he said the producer group needed to be cautious ahead of the seasonal drop in consumption in the second quarter and because of the possible effect on oil demand of a US recession.
"If we reach the conclusion the fundamental data warrant an increase in production, then our oil ministers will not hesitate to decree this," Badri said. "But at present we see no need for this."
Bodman and Bush, concerned about the impact of high prices on the world's largest economy, have said more oil would help ease tight supplies.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries officials say that speculation has divorced the oil price from market fundamentals, leaving it with little power to tame high energy costs.
"You have to segregate the physical market from the paper market," Al Attiyah said. "We've checked with our clients and they've confirmed that they don't feel there is a need for more oil. Oil inventories are comfortable."
Al Attiyah said he would meet with Bodman later this week. Last week, he said the producer group needed to be cautious ahead of the seasonal drop in consumption in the second quarter and because of the possible effect on oil demand of a US recession.
Via: Gulf Daily News
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