Libya oil output stops after attacks: rebels

BENGHAZI: Production at rebel-held oilfields in eastern Libya has stopped after they came under attack from forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, a rebel spokesman said on Wednesday.

Oilfields in Misla and the Waha area were hit by Gaddafi’s artillery on Tuesday and Wednesday, spokesman Hafiz Ghoga told reporters in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

“These oilfields are the ones that pump oil to Tobruk,” said Ghoga. “They stopped pumping today.”

Both fields are in the desert, hundreds of kilometres south of the rebel-held town of Ajdabiyah. Rebels have been trying to resume exports to raise revenue for their uprising.

Ghoga said Gaddafi’s forces hit Waha’s field 103 on Wednesday and Misla on Tuesday after a previous attack there at the weekend.

“These oilfields are the ones that pump oil to Tobruk. What we have marketed is what we have in reserve in Tobruk. We have one million barrels (in reserve).”

He added that until Tuesday the rebel-held east Libyan fields were pumping 100,000 barrels per day. Damage from the latest attacks was still being assessed.

“It was not an air strike, it was from the ground using vehicles. The vehicles had artillery on them,” he said.

“We are now providing more protection. We have even moved people from the front (to the fields),” Ghoga said.

He did not give details of the damage although when the first Misla attack was reported at the weekend, the rebels said a diesel storage tank was hit and the damage was not very serious.

The Liberian-registered tanker Equator sailed from Marsa el Hariga, near Tobruk, earlier on Wednesday apparently with the first cargo of crude sold by rebels since their uprising against Gaddafi began in February, shipping sources said.

Ghoga added: “We hope that production will continue at the rate of the past but because of the damage that has come to our fields because of Gaddafi’s military tools, our production has been affected.”

“We have a quantity of oil that needs to be marketed so that oil production does not stop and cause problems and it is in the port of Marsa el Hariga, but Colonel Gaddafi is trying to stop our efforts by hitting the oil fields.”

Libya was producing around 1.6 million barrels per day of oil and exporting some 1.3 bpd before the uprising. AGENCIES

Euro remains under pressure in Asia

TOKYO: The euro remained under pressure in Asia on Tuesday after recovering slightly from a four-year low on persistent worries over European debts, analysts said.

The euro bought 1.2335 dollars in Tokyo morning trade, down from 1.2394 dollars in New York late Monday but up from its low of 1.2234.

The euro also sank to 114.17 yen from 114.79 yen.

The dollar was quoted at 92.48 yen, unchanged from the New York level.

Eurozone finance ministers met in Brussels on Monday, battling to defend the euro but with no obvious agreement on tactics to slash spending.

Sentiment remained fragile despite an EU-IMF rescue package worth almost one trillion dollars designed to prevent the Greek crisis from spreading.

Concerns linger that a default would hit the financial system in the same way the collapse of Lehman Brothers did in 2008, while necessary austerity measures will crush European growth.

“The market simply doesn”t want to buy the euro. Confidence on the euro will not be restored” until the fiscal crisis in Greece and other countries is resolved, said Credit Suisse strategist Satoru Ogasawara.

Ogasawara noted the market now tended to react to negative news rather than positive news, saying the euro could resume its plunge.

A dealer at a major Japanese bank told Dow Jones Newswires that a US bank was selling “a lot of the euro” although there was no fresh news.

The bank”s selling was likely just sell-on-rally activity based on its bet that the euro is likely to fall in the longer term, the dealer said.

Oil above $70 after hitting 5-month low

SINGAPORE: Oil rose above $70 a barrel on Tuesday in a cautious rebound after hitting a five-month low the previous day on concerns about the health of the global economy.

But the trend remains uncertain because of persistent investor jitters over the euro currency and swollen U.S. oil inventories.

The euro dipped on Tuesday after a rebound from a four-year trough on Monday.

“The market has been very volatile. My thinking is that obviously the dominant factor is still concern about the international economic outlook, previous developments in Europe, and that”s continuing to weigh heavily on the oil price,” said David Moore, an analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

U.S. crude for June delivery rose 57 cents to $70.65 at 0237 GMT, after settling down $1.53 at a five-month low of $70.08 a day earlier.

June crude has fallen 20.5 percent from its 19-month high $87.15 hit on May 3, which could indicate that crude prices may be in for a short-term bounce, technical analysts said.

London Brent crude for July rose 71 cents to $75.81 a barrel.

“Nothing is impossible at the moment. The oil price has been falling dramatically in the past couple of weeks,” said Moore.

“I think at some point it will stabilize and recover, but the time is uncertain and the market”s fundamentals are of course very very fragile at present.”

Stockpiles of crude at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for the U.S. contract”s West Texas Intermediate benchmark crude, have risen in the last eight weeks to a record high 37 million barrels, pushing front-month U.S. crude down relative to later futures contracts and the other global crude benchmark, Brent.

U.S. crude stockpiles likely rose last week as crude imports rebounded and refinery utilization held unchanged, a preliminary poll of analysts showed on Monday.

Ahead of weekly inventory data from industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday and the U.S. government Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday, crude inventories rose 700,000 barrels on average last week.

That would extend a buildup that started in the last week of January, and post the 15th increase in 16 weeks.

Distillate stocks were forecast at 1.0 million barrels higher while gasoline stockpiles likely fell 1.1 million barrels, the poll showed.

But Goldman Sachs said in a research note on Monday the high stockpile at Cushing may reverse.

“As we expect refinery runs to continue to increase, we remain confident that the situation in Cushing should reverse over the coming weeks,” it said.

500 euro note withdrawn in Britain

LONDON: The €500 note has been withdrawn from circulation in the UK following concerns that it is the denomination of choice for criminal gangs moving large sums of cash.

The move came after an eight-month study by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) found that 90 per cent of €500 notes in circulation are used by money launderers attempting to legitimise the profits of criminal gangs.

The physical attraction of the €500 note is clear: apparently, €20,000 can be hidden inside a cigarette packet. And while £1m in £50 notes weighs 22kg, the same amount in the now-withdrawn denomination weighs a mere 2.2kg.

U.S. crude falls below $75; Brent holds above $81

LONDON: Oil prices were mixed on Thursday, with the benchmark U.S. crude contract pressured below $75 a barrel by record stockpiles in the U.S. Midwest, while London-Brent crude held above $81 a barrel.

The two-main benchmark contracts have diverged significantly over the past week. Rising global energy demand and hopes Europe”s debt crisis can be tackled have seen Brent rise for four straight days, while U.S. crude prices have been falling since Tuesday.

Stockpiles of crude at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for the U.S. contract, have risen for the last eight weeks to stand at a record 37 million barrels, pushing U.S. crude to its steepest discount to Brent since the peak of the economic crisis.

At 1022 GMT on Thursday, U.S. crude oil for delivery in June was trading down 71 cents at $74.94 a barrel, while Brent was trading up 1 cent at $81.21 a barrel.

“In general, Brent is acting as a much better benchmark for global fundamentals at the moment,” Barclays Capital analyst Amrita Sen said.

Cushing”s landlocked location means it tends to only reflect the supply and demand situation in the midwestern United States, analysts said.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said total gasoline demand in the United States, which accounts for more than one in ten barrels of global consumption, is up by 2.7 percent on the same four week period last year.

Gasoline inventories in the United States declined by 2.8 million barrels last week, the EIA said on Wednesday, though total U.S. crude inventories were up by 1.9 million barrels.

Prices were supported by firm equity markets in Europe, which rose for the second straight day early in the session after Spain outlined measures to reduce its deficit, including pay and job cuts in the public sector. .EU

The euro zone debt crisis roiled energy markets last week, knocking U.S. crude from a 19-month peak of $87.15 on May 3 to a three-month low of $74.51 just four days later.

“It”s mid-term expectations that have kept prices in a range between $75 and $85,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives manager at brokerage Newedge in Japan.

The U.S. crude contract for delivery in July is trading almost trading $5 above the current contract, with the premium between the two touching its highest level since February 2009.

Weekly U.S. jobless claims data, out at 1230 GMT, could give the next clue to the pace of the economic recovery, analysts said.

Oil Prices Slightly Fell in Asia

KUALA LUMPUR: Oil prices fell slightly Wednesday in Asia amid a surprise rise in U.S. weekly crude inventory ahead of the release of government data.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was down 10 cents to $78.77 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 10 cents to settle at $78.87 on Tuesday.

Oil has gained for five straight days but traded lower early Wednesday after the American Petroleum Institute reported an increase of 1.725 million barrels in U.S. inventories last week, said Clarence Chu, a trader with Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.

The rise contradicted market expectations of a drop of 2 million barrels and all eyes are now on the Energy Information Administration weekly data due to be released later Wednesday, he said. The more comprehensive EIA data last week showed crude stocks were down 4.9 million barrels.

Futures contracts for oil, natural gas and heating oil have all become more expensive this month as snow storms blanketed parts of the U.S. and a sharp drop in supplies of crude and other fuels surprised traders.

Despite the year-end rally, analysts have said that oil prices may fall next month as current levels were unsustainable.

In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil rose 0.1 cent to $2.1038 gallon while gasoline added 0.24 cent to $2.013 a gallon.

In London, Brent crude for February delivery fell 4 cents to $77.60 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

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Oil Prices Slightly Fell in Asia was first posted on December 30, 2009 at 6:14 pm.

Sheikh Khalifa Re-elected UAE President

DUBAI : Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan was re-elected president of the United Arab Emirates for a second five-year term on Tuesday.

The Supreme Federal Council, made up of the rulers of the seven emirates in the UAE, selected Sheikh Khalifa, 61.

He first rose to the presidency as oil-rich Abu Dhabi’s ruler in 2004 on the death of his father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, who founded the Gulf state in 1971.

The council designates both the president and vice president.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum, who is also the country’s prime minister, defence minister and ruler of Dubai, has served as vice president since 2006.

The UAE, an OPEC member which produces 2.2 million barrels of oil per day, held its first indirect legislative election in 2006 to designate 40 members of the consultative National Federal Council.

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Sheikh Khalifa Re-elected UAE President was first posted on November 3, 2009 at 6:14 pm.

Oil Falls Below $70 After Surging Overnight

SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell below $70 a barrel Thursday in Asia after surging overnight on signs U.S. gasoline demand may be improving.

Benchmark crude for November deliver was down 72 cents at $69.89 by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract jumped $3.90 to settle at $70.61 on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. gasoline stockpiles unexpectedly dropped 1.6 million barrels last week from the previous week.

Analysts had expected a jump of 1.2 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The EIA also said demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended Sept. 25 was 5.4 percent higher than last year.

“Gasoline demand continues to improve,” Barclays Capital said in a report. “We see the global market adjustment as remaining on track for a slow and steady soft landing for both prices and quantities.”

Barclays said it expects crude to average $76 a barrel in the fourth quarter and $85 next year.

Other inventory data was less encouraging. Crude supplies grew more than expected last week, according to the government report, and they have now swelled to 11.4 percent above what they were last year.

In London, Brent crude fell 65 cents to $68.42 the ICE Futures exchange.

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Oil Falls Below $70 After Surging Overnight was first posted on October 1, 2009 at 5:55 pm.

Oil Prices Stay On A Point

SINGAPORE: Oil prices hung below $71 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as an unexpected rise in U.S. crude supplies heightened investor concerns about weak consumer demand.

Benchmark crude for October delivery was down 35 cents to $70.58 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract rose $2.07 to settle at $70.93.

Crude prices have hugged the $70 level for months as gasoline demand remains sluggish amid signs the global economy is recovering.

On Tuesday, a SpendingPulse report by MasterCard showed the four-week average for gasoline consumption in the U.S. fell 3.2 percent for the week ended Friday, the ninth straight weekly decline.

U.S. oil inventories rose last week, more evidence demand remains tepid, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday. Crude stocks increased 631,000 barrels while analysts had expected a drop of 3.0 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Supplies of gasoline grew 1.3 million barrels while distillates jumped 5.2 million barrels, the API said.

A weakening U.S. dollar has helped support oil prices. The euro rose Wednesday in Asian trading to $1.4675 from $1.4656 the previous day while the dollar held near 91 yen.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery fell 1.87 cents to $1.77 a gallon, and heating oil slid 1.90 cents to $1.76 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 9.2 cents to $3.41 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude rose 2 cents to $67.37.

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Oil Prices Stay On A Point was first posted on September 16, 2009 at 3:03 pm.
©2009 “News Trends“.

Oil Rises In Asian Trade

SINGAPORE: Oil continued to firm in Asian trade on Friday with investor sentiment underpinned by a drop in US crude stocks and a weak greenback, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery was 20 cents higher at 72.14 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for October delivery gained 19 cents to 70.05 dollars a barrel.

The under-performing greenback, which fell to a new 2009 low against the euro Thursday, drove investors to dollar-priced commodities including oil which becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies.

“Investors’ increased appetite for risk has clearly taken its toll on the dollar since the spring,” said analysts from London-based Capital Economics Consultancy.

“This week it touched a new low for the year against the euro,” they said.

The euro breached 1.46 dollars on Thursday, hitting a nine-month high of 1.4613 dollars as risk appetite increased, which typically leads to a weakened greenback.

During economic uncertainty, investors turn to the US dollar for its safe haven status but when sentiment improves, they usually favour other high-yielding assets.

A weekly US government report that showed crude stocks fell by 5.9 million barrels last week, nearly four times more than expected, gave partial support to prices.

“That’s very bullish because the biggest weakness in the global oil market has been the US market,” independent trader Ellis Eckland said.

The weekly report by the US Department of Energy also said gasoline stockpiles rose 2.1 million barrels against analysts’ expectations for a drop of 1.3 million barrels.

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Oil Rises In Asian Trade was first posted on September 11, 2009 at 12:02 pm.
©2009 “News Trends“.

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