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Oil drifts above $94 ahead of supply report

Oil rose slightly Tuesday ahead of a U.S. supply report that might show an improvement in demand. Benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery was up 30 cents at $94.46 a barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 75 cents to $94.09 on Monday after a deal between Iran and six world powers on the country’s nuclear program raised the possibility that sanctions choking Iranian oil exports will eventually be lifted. Oil traders are now looking to Energy Information Administration figures on U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles for the week ended Nov. 22 due Wednesday. Crude oil supplies rose by 400,000 barrels for the week ended Nov. 15, the 9th straight weekly increase. But gasoline supplies fell by 300,000 barrels, and the agency said the average demand for gasoline over the prior four weeks was about 4 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Prices Dip on Iran Deal, but Exports May Not Rise

LONDON — Oil prices dipped and stocks around the world rose on Monday after the news of an agreement to temporarily freeze Iran’s nuclear program, but few specialists expected any significant change to consumer energy prices, at least in the short term. Under the interim deal brokered between the United States and other world powers with Tehran, little has changed in market fundamentals. Analysts doubted that Iran would be able to increase exports much, if at all, in the six months covered by the deal, because the Washington-led coalition has not lifted its embargo against Iranian oil. Gregg Laskoski, an analyst at GasBuddy.com, a website that tells motorists where to find the least expensive gasoline in the United States and Canada, said the Iran deal “may bring some calm to markets,” but he expressed doubt that it would have a significant impact soon. Even before the announcement Sunday, American […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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More Bets on Brent Crude Price Rising

Speculators raised their net long position in Brent crude oil and futures in the seven days to Nov. 19 for the first time in six weeks, according to IntercontinentalExchange’s weekly Commitment of Traders report published Monday. Money managers, including hedge funds, raised their net long position–or bets that prices will rise–by 20.5% during the week to 107,381 positions. The reversal comes after net long positions were reduced for five consecutive weeks, to hit their lowest point since April last week. Traders in the category raised their long positions by 12,671 and reduced their short positions by 5,622. Open interest in crude oil futures and options increased to 1,779,535 contracts. ICE publishes the reports each week at about 1100 GMT Monday, with data from the previous Tuesday. The reports contain the same four categories of market participants used by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission: producers, swap […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Rises for 4th Straight Day on Winter Storm, Cold Weather Forecasts

Natural-gas futures finished higher Monday as traders bet that a powerful winter storm, moving toward the Eastern U.S., along with a period of below normal temperatures, would boost demand for the heating fuel. Natural gas for December delivery settled 2.1 cents, or 0.6%, higher at $3.789 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have risen 23.3 cents, or 6.6%, over the past four trading sessions. The gains Monday follow a nearly 3% climb last week as weather forecasts shifted toward a prolonged cold spell. Such an outlook is bullish for natural gas because nearly half of all U.S. households use the fuel as their primary heating source, according to the Energy Information Administration. “We finally got […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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White House Launches Push to Sell Its Iran Nuclear Deal

The Obama administration is mounting an aggressive campaign to head off new congressional sanctions against Iran, arguing they would jeopardize the high-stakes deal sealed this past weekend to curb Tehran’s nuclear program. After arguing for weeks that sanctions would hurt the prospects of reaching a deal, senior administration officials are now asking lawmakers to hold off for another six months while negotiators try to achieve a long-term accord. The administration is taking steps to burnish the agreement, casting it as the alternative to Mideast conflict. And enforcement officials, seeking to counter arguments that the interim deal signed Sunday in Geneva would erode punitive economic sanctions, publicly warned any business, bank or broker against trying to do prohibited business with Iran. Meanwhile, doubts over the Iran deal emerged in oil markets, which bucked expectations that it would lead to cheaper crude. Traders initially pushed oil prices lower Monday, but later […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Barack Obama faces tough test in fending off new Iran sanctions

US President Barack Obama makes a statement from the State Dining Room of the White House November 23, 2013 in Washington after an agreement to freeze Iran’s nuclear program was reached in Geneva US President Barack Obama will face a decisive test of his influence over Senate Democrats in December when he tries to fend off sanctions legislation that he believes could scupper nuclear negotiations with Iran. Senior members of both parties have called for new sanctions after rushing to criticise the historic interim agreement that was reached with Iran at the weekend, however some of the proposals might not clash with the next round of nuclear talks. At a time when his credibility has been badly damaged by the healthcare debacle , the president will need to secure the support of Democratic leaders in the Senate, especially majority leader Harry Reid, if he is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. and Saudis in Growing Rift as Power Shifts

There was a time when Saudi and American interests in the Middle East seemed so aligned that the cigar-smoking former Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was viewed as one of the most influential diplomats in Washington. Those days are over. The Saudi king and his envoys — like the Israelis — have spent weeks lobbying fruitlessly against the interim nuclear accord with Iran that was reached in Geneva on Sunday. In the end, there was little they could do: The Obama administration saw the nuclear talks in a fundamentally different light from the Saudis, who fear that any letup in the sanctions will come at the cost of a wider and more dangerous Iranian role in the Middle East. Although the Saudis remain close American allies, the nuclear accord is the culmination of a slow mutual disenchantment that began at the end of the Cold War. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Israel, Gulf states and many U.S. lawmakers share deep unease about Iran nuclear deal

The signing of a short-term nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers on Sunday left ardent critics of the Islamic republic — most vocally the Israeli government and many U.S. lawmakers — deeply worried that the Obama administration and its partners were making a historic mistake. “Today the world has become a much more dangerous place, because the most dangerous regime in the world has taken a significant step toward attaining the most dangerous weapon in the world,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. He vowed to spend the six months covered by the interim agreement pushing the White House and other allies for a long-term deal that not only curbs Iran’s current nuclear program but also dismantles the infrastructure that could allow it to make a nuclear device. In Congress, many Republicans and some influential Democrats echoed Israeli concerns that the deal freezes Iran’s uranium […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraq: Attacks Kill at Least 23 People

A series of bombings and shootings on Monday left at least 23 people dead and more than 20 wounded, Iraqi security officials and medical workers said. Just after sunset, an explosion at a market in central Baghdad killed 12 people, the police said. Earlier, a suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint north of Baghdad, killing three police officers and two civilians. South of Baghdad, two militia members were killed by a roadside bomb. Another militia member was killed by a bomb attached to his car in Salahuddin Province, north of Baghdad, while a roadside bomb near a high school in the region killed a woman. In Baghdad, a bomb blew up a truck driver and gunmen killed a Ministry of Justice employee. More than 300 Iraqis have been killed this month in similar attacks.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Militia in Benghazi Flees After Deadly Gun Battle

CAIRO — A militia in Benghazi, Libya, tied to the killing of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens fled its headquarters on Monday after an hourslong gun battle with a local military unit, a potential turning point in a continuing struggle between Islamists and their foes for control of the city. At least nine people were killed and more than 50 were wounded, health officials said, as the battle flared out across Benghazi, beginning before dawn. Stores and schools were closed. The local authorities advised residents to stay in their homes and avoid the streets. And by late afternoon, the militia, Ansar al-Shariah, appeared to have disappeared underground. Photographs circulated over the Internet that appeared to show its headquarters emptied and smoking, with the wreckage of a burned-out car sitting outside. The melee followed the deaths of more than 40 people in a similar battle in Tripoli this month, when militiamen […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple