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Oil Futures Steady in Asia, WTI Trades Below $100/bbl

Crude-oil futures moved in a tight price range and were little changed in Asian trading hours Tuesday after a sharp overnight drop on profit-taking. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $99.29 a barrel at 0353 GMT, unchanged in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.06 to $111.15 a barrel. Nymex crude is trading around 8.14% higher on year while ICE Brent crude is almost flat from a year earlier. Brent crude is under pressure after Libyan national oil company Arabian Gulf Oil Co. said on its website Monday that it has resumed oil production at its 100,000 barrel a day Mesla oilfield. Supply disruptions in Libya have been a major reason for volatility in oil prices through the year. "We see higher Libyan oil production adding to a 2014 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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WTI Set for Fourth Gain in Five Years on U.S. Stockpiles

West Texas Intermediate is poised for the fourth annual increase in five years amid forecasts crude inventories shrank for a fifth week in the U.S., the world’s largest oil consumer. Futures were little changed in New York after declining from the first settlement above $100 a barrel since October. Crude stockpiles probably dropped by 2.9 million barrels last week as refineries operated at the highest rate in five months and oil companies pared inventories to reduce year-end taxes, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Brent is little changed this year after four consecutive annual increases. U.S. demand is “underpinned by the improving economy” and “should remain higher year-on-year,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil market strategist at Energy Aspects Ltd., a consulting company based in London. WTI for February delivery dropped 19 cents to $99.10 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 9:18 a.m. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Hedge Fund Crude Wagers Climb to Highest Since September: Energy

Hedge funds increased bullish bets on crude oil to the highest in three months as stockpiles dropped and the U.S. economy expanded more than forecast. Money managers raised net-long positions , or wagers on rising prices for West Texas Intermediate crude, by 4.4 percent in the week ended Dec. 24, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. It was the fourth consecutive increase, the longest streak since July. WTI topped $100 a barrel for the first time in two months on Dec. 27, propelled by falling inventories in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil-consuming country. The Federal Reserve cited prospects for improved growth for a reduction in its bond-buying program, and a government report showing that the domestic economy accelerated in the third quarter at a faster rate than previously estimated bolstered expectations for strengthening fuel demand. “There’s a strong demand environment here and that’s attracted the interest of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Rises as Colder-Than-Normal Weather Set to Continue

Natural gas futures firmed Monday on expectations that continued colder-than-normal weather in the central and eastern U.S. would keep demand high for the heating fuel. Natural gas for February delivery settled up 5.9 cents at $4.427 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The 1.4% gain was the largest one-day rise since Dec. 19. Natural-gas prices have climbed from less than $3.50/mmBtu in early November, as continued cold weather has led to robust demand for indoor heating in homes and offices. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel, according to the Energy Information Administration. Unusually large amounts of natural gas have been withdrawn from storage in recent weeks. Inventories as of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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UPDATE: Violence endangers Anbar peace agreement

Iraqi security forces and protesters clashed throughout Anbar province Monday after SWAT teams entered protest camps to forcibly take down tents, putting at risk an agreement reached Sunday that would have seen Anbaris voluntarily end their protests and the release of a member of Parliament who was detained Saturday in a deadly pre-dawn raid."The Iraqi Army and Federal Police took the protest squares tents down earlier today by force," a senior Interior Ministry official said late Monday. "U…

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Egypt likely to change roadmap, hold presidential vote first: sources

Egypt’s government is likely to call a presidential election before parliamentary polls, officials said on Monday, rearranging the political timetable in a way that could see army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi elected head of state by April. Parliamentary elections were supposed to happen first under the roadmap unveiled after the army deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July after mass protests against his rule. But critics have campaigned for a change, saying the country needs an elected leader to direct government at a time of economic and political crisis and to forge a political alliance before a potentially divisive parliamentary election. Opponents say it risks creating a president with unchecked power. Were that Sisi, who is widely tipped to win the vote, it would restore the army’s sway over a post controlled by military men until Mursi was propelled to office last year by the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Cyprus: “On the Verge of Significant Energy Production”

Shale Gas White Paper December 30th, 2013 12:05am Posted In: Natural Gas , LNG , News By Country , Israel , Featured Articles , Cyprus In his introduction of Nicos Kouyialis, Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Cyprus , panel moderator John Roberts characterized Cyprus as a country “on the verge of significant energy production," an incredibly apt description, among others, at the 2nd Annual Frankfurt Gas Forum . “The discoveries of substantial quantities of natural gas open up new perspectives and gives a new impetus to the role the Eastern Mediterranean region can play in the global and European energy markets,” he began.  “Our vision is to establish Cyprus as a regional energy hub, utilizing its own indigenous hydrocarbon resources, eventually additional quantities from the neigboring countries,” added Minister Kouyialis. In order to fulfill this vision, he said the basic objectives of the government of Cyprus were “To […]

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South Sudan’s Army Says Oil Heartland Is Safe From Rebellion

South Sudan ’s army says it’s confident it can protect the “heart” of the country’s oil production area from rebel attacks. Production in the Paloch area in Melut County, Upper Nile State, is secure, Major General Gregory Vasili, an oil defense force commander, told reporters on a tour organized by South Sudanese authorities yesterday. Upper Nile is producing about 200,000 barrels of oil a day and normally accounts for 80 percent of the country’s oil output, said Paul Adong Deng, managing director of the state-own Nile Petroleum Corp, on the tour. The United Nations estimates that more than 1,000 people have been killed in violence that has spread since fighting on Dec. 15 between soldiers in the presidential guard in the capital, Juba, bringing the country to the edge of civil. President Salva Kiir , an ethnic Dinka, accuses Riek Machar , who is from the Nuer group and […]

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Exclusive: China may raise Iran oil imports with new contract: sources

China may buy more Iranian oil next year as a state trader is negotiating a new light crude contract that could raise imports from Tehran to levels not seen since tough Western sanctions were imposed in 2012, running the risk of upsetting Washington. An increase would go against the spirit of November’s breakthrough agreement relaxing some of the stringent measures slapped on Iran two years ago over its nuclear program. The November deal between Tehran and the group known as P5+1 — made up of the United States and five other global powers — paused efforts to reduce Iran’s crude sales but required buyers to hold to "current average amounts" of Iranian oil imports. That agreement was seen as a reward for a softer diplomatic tone from Tehran that was forced, some U.S. officials and lawmakers say, by U.S. and EU sanctions that slashed Iran’s oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple