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Natural-Gas Futures Finish Higher as Cold Weather Props Up Prices

Natural-gas futures rose slightly Tuesday as some traders bet that the recent rally could run out of steam, while others were reluctant to sell with expectations of a prolonged cold weather and increased demand for the heating fuel. Natural gas for January delivery settled 0.5 cent higher, or 0.1%, to $4.237 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had risen as much as 1.2%, climbing to a new six-month intraday high earlier in the session, but later gave back most of those gains. “It’s hard to buy find new, fresh, willing buyers at these lofty heights and a lot of people are saying ‘where do we go from […]

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Coal Prices May Run Out of Steam

Thermal-coal prices may be running out of steam as Asian power producers wind down purchases after a period of prewinter stockpiling and an underlying supply glut reasserts itself. Prices of the power-generation fuel have rallied to multimonth highs in China and Australia, two countries that dominate coal supply-demand fundamentals, mirroring moves seen with iron ore. China’s continued economic strength has underpinned Australian coal, whose price has climbed to its highest level in more than five months. Chinese coal has also been on streak, rising for nine successive weeks and gaining 15% since early October. China’s economic growth rate of 7.8% in the July-September quarter may slow due to tightening credit, with some economists tipping it to move toward 7% in 2014, damping industry demand for electricity and the coal used to make it. Prices at Newcastle port on Australia’s east coast, the world’s largest coal export facility, have stabilized […]

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EIA Sees 2013 U.S. Oil Use Posting First Rise Since 2010

U.S. oil demand will rise by 1.7% this year, posting the first rise since 2010, government forecasters said Tuesday. The gain of 310,000 barrels a day, to 18.8 million barrels a day, is an upward revision from the month-earlier rise of 1.1% projected by the Energy Information Administration. Oil demand in the world’s largest oil consumer has dropped by an average of 345,000 barrels a day over the previous two years. Data in EIA’s short-term energy outlook show the stronger oil demand outlook comes as analysts lifted their estimate for 2013 growth in U.S. real gross domestic product to 1.7% from a rise of 1.5% in the month-earlier forecast. For 2014, GDP growth of 2.4% is expected, down slightly from the forecast issued last month for 2.5% growth. Oil demand in 2014 is expected to slip 0.2% from 2013, to 18.77 million barrels a day […]

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IEA Says Iran Oil Exports Rising But Challenges Abound

Iran’s oil exports are already rebounding after an interim deal with the West but the Islamic Republic won’t flood markets even if international sanctions are lifted, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. The IEA, the top energy watchdog, said global oil demand will be higher than expected next year and that could push up oil prices amid persistent production disruptions. In its closely watched monthly oil market report, the IEA said preliminary estimates indicate that receipts of Iran’s crude oil and condensate exports rose by 89,000 barrels a day in November, to 850,000 barrels a day as the Chinese bought more and shipments to Taiwan resumed. By contrast, the agency had said last month that Iran’s crude exports had reached their lowest level in 21 months in October. The Iranian oil export rebound comes as, on Nov. 24, Iran and six world powers agreed to a […]

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OPEC surprised by North American oil production

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Tuesday oil supply growth from non-member states, mainly from North America, was greater than expected. OPEC published its monthly oil market report Tuesday. It said supply from non-member states for the year is expected to increase by 1.2 million barrels per day. Non-members should be able to duplicate that level of production next year. “Non-OPEC supply growth in 2013 has performed better than initially expected to stand at 1.2 million bpd,” the cartel’s report said. “Growth is supported mainly by the United States and Canada, adding around 1 million bpd.” Much of the oil production gains in North America have come as a result of the exploration of shale deposits. OPEC said Canadian oil production should average 3.9 million bpd for 2013. Last month, U.S. oil production passed the 8 million bpd mark for the first time […]

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IEA Boosts 2014 Global Oil Demand Estimate Amid U.S. Recovery

Global oil demand in 2014 will be higher than previously forecast, after consumption in the U.S. rebounded to its strongest level in five years, the International Energy Agency said. The IEA forecast today in its monthly oil market report that demand will increase by 1.2 million barrels a day, or 1.3 percent, to 92.4 million a day next year, raising its projection from last month by 240,000 a day. U.S. fuel use rose above 20 million barrels a day in November for the first time since 2008, according to preliminary data. While the agency boosted estimates for the amount of crude OPEC will need to supply, “making room” for the potential return of Iranian exports “could be a challenge for other producers” in the group, it said. “The geopoliticals are now bearish, while the fundamentals are bullish,” Michael Lynch , president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, […]

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OPEC Pumps Least Crude in More Than 2 Years as Saudi Cuts

OPEC reduced crude production in November to the lowest level in more than two years as output dropped below the organization’s 30 million barrel-a-day ceiling for a third month. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 29.63 million barrels last month compared with 29.83 million in October, OPEC said in its monthly oil market report today, citing data from secondary sources. That’s the lowest since May 2011. The group decided to maintain its output limit of 30 million at a meeting in Vienna last week because members were “all satisfied,” Ali al-Naimi , Saudi Arabia ’s oil minister, told reporters on Dec. 4. “In taking this decision, member countries reconfirmed their readiness to promptly respond to unforeseen developments that could have an adverse impact on an orderly and balanced oil market,” OPEC said in today’s report. Analysts at banks including BNP Paribas SA, Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG […]

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Iran sees progress in talks with powers on nuclear deal implementation

A senior Iranian official indicated on Tuesday that progress was being achieved in expert-level talks between Tehran and six world powers over the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal. But Iranian Ambassador Reza Najafi added that the meeting, which began on Monday at the Vienna headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, would continue for a third day on Wednesday. The goal is to work out nitty gritty details of implementing the November 24 interim accord under which Iran will curb its disputed nuclear program in return for some easing of sanctions that have battered its oil-dependent economy. Asked whether good progress was being made, Najafi told reporters: "Yes. We are going to continue tomorrow." Najafi is Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, which will have a key role in verifying that Iran fulfils its side of the agreement. Officials from Iran, […]

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United States suspends non-lethal assistance into northern Syria

The United States has suspended all non-lethal assistance into northern Syria after Islamic Front forces seized headquarters and warehouses belonging to the opposition’s Supreme Military Council (SMC), a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Ankara said. Fighters from the Islamic Front, a union of six major rebel groups, took control of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) bases at the Bab al-Hawa crossing on Syria’s northwestern border with Turkey late on Friday. Turkey shut its side of the border crossing, in Hatay province, due to a reported increase in clashes on the Syrian side, customs sources told Reuters. There was no immediate confirmation from Turkish officials. Infighting among Syrian rebels has weakened their efforts to bring down President Bashar al-Assad in the conflict which began as peaceful protests against his rule in March 2011 and has descended into civil war. It was unclear why the Islamic Front had seized […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple