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Ukraine gets brief gas break from Gazprom

KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 4 (UPI) — The director of Ukraine’s national energy company Naftogaz said Russian natural gas company Gazprom agreed to a delay in the repayment of gas debts. Naftogaz Chief Executive Officer Yevgeny Bakulin said his company reached an agreement with Gazprom to defer natural gas payments for winter fuel deliveries until early 2014 because of “problems” in the region, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday. Gazprom in October expressed concern with Ukraine when it hadn’t yet settled an $882 million bill for August natural gas deliveries. Bakulin said some of the outstanding debt had been settled and Gazprom should consider that when making future decisions about gas deliveries to Ukraine. Gazprom, most recently in 2009, cut gas supplies to Ukraine because of outstanding debt. That left downstream consumers in Europe with a gas shortage because the bulk of their gas supplies from Russia run […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Futures Up on U.S. Pipeline Opening, Stockpiles Hopes

Oil futures are higher Wednesday in Asian hours, extending strong overnight gains on news that the southern leg of the Keystone pipeline would begin carrying crude oil to Texas refineries next month, which may help reduce domestic stockpiles. “It’s only influencing WTI (West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark on the New York Mercantile Exchange) because the news came very late in overnight trade,” said Newedge Japan Inc. commodity analyst Masaki Suematsu. On the Nymex, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $97.20 a barrel at 0555 GMT, up $1.16 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.24 to $112.86 a barrel. This came after Nymex January crude settled up $2.22, or 2.4%, at $96.04 a barrel overnight, the highest settlement price since Oct. 31. Mr. Suematsu said Nymex crude is likely to extend gains on the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Gains on U.S. Pipeline Opening

Oil futures are higher Wednesday in Asian hours, extending strong overnight gains on news that the southern leg of the Keystone pipeline would begin carrying crude oil to Texas refineries next month, which may help reduce domestic stockpiles. “It’s only influencing WTI (West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark on the New York Mercantile Exchange) because the news came very late in overnight trade,” said Newedge Japan Inc. commodity analyst Masaki Suematsu. On the Nymex, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $97.20 a barrel at 0555 GMT, up $1.16 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.24 to $112.86 a barrel. This came after Nymex January crude settled up $2.22, or 2.4%, at $96.04 a barrel overnight, the highest settlement price since Oct. 31. Mr. Suematsu said Nymex crude is likely to extend gains on the positivity, with prices […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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WTI Rises for a Fourth Day on U.S. Supply as OPEC Gathers

West Texas Intermediate oil advanced for a fourth day, the longest rising streak since August, as TransCanada Corp. said it will start part of its Keystone XL pipeline next month and data showed U.S. crude inventories fell. Futures climbed as much as 1.4 percent in New York after the American Petroleum Institute said crude stockpiles shrank by 12.4 million barrels last week. Prices gained the most since September yesterday after TransCanada said it will begin the southern portion of the pipeline to the Gulf Coast that could relieve a supply bottleneck. OPEC is forecast to keep its production quota unchanged at a meeting in Vienna today. “The inventory figures gave a boost to the move that was set off by the Keystone news,” said Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney who predicts the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will maintain its target at 30 million […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Rises Most Since September on Keystone Pipeline Plan

West Texas Intermediate crude gained the most since September after TransCanada Corp. (TRP) said it will begin operating the southern leg of its Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf Coast in January. Prices jumped to a one-month high, narrowing WTI’s discount to Brent. TransCanada plans to start deliveries Jan. 3 to Port Arthur , Texas, via the segment of the Keystone expansion project from Cushing, Oklahoma, according to a government filing yesterday. Cushing is the delivery point for WTI futures. Crude also fell as U.S. total inventories probably slid for the first time since September last week. “With the pipeline up and running, you are going to see drops in Cushing inventories,” said Michael Lynch , president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts . “It drives up WTI prices far more than Brent. You are going to see […]

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Natural Gas Posts First Loss in Nine Sessions; Holds Near Six-Month High

Natural-gas futures fell Tuesday for the first time in nine sessions, but held near six-month highs amid mixed near-term weather signals. Market participants said winter weather is the driving force now and confirmation that in coming days temperatures in key markets will turn much colder could reignite the rally. “We’re seeing a bit of a pullback after the recent gains,” said Kyle Cooper, analyst at IAF Advisors in Houston. Front-month gas surged 12.1%, or 43.2 cents, over the prior eight trading sessions as frigid temperatures lingered in key Midwest and East Coast markets for gas-fired home-heating. Natural gas for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 1.2 cents lower at $3.976 per million British thermal units. Prices […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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2013 different year for OPEC

OPEC ministers in Vienna are dealing with a market situation where there’s more oil, not less, available to international consumers, a commodities analyst said. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meet Wednesday in Vienna. OPEC this year has been forced to react to supply disruptions in member state Libya as well as oil production gains from North America. Edward Morse, head of global commodities research at Citigroup, told The Washington Post the cartel’s leaders are expected to mull the geopolitical future of member states. “Unlike a year ago, most of the issues in the market that are geopolitical in nature could lead to more oil, not less,” he said in an interview published Monday. “You can’t take any more Libyan oil off the market; you can only put it back on.” The International Energy Agency last year called on its member states […]

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Iran accord in Geneva followed by new violence, new diplomacy for Mideast

A surge of diplomacy and an outburst of violence in the days since world powers reached a deal with Iran illustrate both the promise and the peril of what could be the start of a more peaceful era in the Middle East — or the beginning of a new round of bloodletting. The announcement of the six-month accord on Iran’s nuclear program, hailed by President Obama as an opportunity to reverse decades of hostility between Washington and Tehran, has quickly been followed by indications of the deal’s potential to unlock other regional conflicts. An anti-Government protester raises his fist after getting into the compound of Government House in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, Dec. 3 2013. Anti-government protesters swarmed into the Thai prime minister’s office compound Tuesday as police stood by and watched, allowing them to claim a symbolic victory after three days of bitter clashes. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn) […]

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Iran, Iraq put OPEC on notice of big oil increases

Iran and Iraq on Tuesday put OPEC on notice of substantial oil output increases to come, saying others in the producer cartel will need to give way to make room for them. Speaking ahead of an OPEC meeting, oil ministers for the two countries — rivals as the group’s second and third biggest producers after Saudi Arabia — said they were targeting 4 million barrels a day, growth of about one million bpd apiece. Neither country can expect to reach those goals any time soon, but both are keen to prepare the ground for special treatment should the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting […]

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31 killed, 73 wounded in bomb attacks in Iraq

At least 31 people were killed and 73 others wounded Tuesday in bomb attacks in Iraq, including three suicide bombings, police said. The deadliest attack occurred in the town of Tarmiyah, some 40 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, when two roadside bombs went off outside the local government building, apparently in an attempt to pave the way for two suicide bombers to enter the building, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. A police force guarding the government building opened fire on the suicide bombers and forced them to blow up their explosive vests at the gate of the building, killing a total of nine people, including five policemen, and wounding 11 people, the source said. Meanwhile, another coordinated suicide bomb attacks took place in the city of Tikrit, the capital of Salahudin province, when a car bomb […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple