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Nymex Supported by Winter Demand

Crude-oil futures were choppy in Asian trade with U.S. oil markets largely supported by weather-related demand. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at $96.69 a barrel at 0603 GMT–up $0.05 in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.28 to $107.60 a barrel. Nymex West Texas Intermediate crude gained more than 2% last week on higher fuel demand thanks to a second cold wave in the U.S., bullish agency forecasts and the commissioning of Transcanada’s oil pipeline. Cold weather in the U.S. has pushed up energy prices including diesel futures and propane spot. Nymex oil contracts for front months have also firmed up–a market structure called backwardation–indicating stronger near-term demand. "Strong U.S. refining margins and low product stock cover in the OECD may push WTI prices even higher in the coming weeks as the […]

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Brent Crude Drops Amid Concern of Slowing Emerging Market

Brent crude futures dropped amid concern that slower Chinese growth and emerging equities markets sinking to their lowest level in more than four months will reduce oil demand. Futures dropped as much as 0.6 percent in London. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is set for its lowest close since Sept. 3. A private gauge of China ’s manufacturing dropped to a six-month low in January. Currencies from Turkey to Argentina fell last week with emerging-market stocks on concern that growth is threatened amid reductions in stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which meets to review policy this week. “The uncertainty in emerging markets will see demand in those economies slip back and even in the U.S. there is uncertainty ahead of the Fed’s meeting this week,” Michael Hewson , a market analyst at CMC Markets Plc in London, said by phone. “Oil hasn’t been as impacted by the volatility […]

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Hedge Funds Most Bullish on Gas Since 2006 After Freeze: Energy

Hedge funds are the most bullish on benchmark U.S. natural-gas futures since at least 2006 after a freeze drove prices for the heating fuel to a three-year high. Speculators increased their net-long position, or wagers on rising prices, in New York Mercantile Exchange futures by 21 percent in the week ended Jan. 21, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data that begins in 2006. A wider measure that includes three contracts tied to Henry Hub, the delivery point for Nymex futures, reached a one-month high. Gas jumped above $5 per million British thermal units last week for the first time since June 2010 as forecasts showed arctic weather persisting through early February. This month may be the coldest January since 1994 in the lower 48 states, according to Commodity Weather Group LLC. The amount of gas withdrawn from storage from Oct. 31 through Jan. 17 was the most […]

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Emerging markets turmoil intensifies

The emerging markets sell-off intensified on Monday with stocks heading for their worst day in almost half a year even before Latin American bourses opened, and currencies weakened further, including the Turkish lira hitting a new low against the dollar. Investors have become concerned about the prospects of emerging markets as growth slows in China, the world’s second-largest economy and the US Federal Reserve scales back its quantitative easing. The Fed’s asset purchases were a key feature in the rise of emerging market asset prices over the past five years. The FTSE Emerging Markets index slumped 1.9 per cent in early trading – its biggest one-day drop since August 27. Hong Kong’s market fell 2.1 per cent, Taiwan’s tumbled 1.6 per cent, and Indonesia’s dropped 2.6 per cent. “At the moment you can’t stop the rot,” said Christian Lawrence, strategist at Rabobank. “The momentum is with the continued sell-off […]

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Pemex Sees Production Ventures as Early as Year-End, CEO Says

Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico ’s state-owned oil company, expects to sign its first exploration and production agreements with international companies as early as year-end after Mexico ended its 75-year monopoly. Pemex, as the state oil company is known, will initially focus on mature and deep-water fields to establish the ventures, Chief Executive Officer Emilio Lozoya said today. Possible associations in the refining, transportation and petrochemical businesses can be done once congress approves the so-called secondary legislation, which is expected in April, he said. “We expect that in exploration and production, by the end of 2014 or beginning of 2015 we achieve the first investments or associations,” Lozoya said today in an interview in Davos during the World Economic Forum . “The quickest way to monetize the investments that Pemex already did in exploration is through joint ventures. This means increasing output and oil income.” President Enrique Pena Nieto ended the […]

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Iranian Oil Tanker Sanctions Suspended After Nuclear Deal

National Iranian Tanker Co. got permission to ship oil to some Asian countries as sanctions were eased, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing the company’s Managing Director Ali Akbar Safaei. Tankers belonging to the company may export crude to China, India, Turkey , Japan, South Korea and Taiwan after sanctions against insuring the country’s vessels were suspended Jan. 20, IRNA said, citing Safaei. Iran agreed with world powers including the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany to curtail its nuclear program in return for an easing of some sanctions on oil, auto parts, gold and precious metals in a Nov. 24 agreement signed in Geneva. Iran is preparing for a second round of nuclear talks scheduled for next month as it seeks a further easing of sanctions that caused crude exports last year to drop to their lowest since 1990, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. […]

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US resumes nonlethal aid to Syrian opposition

The United States has restarted deliveries of nonlethal aid to the Syrian opposition, officials said Monday, more than a month after al-Qaida-linked militants seized warehouses and prompted a sudden cutoff of Western supplies to the rebels. The communications equipment and other items are being funneled for now only to non-armed opposition groups, said the U.S. officials. But the move nevertheless boosts Syria’s beleaguered rebels, who saw their international support slide after Islamic militants seized bases near the Turkish border that had been under the authority of a key U.S.-backed leader. It could also be seen as a U.S. reward to the opposition for its participation in ongoing peace talks with President Bashar Assad’s government in Geneva. The U.S. officials, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity, said the aid was being sent through Turkey into Syria, with the coordination […]

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Officials: 3 Egyptians abducted in Libya freed

– Two Egyptian diplomats and an embassy staff member abducted in Libya have been freed after Cairo released a Libyan militia leader who was arrested last week, officials in both countries said Monday. The releases took place late on Sunday, according to an Egyptian security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Three Egyptian diplomats still held captive are also expected to be released soon, he said. The six Egyptians – five diplomats and the one embassy staff member – were seized late Friday and early Saturday in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. No one claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. The abductions came hours after Libya’s state news agency reported that Egyptian authorities had arrested Shaaban Hadiya, the commander of a militia known as Revolutionaries Operation Room. The militia claims to answer to the Libyan army but […]

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BG Group Declares Force Majeure in Egypt, Expects Flat Earnings For 2013

BG Group PLC (BG.LN) Monday provided guidance for 2013 earnings and said that it has issued force majeure notices under its LNG agreements in Egypt due to diversions of gas volumes to the domestic market in excess of the existing arrangements The natural gas company expects to report full year 2013 production volume of 633,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or kboed, in line with its previous guidance. The company said that 2013 business performance earnings, or earnings before disposals, impairments and certain other items, is expected to be flat at $4.4 billion, or 130 cents per share. Total results earnings, after impairments, is expected to be $2.2 billion, or 65 cents per share. The Berkshire, U.K., headquartered company expects to record total non-cash, post-tax impairments of $2.4 billion in 2013. BG Group also said that 2014 production volumes are expected in the range of 590 kboed and […]

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Militants Down Egyptian Helicopter, Killing 5 Soldiers

Islamist militants shot down an Egyptian military helicopter in the Sinai Peninsula with a surface-to-air missile over the weekend, raising new alarms about the terrorist insurgency that developed there in response to the military takeover last summer. The attack — described by witnesses, documented in a video released by the militants, and confirmed by three people briefed on the Egyptian government’s investigation — validated longstanding fears that such weapons would spill into Egypt and beyond after the Libyan civil war tore open Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s fearsome arsenals. Known as manpads, for man-portable air defense systems, the missiles can bring down commercial airliners if they are flying at low altitude, as during […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple