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WTI Oil Rises Amid Speculation U.S. Distillate Stockpiles Shrank

West Texas Intermediate crude rose for a third day amid speculation that government data will show distillate-fuel inventories declined for a second week in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures advanced as much as 0.7 percent in New York . Distillate stockpiles , including heating oil and diesel, probably slid by 500,000 barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a report from the Energy Information Administration tomorrow. The International Energy Agency raised its forecast yesterday for global oil consumption, citing a strengthening economy. “Demand in the U.S. appears to be on the way up,” David Lennox , a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone today. “The IEA report helped to push prices.” WTI for March delivery gained as much as 63 cents to $95.60 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange , and was at $95.56 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Storm Sends Natural Gas Prices for NYC, Mid-Atlantic States Soaring

-The price of natural gas delivered to New York City and the mid-Atlantic states soared to a record high Tuesday as a snowstorm brought freezing temperatures to the U.S. Northeast and as traders worried about a potential drop in supplies of the heating fuel. Natural gas for delivery Wednesday soared to $135 per million British thermal units at Transco Zone 6, a pipeline delivery point in New Jersey where New York City gas prices are set, according to IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc. On Friday, prices traded between $10 and $25 per million Btus. Prices on the same pipeline for delivery from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Storm Sends Natural Gas Prices Higher

The price of natural gas delivered to New York City and the mid-Atlantic states soared to a record high on Tuesday, as a snowstorm brought freezing temperatures to the Northeast U.S., and traders worried about a potential drop in supplies of the heating fuel. Natural gas for delivery Wednesday soared to $135 per million British thermal units at Transco Zone 6, a pipeline delivery point in New Jersey where New York City gas prices are set, according to IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc. On Friday, prices traded between $10 and $25 per million Btus. Other pipelines, including the Iroquis Gas Transmission System that brings gas from eastern Canada to the New York City area, posted similar milestones by midday Tuesday. The surge in prices for the second time this month underscores concerns about the infrastructure needed to transport natural gas from booming shale fields to densely populated areas when the heating […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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IEA Sees Higher Oil Demand on Developed-Nation Economic Recovery

Global oil demand will increase more this year than previously forecast, the International Energy Agency said. A ban on U.S. crude exports may crimp output growth, the Paris-based group said. World consumption will climb by 1.3 million barrels a day, or 1.4 percent, to 92.5 million barrels a day, the IEA said today in its Oil Market Report. The increase of 90,000 barrels a day from last month is the first year of annual demand growth in developed nations since 2010, it said. U.S. restrictions on exports may mean its surging domestic production hits a “crude wall” that curbs further expansion, the IEA said. “Upside risks to oil demand growth are much more relevant this year than the same period last year, where concerns were for downside risks to materialize,” Miswin Mahesh, an analyst at Barclays Plc in London , said by e-mail yesterday. “Demand-supply metrics in the oil […]

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IEA: Global oil demand for fourth-quarter 2013 revised upward

Global oil consumption during fourth-quarter 2013 was adjusted to 92.1 million b/d, according to the International Energy Agency’s most recent Oil Market Report. The total, which marks a 135,000-b/d upward revision from last month’s OMR report, was adjusted because of exceptionally strong US demand since October, partly offset by reduced Chinese fourth-quarter 2013 demand. Global demand for 2014 is expected to rise by 1.3 million b/d to 92.5 million b/d from the 1.2 million b/d rise now envisaged for 2013, to 91.2 million b/d, “an acceleration supported by the likelihood of stronger macroeconomic momentum as the year progresses, IEA said. Led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, crude oil supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries rebounded by 310,000 b/d to 29.82 million b/d in December, reversing 4 months of declines. Iraq was the only member to post a decline. Non-OPEC supplies for the month fell by […]

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Iran not open for business, U.S. says

Though Iran gets some relief from sanctions under terms of a nuclear deal, a U.S. government official said its oil sector isn’t open for business. Sanctions pressure on Iran eased Monday in response to implementation of a nuclear deal that calls on Iran to curb some of its uranium enrichment activity. The deal is part of an interim agreement reached last year between Iran and its Western negotiating partners. A U.S. official told the Washington Post on condition of anonymity Iran gets about $4.2 billion from sanctions relief during the six-month interim period. That relief, however, is a "drop in the bucket" compared with oil revenue still off limits because of sanctions. "Iran is not truly open for business," the official said in an interview published Monday. There were few official responses from Iran regarding oil in the wake of the sanctions relief. A […]

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Iraq only slumping OPEC member, IEA says

Iraq was the only member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to post a decline in oil production last month, the IEA said Tuesday. The International Energy Agency, which has headquarters in Paris, said Tuesday oil production from the 12 members of OPEC declined 535,000 barrels per day in December year-on-year. OPEC’s December production, however, was 310,000 bpd higher than the previous month. OPEC said in its January market report demand for its crude oil declined because of production increases from North America. The IEA said 11 of the 12 members of the OPEC cartel, including Libya, were reporting production gains, reversing four months of decline. "Iraq was the only member to post a decline, though beleaguered Libya saw only a modest rise, amid government expectations of an imminent recovery in oil output," the IEA said in its market report. Violence has increased […]

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Mediterranean Oil Tanker Rates Near Six-Year High on Libya Cargo

The cost of shipping oil across the Mediterranean Sea surged to the highest in almost six years as traders accelerated bookings to load Libyan cargoes at a time when tankers are being delayed reaching the region. Aframax ships hauling 80,000 metric ton cargoes to southern European refineries from North African exporters are earning $137,687 a day, according to data today from Poten & Partners, a New York-based shipbroker. The figure is the most since March 2008, its data show. Nationwide protests shut Libyan oil fields and export terminals in July last year, curbing shipments from Europe ’s third-largest crude supplier. Some lost output is now returning and traders booked tankers to load 610,000 tons of Libyan oil in the week ended Jan. 26, the most since Sept. 1, according to charter lists compiled by Bloomberg. Fog is delaying ships at Turkey ’s shipping straits, meaning fewer in the Mediterranean, […]

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Libyan oil production up 2 percent

The Libyan Ministry of Oil said oil production has reached an average level of 581,657 barrels per day, a 2 percent increase from its previous estimate. The government said the 581,657 barrels per day average was achieved during the week ending Jan. 18. It beats the previous week’s average of 569,135 bpd, the Libya Herald reported Monday from Tripoli. Before the civil war in 2011, Libya produced on average 1.6 million bpd and was one of the premier oil producers in North Africa. The country has flirted with that level since widespread fighting ended in late 2011 but recent production levels have suffered because of internal conflict. Rebel groups in the east of the country, some of which helped topple the regime of Moammar Gadhafi , in November declared independence for the region known as Cyrenaica, which hosts some of Libya’s key oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple