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WTI, Brent Oils Set for Weekly Drop on Slow Jobs Growth

West Texas Intermediate and Brent crudes dropped after weaker-than-estimated U.S. jobs growth in August and as Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists agreed to a cease-fire. Both benchmark oils capped weekly declines. U.S. employers added the fewest number of jobs this year in August, Labor Department data showed today. The two sides agreed to stop fighting at 6 p.m. local time today, Heidi Tagliavini, a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said after talks in Minsk, Belarus. Russia is the world’s largest energy exporter. “The jobless report was disappointing,” Kyle Cooper, director of research with IAF Advisors and Cypress Energy Capital Management in Houston, said by phone. “It’s evidence that the economy isn’t going gangbusters. This raises demand concerns, especially when economies elsewhere are looking weak.” WTI for October delivery slipped $1.16, or 1.2 percent, to close at $93.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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NYMEX crude settles down by $1.16/b, pulled lower by Ukraine ceasefire

The oil complex settled lower Friday after a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine helped minimize the oil market’s risk premium, while concerns remain over the impact of Russian sanctions on European demand. NYMEX October crude closed $1.16/barrel lower at $93.29/b. ICE October Brent crude was down $1.01/b to $100.82/b. Refined products futures also ended the day lower. NYMEX October RBOB was down 1.65 cents to $2.5834/gal, while October ULSD was down 1.71 cents to $2.8192/gal. Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, said the market turned lower when US President Barack Obama told reporters at the NATO summit in Wales that Western sanctions against Russia would remain in place, despite the ceasefire. Article continues below… Oilgram Price Report is a daily report that covers market changes, market fundamentals and factors driving prices. Oilgram Price Report also brings a vast array of Platts international prices for crude and products, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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MARKET WATCH: Crude oil experiences week-long ‘bumpy ride’

09/05/2014 The crude oil market was taken on a “bumpy ride” down a rocky road for much of this week, according to a commodities research note from Barclays Research, “as soft fundamentals and escalating tensions in Eurasia sparked price volatility.” “In the US,” noted analyst Michael Cohen, “high seasonal stock levels, growing production, and fall refinery maintenance could pressure domestic crude prices over the next 2 months and potentially shift [West Texas Intermediate] into contango.” Cohen said the oil supply-demand balance “continues to look weak,” adding, “Light crude production is set to grow in the coming weeks with the restart of the Buzzard field (200,000 b/d) and Libyan production progressing towards 800,000 b/d.” The New York Mercantile Exchange October crude oil contract dropped again on Sept. 3 after the previous day’s rebound, falling $1.09 to $94.45/bbl. The November contract declined 97¢ to settle at $93.71/bbl. The October natural gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Obama Enlists 9 Allies to Help in the Battle Against ISIS

NEWPORT, Wales — President Obama escalated the American response to the marauding Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Friday, recruiting at least nine allies to help crush the organization and offering the outlines of a coordinated military strategy that echoes the war on terror developed by his predecessor, George W. Bush, more than a decade ago. In his most expansive comments to date about how the United States and its friends could defeat ISIS, a once-obscure group of Sunni militants that has now upended the Middle East and overshadowed Al Qaeda, Mr. Obama said the effort would rely on American airstrikes against its leaders and positions, strengthen the moderate Syrian rebel groups to reclaim ground lost to ISIS, and enlist friendly governments in the region to join the fight. While the president’s aides maintained that he has not yet decided to authorize airstrikes in Syria — which he has […]

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Exports lag due to violence

Exports lag due to violence Iraq’s battle with anti-government militants has begun to hamper the country’s exports, which fell in August to their second-lowest monthly average of the year.The State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) sold an average of 2.375 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, "with more than 25 million barrels rolled over from August nomination program into September," an official close to SOMO said. "There were no exports from Kirkuk or to Jordan."A senior official at the state-run South Oil … This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraq Pursues New Tack in Bid to Seize Tanker Off Texas

Iraq ’s Oil Ministry has asked a U.S. judge for permission to change its legal arguments in a bid to seize $100 million in Kurdish crude waiting in a tanker off Texas since late July. Stymied by the judge’s ruling last month that he didn’t have jurisdiction under admiralty law, the nation has come back with claims under maritime and Texas statutes. U.S. District Judge Gray Miller in Houston threw out an arrest warrant that gave federal agents authority to take the 1 million-barrel cargo and store it, at Iraq’s expense, if the tanker entered U.S. waters. Miller said he had no authority to intervene in a foreign ownership dispute under U.S. laws governing property stolen on the high seas. Iraq cited those laws as the basis for to recover crude exported from wells in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan without permission. Iraq’s Oil Ministry has now revised […]

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Exclusive: Islamic State guides Egyptian militants, expanding its influence

CAIRO (Reuters) – Islamic State, fighting to redraw the map of the Middle East, has been coaching Egypt’s most dangerous militant group, complicating efforts to stabilize the biggest Arab nation. Confirmation that Islamic Sate, currently the most successful of the region’s jihadi groups, is extending its influence to Egypt will sound alarm bells in Cairo, where the authorities are already facing a security challenge from home-grown militants. A senior commander from the Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has killed hundreds of members of the Egyptian security forces over the last year, said Islamic State has provided instructions on how to operate more effectively. "They teach us how to carry out operations. We communicate through the internet," the commander, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters. "They don’t give us weapons or fighters. But they teach us how to create secret cells, consisting of five people. Only one person has […]

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U.S. government welcomes Israeli gas deal

Israel’s Delek Group, alongside U.S. energy company Noble Energy, signed the letter with the National Electric Power Co. of Jordan for natural gas deliveries from the Leviathan natural gas field off the Israeli cost. The U.S. State Department said it facilitated talks between the parties in February that led to the signing of a similar deal for gas from Israel’s offshore gas field, Tamar. Acting Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein was on hand for a signing ceremony for Leviathan, hosted by U.S. Ambassador to Jordan Alice Wells. "This letter of intent [on Leviathan] marks the beginning of the second phase of the project, and represents an important step towards promoting peace and prosperity in the Middle East by encouraging collaboration to overcome energy challenges," the State Department said in a Thursday statement. Leviathan, with an estimated 18 trillion cubic feet of gas, should go onstream in […]

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Ghana to Double Oil Production by 2017 on Tullow, Eni Deposits

Ghana will double crude production by 2017 as offshore deposits being developed by Tullow Oil Plc and Eni SpA start producing oil, Minister of Energy Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah said. Tullow’s TEN development will produce about 80,000 barrels a day by then, the minister said by phone today. Eni’s Sankofa Gye-Nyame deposit will pump 50,000 barrels, he said. Production at Ghana’s Jubilee field will rise to 120,000 barrels from 110,000 today. Ghana and partners Tullow and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. plan to invest $20 billion in the next 10 years to develop offshore oil deposits. The world’s second-largest cocoa producer needs revenue to help narrow its budget deficit, which will probably exceed 10 percent of gross domestic product for a third year, according to Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service. To contact the reporter on this story: Ekow Dontoh in Accra at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: […]

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PDVSA Said to Hire London PR Firm as Venezuela Struggles

Petroleos de Venezuela SA hired a public relations agency founded by Margaret Thatcher ’s press adviser, two people familiar with the matter said, as Venezuela sells U.S. refineries and responds to World Bank court rulings. PDVSA, as the state-owned oil producer is known, contracted Tim Bell’s Bell Pottinger Private in May to improve its image abroad, said the people, who asked not to be identified because it hasn’t been made public. It’s the first time the company has hired an international PR firm since late-President Hugo Chavez began his so-called Bolivarian revolution in 1999. PDVSA, which accounts for 97 percent of Venezuela’s dollar earnings, is struggling to fund record social spending and subsidies, leading to shortages of everything from razors to flour in a country with the largest oil reserves. President Nicolas Maduro , Chavez’s handpicked replacement, is facing the world’s fastest inflation and foreign reserves near 11-year lows. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple