Better Fill up today

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Oil Little Changed, Ceding Gains Before Report on U.S. Supplies



By Grant Smith

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Oil traded little changed, giving up earlier gains, before a report forecast to show that crude inventories accumulated last week in the U.S., the world's biggest energy user.

The U.S. Energy Department will probably say crude-oil inventories grew by 1.5 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before the department's report later today. Analysts were split over whether stockpiles of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, rose or fell.

"Today, all attention will be on the weekly U.S. fuel inventories report," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London. "Demand concerns will be resurfacing. Investor attention will gradually switch to abundant supplies from OPEC as the exporting group continues to pump above agreed targets."

Crude for January delivery traded for $75.99 a barrel, 3 cents lower in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 11:12 a.m. London time. It earlier rose as high as $76.60.

Yesterday, it fell $1.54, or 2 percent, to $76.02 a barrel, the lowest settlement since Oct. 14. Prices have gained 71 percent this year.

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Jan-10 Crude settled at $77.96, up $1.94 on the day, Jan-10 Natural Gas settled at $$5.163, up $0.397 on the day.
Very active day in the energy sector with lots of contracts done.

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Bloombergenergy.com

"Crude Oil Tumbles Most in Seven Months as Dubai Seeks to Reschedule Debt Crude oil fell the most in seven months as Dubai's attempt to reschedule its debt bolstered the dollar and prompted investors to sell commodities."


Jan-10 Crude oil is trading at $74.425, down $3.525, Jan-10 Natural Gas is trading at $4.95, down $0.215.

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Jan-10 Crude settled at $76.05, down $1.91 on the day, Jan-10 Natural Gas settled at $$5.192, up $0.029 on the day.
The EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report came out with a 2 BCF Build , as follows:
Summary
Working gas in storage was 3,835 Bcf as of Friday, November 20, 2009, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net increase of 2 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 404 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 442 Bcf above the 5-year average of 3,393 Bcf. In the East Region, stocks were 145 Bcf above the 5-year average following net withdrawals of 2 Bcf. Stocks in the Producing Region were 229 Bcf above the 5-year average of 982 Bcf after a net injection of 3 Bcf. Stocks in the West Region were 69 Bcf above the 5-year average after a net addition of 1 Bcf. At 3,835 Bcf, total working gas is above the 5-year historical range.

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Jan-10 Crude oil is trading at $76.125, up $0.075, Jan-10 Natural Gas is trading at $5.005, down $0.187.

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Oil Rises Above $76 as U.A.E. Backs Dubai, Tanker Is Seized



By Alexander Kwiatkowski and Christian Schmollinger

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose above $76 a barrel in New York after the United Arab Emirates central bank said it would back the country's lenders against a possible default by Dubai World.

Oil gained as much as 1.1 percent today after the Abu Dhabi-based central bank said yesterday that financial institutions will be able to use a borrowing facility. Somali pirates seized a supertanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the U.S., and the dollar weakened, bolstering the appeal of crude as an alternative investment.

R20;It looks like the oil market is able to ignore the negative news from Dubai and price in the positive news," said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. "The dollar is helping a lot too."

Crude oil for January delivery climbed as much as 80 cents to $76.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices were up 60 cents to $76.65 a barrel at 9:32 a.m. in London.

The contract declined 2.5 percent to settle at $76.05 a barrel on Nov. 27. Prices have gained 72 percent this year. Oil is set for a monthly decline of 0.4 percent, its first drop in four months.

R20;The market has run out of steam after spending most the year in an upward trajectory," said Toby Hassall, a research analyst with CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney. "The market is still coming to terms with the implications of the Dubai debt scare for oil." The move by the U.A.E central bank could be a positive sign, he said.

Dubai World

Markets from Asia to the U.S. fell last week after Dubai World announced Nov. 25 it was seeking to delay loan repayments. DubaiR17;s stock markets will trade today for the first time since the news.

Dubai World, a state-owned holding company struggling with $59 billion of debt and other liabilities, said it would seek a standstill agreement with creditors and an extension of loan maturities until at least May 30, 2010. That raised the prospects of rising loan losses for U.A.E. and foreign banks.

Brent crude oil for January settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange traded at $77.77 a barrel, up 59 cents, at 9:25 a.m. in London. The contract earlier rose as much as 77 cents, or 1 percent, to $77.95 a barrel.

The dollar traded at $1.5034 a euro at 8:56 a.m. in London, weakening from $1.4988 on Nov. 27. The European currency last week gained 0.9 percent against the greenback, its biggest climb in three weeks.

Iran Defiance

Iran announced an expansion of its nuclear program in defiance of United Nations demands, a move that the Obama administration said will further isolate the Islamic Republic from the international community.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Cabinet ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to begin building 10 uranium enrichment sites within two months, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported. All would be at the same scale as IranR17;s Natanz site, producing fuel for power plants to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity, the state news agency said.

Iran is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps 40 percent of the world's oil.

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Jan-10 Crude settled at $77.28, up $1.23 on the day, Jan-10 Natural Gas settled at $$4.848, down $0.344 on the day.

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Jan-10 Crude oil is trading at $78.025, up $0.75, Jan-10 Natural Gas is trading at $4.76, down $0.09.

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Crude Oil Rises for a Second Day as Chinese Manufacturing Grows



By Grant Smith

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose for a second day after a report showed Chinese manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in five years, spurring hopes that the world's second- biggest oil user will buoy consumption.

Oil advanced in tandem with equities, and as a weaker dollar enhanced the appeal of commodities for hedging inflation. The purchasing managers' index for China, released today by HSBC Holdings Plc, rose to a seasonally adjusted 55.7 from 55.4. The government's PMI, also released today, held at an 18-month high, aiding the rebound of the world's third-largest economy.

R20;Chinese oil demand should increase by 5 percent this year, 4 percent next year," said Hannes Loacker, an analyst at Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich in Vienna. "While the rate of growth is slowing down a bit, it means there is still growth there in one of the most important regions."

Oil for January delivery gained as much as $1.16, or 1.5 percent, to $78.44 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the highest in a week. The contract traded at $78.15 a barrel at 11:23 a.m. London time.

Oil traded near $78 a barrel on Nov. 25 before Dubai World, one of the emirate's three largest state-linked holding companies, sought to delay payments on its debt and other liabilities. The company has since begun what it described as "constructive" talks with banks to restructure $26 billion, less than half of its $59 billion in obligations.

R16;China Busy'

R20;Dubai is being resolved and China is as busy as ever," said Rob Montefusco, a broker at Sucden Financial in London. "The market is coming back quickly after finding support at $75."

Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries won't increase production targets when it meets later this month, Agence France-Presse reported.

The 12 OPEC states will assemble in Luanda, Angola, on Dec. 22 to review their output targets and the impact of supply reductions announced last year, the largest in the group's history. Ministers from Kuwait and Nigeria have also indicated they expect quotas to be left unchanged.

OPEC output rose to the highest level in 11 months in November, averaging 28.9 million barrels a day, a Bloomberg News survey showed. Countries with quotas pumped 26.5 million barrels a day, 1.655 million above their target.

U.S. crude-oil inventories probably fell as refineries increased operating rates and imports declined, a Bloomberg News survey of analysts showed.

Crude Stockpiles

Stockpiles of crude oil dropped 850,000 barrels in the week ended Nov. 27 from 337.8 million the prior week, according to the median of eight estimates by analysts before an Energy Department report this week. Five respondents forecast a decrease, and three said there would be an increase.

Brent crude oil for January settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange traded at $79.26 a barrel, up 79 cents, at 11:12 a.m. in London. Yesterday, the contract rose 1.7 percent to $78.47 barrel, the highest since Nov. 18.

The U.S. currency weakened to $1.507 per euro from $1.4976 yesterday, making dollar-priced assets such as crude appear less expensive to foreign investors, and more useful for hedging against inflation.

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Jan-10 Crude settled at $78.37, up $1.09 on the day, Jan-10 Natural Gas settled at $$4.762, down $0.086 on the day.