Oil Blog

Oil News 1/31/06

Update 4: Oil Prices Fall Below $68 Per Barrel
Forbes - USA
Crude oil prices fell below $68 a barrel Tuesday after OPEC ministers said the group had decided to hold production steady. Light ...

Oil prices fall below $68 as OPEC boosts output
Xinhua - China
NEW YORK, Jan. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- World crude oil prices fell below $68 a barrel Tuesday after OPEC decided to keep the maximum oil output. ...

Oil prices continue lower; Iran says will not halt exports, OPEC ...
Forbes - USA
LONDON AFX - Oil prices continued lower as OPEC said it would keep oil production at a near record high while Iran insisted it would not halt oil exports amid ...

German shares close higher on easing oil prices, upbeat US data
Forbes - USA
FRANKFURT (AFX) - Shares closed higher, led by Deutsche Boerse and Deutsche Lufthansa, as oil prices eased and a report showing US consumer confidence reached ...

Libya: Sending Iran to UN will Affect Oil Prices
Zaman Online - Istanbul,Turkey
Libyan Energy Minister Fathi Hamed bin Shatwan said transferring Iran to the United Nations Security Council will have "an enormous impact" on oil prices. ...

Oil Prices Drop as Production Remains Steady
E-Commerce Times - USA
... Crude oil prices fell below US$68 a barrel Tuesday after OPEC ministers said the group had decided to hold production steady. Light ...

London shares outlook - seen higher as oil prices ease; FOMC ...
Forbes - USA
LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares are tipped to start the session higher as oil prices eased back slightly overnight, but gains could be capped ahead of the final ...

Oil prices fall in Asian trade
Sify - Taramani,Chennai,India
Singapore: Oil prices skidded lower in Asian trade today as OPEC oil ministers were expected to keep current production ceilings, snubbing a call by Iran to ...

Update 5: Oil Prices Drop, Just Above $68 a Barrel
Forbes - USA
Crude oil prices retreated Tuesday after making a 3.2 percent gain over the previous two sessions and ahead of an OPEC meeting at which the cartel is expected ...

High Oil Prices Help Boost Exxon Profits
ABC News - USA
... the fourth quarter and $36.13 billion for the year, as the world's biggest publicly traded oil company benefited from high oil and natural-gas prices and solid ...

Rig Notes 1/31/06

Kupe field joint venture leases drilling rig
National Business Review - New Zealand
... not proceed. Ensco will employ a new rig for the drilling, one only recently launched and commissioned in Singapore. The rig will ...

Tullow Oil plc - Trading Statement and Operational Update
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
... The field redevelopment program commenced in November 2005 with the arrival of the Ensco 101 drilling rig to drill five new wells and conduct nine workovers on ...

OPEC in the News 1/31/06

Oil falls below $68 on OPEC supply reassurance
Reuters - USA
LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell Tuesday as OPEC unanimously agreed to keep output near a 25-year high, countering fears that rising international ...

Oil slips below $68 on OPEC supply reassurance
Reuters Canada - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as OPEC unanimously agreed to keep output near a 25-year high, countering fears that rising international ...

OPEC: Iran Won't Halt Oil Production
Salon - USA
January 31,2006 | VIENNA, Austria -- OPEC President Edmund Daukoru said Tuesday that Iran had reassured the cartel that it would keep its oil production ...

OPEC keeps output at 28mln barrels
Xinhua - China
31 (Xinhuanet) -- The 139th Meeting of the OPEC Conference sealed a deal here on Tuesday to keep the oil output ceiling of the OPEC at a maximum 28 million ...

OPEC confirms deal to retain high output
Reuters - USA
VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC, including Iran, has sealed a deal to keep its oil output ceiling at a near-maximum 28 million barrels per day, Algeria's oil minister ...

OPEC decides to keep oil output at record highs
TMCnet - USA
(Evening Standard (London) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jan. 31--Oil cartel Opec today agreed unanimously to keep pumping at record levels. ...

OPEC Said to Reject Iran's Bid to Cut Output
New York Times - United States
30 -- OPEC members said they had agreed to maintain their current policy and keep pumping oil at 25-year record levels, rejecting earlier calls from two ...

Opec to keep output at near capacity
Business Times - Malaysia - Malaysia
VIENNA, Tues: The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) decided today to leave oil production unchanged, Qatari and Algerian ministers said ...

OPEC meeting will leave output as it is- Libya
Reuters - USA
VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC oil ministers will leave oil production unchanged at their Tuesday meeting, Libyan Energy Minister Fathi Omar Bin Shatwan told reporters ...

OPEC to keep output ceiling unchanged
WAM - Emirates News Agency - Abu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates
31st, 2006 (WAM) - An official source at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said today that the member states' oil ministers decided to ...

Refinery News 1/31/06

Pump paranoia
New Orleans CityBusiness - New Orleans,LA,USA
... 5. "We lost significant refinery capacity as a result of the hurricanes and we still have not seen a full return of these facilities," Right said. ...

$36,130,000,000 Company sets profit records
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
... released a letter she sent to President George W. Bush, calling on him to support a strategic energy fund to pay for increased refinery capacity and investment ...

OPEC seals deal to keep pumping near maximum
Reuters - USA
... "They're supplying the market the best they can, but they have very little impact on global refinery capacity and very little impact on geopolitical events ...

Bill would offer energy tax breaks to small businesses
Albany Business Review - Albany,NY,USA
... State lawmakers can't do anything about global competition for oil, corporate profits, or a loss of refinery capacity that are increasing energy costs, said ...

Bush Pushes Health Reform
Forbes - USA
... energy bill. That is likely to include opening up domestic oil and gas reserves and lifting obstacles to expanding refinery capacity. ...

Democrats see winning issue in oil company profits
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
... "Are there plans to invest in additional refinery capacity in the US?" Bonjean asked. "What are the plans of oil companies in regards ...

Investigation into gas prices finds no gouging
Sioux City Journal - Sioux City,IA,USA
... gas prices in Nebraska from June 2004 to October 2005 were due primarily to an increase in the price of crude oil, with declines in refinery capacity and an ...

Gas Prices 1/31/06

NiSource 4Q Profit Falls on Gas Prices
MSN Money - USA
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (AP) - Natural gas distributor NiSource Inc. reported Tuesday fourth-quarter profit fell as higher gas prices kept customers at bay. ...

Spike in gas prices gives a lift to ridership on the CTA, Pace
Chicago Tribune - United States
As gas prices soared last year and Chicago jumped to second on a national list for road congestion, more people took the Chicago Transit Authority and Pace ...

Alagasco, Mobile Gas defend surging prices to PSC
Dateline Alabama - Birmingham,AL,USA
... Commissioner Jan Cook called surging natural gas prices a "national disaster," and PSC member George Wallace Jr. said companies ...

Gas Prices Among Top 10 Wisconsin Consumer Complaints
Milwaukee Channel.com - Milwaukee,WI,USA
State consumer protection specialists said Tuesday gas prices and health and medical services are among the top 10 complaints for the first time. ...

Columbia Gas lowers natural gas prices
Kentucky.com - Lexington,KY,USA
... that mild winter temperatures and the return of some natural gas supplies from the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast led to a decrease in natural gas market prices. ...

Putin Comments on Increase of Gas Prices
Civil Georgia - Georgia
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on January 31 that increase of gas prices for the neighboring countries was a transition to the market prices, which ...

Investigation into gas prices finds no gouging
Sioux City Journal - Sioux City,IA,USA
... The higher gas prices in Nebraska from June 2004 to October 2005 were due primarily to an increase in the price of crude oil, with declines in refinery ...

Do High Prices Mean We're Running Out of Natural Gas?
Newhouse News Service (NNS) - USA
... Stephen Andrews, co-founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas-USA, a Denver research group, agreed. "Natural gas prices have gotten a lot of ...

Gas prices stable this week
Providence Eyewitness News - RI,USA
... dollars, 40 cents, down a penny from its survey last week. Triple A says gas prices are 47 cents higher than at this time last year. ...

Gas prices headed back up
KVBC - Las Vegas,NV,USA
The days of record high gas prices could be returning soon. Remember paying $3.00 for a gallon of unleaded? Analysts say it's possible ...

Refinery New 1/30/06

Alumina supply disruptions to drive price hike
Metals Place - UK
... For this reason, the country is turning its attention to growing its refinery capacity, particularly given that China's tight power market and dramatic growth ...

Special interest vs. public interest
Dunn County News - Menomonie,WI,USA
... Arguing that there is not enough refinery capacity in this country, he said, "They don't want new refineries built so that they can keep their profit margin ...

Taiwan : KPTC Yunlin plant to produce 800000 tons of paraxylene
Fibre2fashion.com - India
... will set up a refinery and petrochemical complex in the Island nation. The plant will be built at a cost of US $12.46 billion having a capacity of processing ...

Tillerson's Exxon Makes History With Record Profit
Forbes - USA
... September, served to dent production by 1%. But by taking out refinery capacity, the storms pushed up oil and gasoline prices, and with them, Exxon's profit. ...

Health Care, Heal Thyself
National Review Online - New York,NY,USA
... mish-mash of formulas meant to satisfy environmentalists in California and the northeast, to the detriment of national gasoline supplies and refinery capacity. ...

MRPL in alliance with ONGC to develop export oriented refinery
Myiris.com - India
... Engineers India Ltd (EIL) has completed detailed feasibility study for the refinery upgradation project, to enhance refining capacity to 15 MMTPA (presently ...

MRPL net profits down to Rs 19 crore
NewKerala.com - Ernakulam,Kerala,India
... M/s. Engineers India Limited (EIL) has completed Detailed Feasibility study for the Refinery Upgradation Project, to enhance refining capacity to 15 MMTPA ...

Gas Price News 1/30/06

Market primed to pump up gas prices
DetNews.com - Detroit,MI,USA
Unless something dramatic happens soon to lower oil prices -- say, a sharp economic slowdown -- analysts believe US motorists could pay close to $3 a gallon ...

Massachusetts gas prices unchanged from a week ago
Providence Eyewitness News - RI,USA
Over the preceding four weeks, prices had risen an average of 13 cents a gallon. Today's survey found prices as low as two dollars ...

don't get Burned Natural gas prices
Elgin Courier News - Elgin,IL,USA
... However, as this winter's natural gas prices rise above unprecedented levels, the Citizens Utility Board is warning area residents to be wary of "too good to ...

Gas prices to remain the same, students still drive to campus
The Exponent - West Lafayette,Indiana,USA
By Mike Nolan. Many commuting students are feeling a crunch on their wallets from high gas prices, which have been climbing since the first of the year. ...

Energy prices jump since 1996
WSAW - Wausau,WI,USA
The Associated Press reports our state has seen a 49-percent increase in electric prices, and a 74-percent jump in natural gas prices over the last decade. ...

GAS PRICES PROMPT ARMENIA TO DEBATE ALLIANCE WITH RUSSIA
EurasiaNet - New York,NY,USA
... Plans by the Russian state-owned GazProm company to increase gas prices from $56 per 1000 cubic meters to $110 per 1000 cubic meters had foreshadowed the ...

Gas prices don't curb local drivers
The Evening Sun - Hanover,PA,USA
... After falling from their post-Hurricane Katrina high, gas prices are back up. ... Plank thinks gas prices are a big reason nobody's biting. ...

RI gas prices inch up 1 cent
Providence Business News - Providence,RI,USA
Gasoline prices in Rhode Island inched up another penny over the last week, the eighth consecutive week in which prices locally have risen, according to AAA ...

Gas Prices Hold Steady In MA
CBS4Boston - Boston,USA
(CBS4) BOSTON After four straight weeks of increases, gasoline prices in Massachusetts are now holding steady. The latest AAA survey ...

Oil Future News 1/30/06

Oil futures soar on US markets
The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
US crude oil futures finished higher Monday as gasoline and heating oil futures surged amid some refinery run cuts and seasonal maintenance. ...

Futures Movers
MarketWatch - USA
Front-month crude-oil futures were recently down 12 cents at $67.64 a barrel after climbing as high as $68.42 in electronic trade. ...

= OIL FUTURES: Brent Crude Lower On Nigerian Field Restart
TMCnet - USA
... 1130 GMT, the front-month March Brent contract on London's ICE Futures exchange - formerly ... Iran is still the central focus for the oil market, but an easing of ...

Stocks set to open down to start week
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
... Front-month crude oil futures contracted traded 25 cents lower at $67.51 a barrel, with Venezuela calling for a cut in production but other members calling for ...

Rig Notes 1/30/06

China, Iran to work together in Caspian Sea
Oil & Gas Journal - Houston,TX,USA
... China National Offshore Oil Corp., have signed a cooperation agreement that includes repair and maintenance of the Alborza semisubmersible drilling rig in the ...

Australia's Roc says no oil at Mauritania's Dore well
Reuters South Africa - Johannesburg,South Africa
Roc said its 2005 Mauritanian drilling programme was now finished and the Stena Tay drilling rig would be released. Exploration ...

OPEC in the News 1/30/06

OPEC agreed to keep high oil output to calm prices
Reuters - USA
VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC oil ministers gave unanimous support to keeping output near a 25-year high on Monday as worries over supplies from Iran, Nigeria and ...

OPEC has consensus to cut output in March
BusinessWeek - USA
... its next meeting. A member of the Kuwaiti delegation also said a key OPEC panel recommended no rate cut this week. Free Hot Stock ...

Oil lower as Opec seeks to reassure markets
Financial Times - London,England,UK
Crude prices moved lower on Monday as Opec oil ministers reassured markets on supply ahead the cartel's meeting this week although concerns about threats to ...

ANALYSIS - OPEC investors mature, keep petrodollars at home
Reuters - USA
VIENNA (Reuters) - Thirty years of experience have turned OPEC countries into sophisticated investors, who pile their record amounts of petrodollars into a ...

Oil prices higher in Asian trade on eve of OPEC meet
Forbes - USA
SINGAPORE (AFX) - Oil prices rose sharply above 68 usd a barrel in Asian trading hours as Iran stirred turmoil on the eve of an OPEC meeting by calling for a ...

Oil price below $68 in advance of OPEC meeting Tuesday; Stocks ...
FinFacts Ireland - Ireland
Light crude oil fell Monday for the first time in three trading sessions after Saudi Arabia's oil minister said OPEC would keep pumping near capacity, allaying ...

All OPEC ministers agreed to leave production unchanged - Saudi ...
Forbes - USA
VIENNA (AFX) - All OPEC members have agreed to keep the production ceiling unchanged at a meeting in Vienna on Tuesday, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said. ...

Oil prices rise on eve of OPEC meeting
Sify - Taramani,Chennai,India
London: World oil prices climbed today on the eve of an OPEC meeting in Vienna where member countries are to decide whether to alter the cartels level of crude ...

Algeria sees OPEC keeping output steady
Africast - Westport,CT,USA
ALGIERS, Janaury 30 -- OPEC is likely to maintain oil output at current levels when it meets at the end of the month because the market is well supplied ...

DJ Libya Oil Min: No Need For Opec Output Cut Now -3-
TMCnet - USA
(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Jan 30, 2006 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) --US light, sweet crude oil futures for March delivery were ...