Oil hugs peaks as France warns Opec

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Oil hugs peaks as France warns Opec ..........LONDON (September 2) : Resilient oil markets coasted comfortably near decade-highs on Friday despite signs that key exporter Saudi Arabia is ready to hike output to cool prices. ..........Benchmark Brent crude for October ended 13 cents stronger at $31.83 a barrel, above a $30 level cited by the United States as unacceptably expensive.

http://www.brecorder.com/story/S00DD/SDI02/SDI02468.htm

..........US light crude finished up 13 cents at $33.25. ..........France said the price was excessive and it would try to address the issue with the Opec producer group. .........."This price of $30 a barrel is exorbitant," French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin told reporters. "The government...will try to intervene with Opec countries to say: 'Watch out. If your prices are too high, you will have an economic reaction." ..........France's leading road haulage federation, the FNTR, called on its members to block the country's oil refineries and fuel depots from September 4 in protest at high diesel prices. ..........Oil's rally survived word on Thursday that Saudi Arabia would push for more than an expected 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) cartel output hike at a meeting of the group this month. ..........An Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries delegate said the kingdom was prepared to go it alone, if other Opec producers were unable or unwilling to unleash new supplies. ..........The Opec delegate said Saudi Arabia was already approaching an extra 500,000 bpd above its official Opec quota. Any extra volumes agreed at the September meeting for October supplies would come on top of that leakage. ..........The market on Friday remained unimpressed. .........."Traders do not generally believe 0.5 million bpd will be sufficient given the recent rise in prices," said brokers GNI. ..........Goldman Sachs noted in a commentary that global inventories of crude and products relative to demand on a seasonal basis were at their lowest level since the 1970s. .........."We continue to expect extreme price volatility will increasingly characterise the market over the next several months, with the potential for significant upward spikes in prices," it added. ..........Opec has already tried and failed this year to tame runaway prices with output hikes of around 2.4 million bpd. ..........Last month fears that US heating oil supplies may fall short this winter pushed Brent to a 10-year high of $32.80 and US crude to within $1 of a new post-Gulf War record. ..........Venezuela Oil Minister and Opec President Ali Rodriguez has urged consumer countries to join the fight against high prices, saying prices could exceed $40 by year-end if they did not. ..........Rodriguez had blamed the current oil rally on speculators, high oil consumption taxes, and refinery bottlenecks. ..........The rally has spelt misery for worldwide transportation from airlines to truck firms, all struggling with inflated costs. ..........Big oil importers like the United States, facing an election year, together with Europe and Japan have voiced their concern.

..........The US national average retail price for unleaded gasoline hit $1.48 a gallon this week, the highest on record going into any Labour Day weekend, according to an Energy Department survey. ..........Bulls drew strength from word from industry sources that Iraq will only be able to keep current levels of export through the year and will not meet proposed increases in production. ..........And non-Opec Mexico, normally in favour of moderating oil price spikes, surprised observers on Thursday with the bullish comment that global oil markets appeared in good shape.-Reuters

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 02, 2000


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