Steve--, re: oil/article. Prospect of further output boost by OPEC calms fears of tight supplies
( read this article, there is to much pressure on OPEC to
further boost oils production)
If not US is ready to release from strategic reserves, which after 1998( 12 $/ barrel)is at all time high.
During summer 1 million barrel a day for 45 days was almost ready to go.
1 million a day is a big number!
Oil prices are at speculative level. Went from 33 to 36 based on Saddam and tropical storm.
Nothing has happened and we still have 36$.
Euro is also at speculative level, and has to go up soon.
last week I added ALA, some NT. Bought also TXN and ADI.
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Sizzling oil prices took a breather Tuesday as the prospect of OPEC
boosting output helped ease worries about tight supplies.
In late trading, U.S. light sweet crude for October delivery fell 33 cents to $36.55 a barrel on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. London's benchmark Brent for November delivery settled
at $33.63, down 83 cents.
On Monday, U.S. crude oil futures hit an intraday high of $37.15 a barrel, their highest since the
Gulf War of 1990-1991.
Various remarks from government officials as well as OPEC members soothed consumers'
concerns.
U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said Tuesday that oil prices that are currently
approaching $38 a barrel are "dangerously high" and the White House would not hesitate to
use all options to fight soaring energy prices.
Richardson declined to say if the release of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve
was imminent. He spoke to reporters
after meeting with Northeast lawmakers.
Richardson reiterated that all options
were on the table to protect Americans
from rising energy prices, but would not
say if current market conditions made it
more likely that the emergency stockpile
of oil would be tapped.
Richardson met privately at the Capitol
with lawmakers, who during the meeting
urged the administration to release oil
from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as soon as possible to prevent a spike in home heating
oil prices this winter.
Lukman sees prices falling
OPEC Secretary General Rilwanu Lukman said Tuesday he expects surging oil prices to fall
very soon, reiterating that the cartel would pump more crude if necessary.
"We've had some forceful statements from within OPEC," said Matthew Warburton, oil analyst
at UBS Warburg. "The possibility of OPEC releasing further oil in October under the price band
mechanism prompted a degree of profit taking this morning."
Fears of a supply crunch are particularly acute in the United States, the world's biggest oil
consumer, where heating oil stocks are running 40 percent below last year.
Consuming countries, fearful that higher energy costs could revive inflation and slow
economic growth, have been calling on OPEC to release yet more supplies to knock down
stubbornly high oil prices.
Lukman said OPEC would not hesitate to respond if prices -- which have been hitting 10-year
highs at $37 per barrel -- do not ease before the cartel's meeting in November.
"We expect prices to go down very soon," Lukman told Reuters on his arrival in the Indonesian
capital of Jakarta, where he will attend an oil conference.
"If prices remain high, we don't need a meeting, we won't wait for the meeting. We'll act. We've
agreed that if prices remain above that level [$22-$28] for the number of days we have
stipulated, more oil would be made available," he said.
Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi already has said further supply could be added before
OPEC's scheduled November ministerial meeting if sky-high prices made it necessary.
OPEC can add more oil under its price stability mechanism, which would bring an extra 500,000
barrels per day (bpd) if prices continue above $28 for 20 consecutive working days after Oct.
1.
Lukman added he backs al-Naimi's view that $25 per barrel is a fair price.
He declined to predict what direction prices will head, but added that some extra oil already is
seeping into the market.
OPEC had about two million bpd spare capacity, Lukman added.
OPEC agreed Sept. 10 to raise production by 800,000 bpd, its third output rise this year. While
the hike has failed to contain prices, al-Naimi has said that crude oil supplies now are ample
and that stocks would build.
Prices have increased recently as rising tensions between Baghdad and Washington fueled
traders' fears that Iraq could shut off its crucial oil supplies this winter in the run-up to
November's U.S. presidential election.
--Reuters contributed to this report |
