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To: SJS who wrote (46126)	6/9/1999 12:24:00 AM
From: pz	Respond to of 95453

Tuesday June 8, 6:04 pm Eastern Time Note: this article has a followup with more information. FOCUS-Oil loses some gloss after two days of gains (Updates with closing prices) LONDON, June 8 (Reuters) - World oil prices lost some of their shine on Tuesday as traders pocketed some of their profits made in two days of hefty market gains. Bellwether North Sea Brent blend crude for July last traded 23 cents lower in London at $15.87 a barrel. Brent had jumped a total $1.15 higher over the previous two days of business as investment fund speculators made a return to the market. But traders said late selling orders tarnished the rally for the moment, with players taking their profits and with estimates of larger gasoline stocks in the United States over the next few months bringing a negative tone to late trading. Dealers said latest estimates of tight OPEC compliance with output curbs announced in March had helped to lift prices and this was likely to continue to play a role. ''Longer term, with the sort of compliance OPEC has been delivering we should see prices rising further,'' said Nauman Barakat at Prudential Bache in New York. ''It should be a firm third quarter.'' The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in May trimmed output by 440,000 barrels a day (bpd) to 26.14 million bpd from 26.58 million in April, a Reuters survey estimated. That translates into 88 percent OPEC compliance with targeted output cuts, an improvement from 76 percent adherence in April. OPEC is aiming to remove a surplus in world petroleum stockpiles and dealers said data scheduled for release over the remainder of this week would provide new clues on the cartel's progress toward that goal. Weekly American Petroleum Institute statistics later on Tuesday will show U.S. gasoline demand and inventories after the Memorial Day weekend, when motorists take to the road at the start of the summer driving season in the United States. On Wednesday, Stichting Euroilstock in Brussels releases monthly data for May on European Union oil inventories. Friday sees the widely-watched International Energy Agency monthly Oil Market Report give its verdict on the latest trends in world oil supply, demand and inventory patterns. The IEA report is expected to underscore tighter OPEC compliance in May with output limits but analysts said it might also have to revise higher its estimate of exports from the territories of the former Soviet Union. Russian exports in particular have been booming in recent weeks because of a weak rouble and lower domestic consumption.

To: SJS who wrote (46126)	6/9/1999 12:26:00 AM
From: pz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Tuesday June 8, 6:34 pm Eastern Time EIA sees extra 300,000 bpd shortfall in world oil supply WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday it expects world demand for crude oil to exceed supply by an additional 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year. In the latest update of its monthly short-term energy outlook, the EIA raised its forecast for world oil demand this year to 75.3 million bpd from 75 million bpd, but left unchanged its supply estimate of 74.0 million bpd, leaving a 1.3 million bpd shortfall in global oil supplies. The revised forecast reflects a 100,000 bpd increase in U.S. oil demand this year to 19.3 million bpd, while demand in Europe was raised by 200,000 bpd to 14.9 million bpd. The EIA also said its forecast assumes that Asian oil demand begins recovering this year from the sharp slowdown last year, and that the recovery will continue through 2000. ''It is not expected that petroleum demand growth in Asia will return to rates seen prior to the recent regional economic crisis,'' the EIA said. The agency said it expects OPEC countries to reach about 75 percent of their 4.3 million bpd oil production cut, before compliance slips in the latter half of this year as higher oil prices increase the incentive for countries to raise their production. Non-OPEC production is expected to remain flat this year as low oil prices in 1998 delayed the development of some oil projects and caused oil production to be shut in, the EIA said. However, non-OPEC oil production will increase in 2000 as higher prices counteract some of the same forces that caused oil output to lag in 1999, the agency said. (-Tom Doggett, Washington Energy Desk, 202-898-8320).

To: SJS who wrote (46126)	6/9/1999 12:28:00 AM
From: pz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Tuesday June 8, 7:18 pm Eastern Time Iraq oil exports 1.35 mln bpd as U.N. deal renewed NEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - Iraqi oil exports averaged 1.35 million barrels per day in the first four days of June, marking the smoothest transition yet to a new phase of the United Nations humanitarian ''oil-for-food'' program. The export level was down from an average of about two million bpd in the previous six months, but it was the least disruptive transition in two-and-a-half years of the program, which must be renewed every six months. In the last full week of the fifth sales phase, Iraq exports averaged 2.44 million barrels per day (bpd). Still, the 1.35 million bpd figure is high relative to the start of previous sales phases, U.N. figures show. There was no oil shipped from Iraq from May 29-31. This three-day gap in sales is an improvement over the nine-day gap between shipments of the fourth and fifth phases late last year. There were five liftings in the first four days of June, which for U.N. accounting purposes is the first oil shipped in the sixth 180-day sales phase, even though the 180-day clock began ticking on May 25. This is because the United Nations allowed Iraq to sell oil from the fifth phase until May 28. ''This is looking like a smooth, straightforward transition from one phase to another,'' Mills said. The United Nations also approved 19 more contracts for oil purchases in the week ending June 4. For the sixth phase that ends Nov. 20, 33 contracts for oil have been approved totaling 197.3 million barrels of oil. Of that amount, 59 percent is Basrah Light shipped from mina al-Bakr with the remainer Kirkuk crude shipped from Ceyhan, Turkey. Russian oil firms were awarded contracts totalling 29 million barrels of Iraqi crude in the week. When added to the first batch of contracts last week, Russian firms -- led by Zarubezhneft -- account for 109 million barrels of the first 197.2 million barrels awarded in the sixth phase. Chinese companies -- Sinochem and China Oil -- have been awarded contracts for about 30 million barrels of oil. French companies have been awarded contracts for about 20 million barrels of oil. So far, only one U.S. company has been awarded a contract, for 3.6 million barrels of Basrah Light. In the fifth sales phase, about 45 percent of Iraqi crude sold in the oil-for-food program ended up in the United States. It's become customary for Iraq's state oil company, State Oil Marketing Organization, to sell to companies that resell their crude on the open market. No British companies were given contracts in the week ending June 4. Industry sources said Iraq's plan for June crude exports will rise from recent projections of about 1.6 million bpd. The oil-for-food program is an exemption from international sanctions on Iraq that include an oil embargo. Iraq sold about 361 million barrels of oil in the fifth sales phase, an average of about two million barrels per day. Iraq's oil ministry said this week it wants to increase its oil production to about three million bpd by the end of 1999, which means exports of 2.4 million to 2.5 million bpd. About two-thirds of the proceeds of the oil-for-food sale fund humanitarian supplies for Iraq's people.