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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: diana g who wrote (53026)	10/15/1999 5:45:00 AM
From: oilbabe	Respond to of 95453

Crude Oil Falls on Concern Venezuela to Boost Output Capacity London, Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell 2 percent after Venezuela's state-owned oil company said it will boost output capacity next year, raising traders' concern it could quickly export more oil if the world's top producers allow it to. Petroleos de Venezuela SA said yesterday it will boost daily output capacity 6 percent next year to 3.55 million barrels. Under a pact with fellow OPEC members to end an oil glut and boost prices, Venezuela agreed to pump no more than 2.72 million barrels, a level it has stuck close to in recent months. ``Venezuela has wanted to gear up capacity for a long time, to as much as 6 million barrels, and with higher prices they would like to secure agreements to supply more oil,' said Jack Kellett, a trader with Credit Lyonnais Rouse Ltd. Brent crude oil for December delivery fell as much as 44 cents to $21.45 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange in London. Crude oil for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 41 cents to $22.04 a barrel in electronic trading. Oil prices have doubled this year since 10 of the 11 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, plus four other nations, said in March they would cut supplies by 5 million barrels a day, or about 7 percent of world supply, from February 1998 levels. Last month, OPEC decided to keep the cuts in place until April to ensure surplus inventories, which pushed prices to a 12- year low in December, are reduced.

To: diana g who wrote (53026)	10/15/1999 5:47:00 AM
From: oilbabe	Respond to of 95453

Natural Gas Falls as Report Shows Adequate U.S. Inventories New York, Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas fell more than 4 percent, its first drop in seven sessions, after an industry report signaled U.S. inventories should be adequate this winter. Natural gas storage units were 90 percent full as of Oct. 8, the American Gas Association said. That left them on target to reach 95 percent or more of capacity before heating demand starts, analysts said. Prices are up 39 percent from a year ago, when inventories were about the same size. ``The AGAs showed levels relative to last year are flat, and last year's levels were record highs,' said David Chang, vice president of energy trading at Bank of America in New York. Natural gas for December delivery at the Henry Hub in Louisiana fell 13.6 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $2.834 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. U.S. natural gas supplies in storage rose 49 billion cubic feet to 2.936 trillion cubic feet last week, the AGA said. Inventories are 0.5 percent lower than they were a year ago. Prices also fell as forecasters said Hurricane Irene will bypass rigs in the Gulf of Mexico as it moves across Cuba toward Florida. Prices had gained earlier this week partly on concern that the storm would threaten U.S. gas production. The storm's current path leaves ``good potential for further declines' in natural gas prices, Chang said. Irene, with winds of 75 miles per hour, was expected to cross western Cuba today and then head north, reaching Florida over the weekend, according to National Hurricane Center projections. Traders closely watch storms in the Gulf of Mexico that can force producers to shut down offshore platforms near the coast of Texas and Louisiana that account for about a quarter of U.S. supply.

To: diana g who wrote (53026)	10/15/1999 6:02:00 AM
From: oilbabe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Petr¢leos de Venezuela (PDVSA) acting president Aires Barreto says that the state-run oil company is preparing to increase output during 2000. Barreto pointed out that everything will depend on OPEC, but that after the agreement to curb production ends in March, it is not illogical to think that a hike in production will come. Barreto ? in charge during H‚ctor Ciavaldini?s absence ? said that PDVSA will spend about 96 percent of its $11 billion budget inked for this year to pave the way for a hike in output next year. Most of the 6.8 trillion-bolivar budget was still to be spent during these final three months of the year, since at the start plans were shelved because of the low price of oil. Barreto also said that PDVSA?s external needs for this year had dropped to $1.4 billion from an original estimate of $3 billion and that the debt had already been obtained in full. PDVSA has in mind to produce 2.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil during 1999. Barreto indicated that of this amount, 2.63 million bpd for 1999 would be destined for export at an average price of $12 per barrel. PDVSA production centers on drilling 319 wells and of the repairing of 500 using a total of 53 rigs. Total investment including that of the private sector through operating contracts would equal $5 billion. The 33 marginal fields operated by the private sector would equal $1.8 billion this year, informed Barreto.