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To: Think4Yourself who wrote (53409)	10/22/1999 1:22:00 PM
From: ChanceIs	Respond to of 95453

Rig Count is sizzling ..........GO PTEN........ US 750 +29 Canada 292 +22 Land 622 + 27 North America 1042 +51 Oil 139 -1 Gas 609 +30 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! New Mexico 45 +4 OK 71 + 10 TX 276 +12 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To: Think4Yourself who wrote (53409)	10/22/1999 3:19:00 PM
From: Think4Yourself	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

slightly OT: Bunkers Owners reel from effect of Opec stand on output Source: Lloyd's List International TANKER owners' profits have been devastated by the escalation in bunkers to eight-year highs, a result of unprecedented compliance to crude output cuts by oil producers. Fuel oil prices have more than doubled since February, when crude prices collapsed to their lowest point for a generation. Shipowners have been left reeling from the effect of the strict adherence to reduced quotas by members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). Compliance as high as 92% has lifted crude to 33-month highs of more than $24 per barrel. However expensive crude means less product as refineries cut crude runs. Tight supply and seasonal demand should keep bunkers at dizzy heights for at least the winter season. Although the last decade has seen plenty of fluctuation in bunkers, the latest bull-run has come at a particularly lean time for shipowners. An illustration of the profit erosion being suffered by shipowners has been compiled by UK shipbrokers Galbraith's. In general, owners of modern VLCC units are earning $3,000 per day less, while older vessels are bringing in $7,000 per day less, based on bunkers at $135 per tonne. When bunkers are priced at $80 per tonne, modern VLCC owners earn $22,950 per day for a trip between the Persian Gulf and Singapore fixed at W55 for a 270,000 tonne cargo. If fuel oil values jump to $135 per tonne, earnings crash to $19,000 per day. The loss is more marked for the older turbine tankers. At $80 per tonne, 1970s-built VLCCs earn $18,750 for the aforementioned voyage. Daily returns plummet to $11,850 per day if bunkers rise to $135 per tonne. The recent climb is a bitter pill to swallow for shipowners, especially when bunkers crashed to $54 per tonne in February a low last seen in December 1993. But shipowners should be old hands in dealing with expensive bunkers. Correlation between Opec quotas and bunkers has always been close. When Opec first introduced quotas prices shot up to $50 in the first quarter of 1974 against $15 per tonne in 1970. Further Opec action caused prices to climb to $140 per tonne in 1979, before peaking at $210 per tonne in the second quarter of 1981. Prices collapsed to $50 per tonne in 1986, but ended the decade at more than $100 per tonne. Another peak in prices followed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. In January 1991 bunkers at Singapore climbed $112 to $184 per tonne in just six months when it was feared Iraqi aggression could disrupt crude flow from terminals such as Ras Tanura and Jubail. Prices started to back down in March, when the allied Dessert Storm offensive began. In the mid-1990s Opec cut back quotas. And as a result Saudia Arabia decided to maximise its profits and increase its premium on its Arabian heavy crude. As the industry bought more Arabian Light, fuel oil supply decreased and bunkers soared. Shipowners recouped losses when Opec decided to flood the market with crude, which acted as a catalyst for weak oil prices and bunkers, at the end of 1997. Bunkers remained flat for most of 1998 before the cartel decided in March this year to cutback further, which started the bull run during the summer