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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (204208)	9/28/2004 3:15:34 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576081

U.S. Oil Prices Reach 50 U.S. Dollar Mark The U.S. prices for crude oil for the first time climbed above the 50 U.S. dollar mark for the first time Tuesday, surging to 50.47 dollars per barrel for delivery in November at New York's Nymex commodity exchange early in the day. The price later settled at 50.23 U.S. dollar per barrel, 59 cents or 1.19 per cent higher than at the end of trading on Monday. The hike was mostly due to fears about escalating rebel attacks in Nigeria's oil regions and the slow recovery of oil production and delivery after the disastrous hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, analysts said. Some traders indicated they were bracing themselves for oil prices of 60 U.S. dollar per barrel if supplies from crisis or disaster regions such as Nigeria, Iraq, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the Gulf of Mexico should suffer further major interruptions. Oil prices have surged by 77 percent within the last 12 months. In a first response to the new hike, Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday that it would raise oil production from currently 9.5 to 11 million barrels a day. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in a statement that Saudi Arabia desired "to make available adequate production capacity as soon as possible". The increase expected within the next few weeks. "The kingdom is also ready and capable of making up for production shortfall occurring anywhere in the world," he said, adding Saudi Arabia would initiate extra well drillings and also use Abu Sa'fah and Qatif fields, which were now on stream, to hike its production. Nigeria's oil exports, ranking fifth worldwide with a production of 2.4 million barrels per day, have been jeopardized by rebels threatening to attack oil installations. Oil companies such as Shell and Agip have evacuated some staff from the Niger Delta region. Meanwhile, the recent hurricane Ivan has led to production losses of 11 million barrels in the Gulf of Mexico, and the region's current output of 2.4 million barrel is still 39 per cent below its regular levels. The U.S. Energy Department has released 1.7 million barrels of oil as a loan from its oil reserves to ease the pressure on prices but experts said the move was merely a drop in the ocean. Nonetheless, the U.S. government has made clear it would only tap into its massive reserves on a larger scale if market supplies should fall to critical levels. Other factors worsening conditions on the international oil market have been the tax row surrounding the Russian oil giant Yukos, the ongoing attacks on Iraqi oil installations, and rising insecurity in Saudi Arabia. Speculation with oil hedge funds has also contributed to the problem. Meanwhile, global demand for about 82 million barrel leaves little scope for losses. Analysts estimate that the remaining free production capacities worldwide are as low as 1 per cent. The high oil prices have already dampened the world economy with increased prices for fuel, heating oil, and aviation gasoline, which have effected private consumers as well as air lines, transport companies, the chemical industry and other sectors. As a result of reduced disposable incomes, consumers are also spending less money, prompting losses in the retail industry. continued.......... business.newsfactor.com