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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GST who wrote (169342)	8/19/2005 12:05:27 AM
From: geode00	Respond to of 281500

Yeah, well. I wish he would get off the pot then.

To: GST who wrote (169342)	8/19/2005 11:52:58 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

Oil futures up 2% as Ecuador halts exports investors.com By Myra P. Saefong Last Updated: 8/19/2005 10:49:26 AM <<...SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Unrest in Ecuador and Nigeria converged with reports of fresh violence in the Middle East to lift crude-oil futures by as much as 2% Friday. In Ecuador, protests by striking workers and the local population, hoping to get a bigger share of the South American country's oil revenue, forced the suspension of crude exports, according to AFP. "They are the 13th largest supplier of oil to the U.S. and we get half their daily production of some 200,000 barrels," said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst at Alaron Trading. During the first eleven months of 2004, Ecuador exported 226,000 barrels per day of crude to the U.S. -- some 2.3% of the nation's total oil imports, according to the Energy Department. Ecuador thus ranks as the second-largest single source of crude imports from South America, after Venezuela. The situation in Ecuador is "just one more reason why crude oil will keep climbing to $70, $75, $80 and eventually $100 and higher," said commodities trader Kevin Kerr, who edits the Global Resources Trader investment letter, a service of MarketWatch, the publisher of this report. Crude for September delivery climbed to a high of $64.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was last at $64.40, up $1.13, or 1.8%. However, the price on the benchmark contract was still trading about 4% below the week-ago close of $66.86. Meanwhile, September unleaded gasoline moved 2.71 cents higher at $1.89 a gallon and September heating oil tacked on 2.65 cents to $1.817 a gallon. A week ago, they closed at $2.0048 and $1.9055, respectively. Adding to the rally in oil were the shutdown of an oil plant in Nigeria operated by Shell due to protests in the region as well as reports of rockets fired at U.S navy ships in Jordan. In the Jordanian port of Aqaba on Friday, missiles were fired at a U.S. Navy ship there and at the nearby Israeli port of Eilat, wire service reports said. The incident is Jordan is "raising the terror premium again as it appears that terrorists are obviously trying to hit a U.S. ship," said Flynn. Higher oil prices forecast Also Friday, Merrill Lynch raised its 2005 forecast for Brent oil by 10% to $55 a barrel and for light sweet crude by 10% to $56 a barrel. Merrill also lifted its 2006 forecast for Brent by 25% to $51 and for light sweet crude by 25% to $52 a barrel. The brokerage told clients it believes the recent spike in oil prices has been largely driven by news of near-term disruptions both upstream and in refining and by renewed tensions in the Middle East that have little bearing on the near-term supply/demand balance. The broker also told clients it remains positive on demand despite the recent price spike in oil and signs of lower demand from China. Merrill's forecast for 2005 global demand growth remains 1.6 million barrels, up 1.9% on 2004. Goldman Sachs on Thursday said oil prices should remain above $60 a barrel for the rest of the decade...>>