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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pompsander who wrote (749284)	9/15/2006 1:08:10 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

Oil Weakens Toward $63 By REUTERS Filed at 0:36 a.m. ET SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil stayed near $63 a barrel on Friday, weighed down by bulging natural gas and heating oil inventories in the United States and the suspension of an oil workers' strike in Nigeria. U.S. light crude for October delivery was down 3 cents at $63.19 a barrel by 0430 GMT after falling 75 cents on Thursday and hitting a five-month low. London Brent crude for the new front-month November contract shed 2 cents to $63.52. ``There's nothing bullish now. The large natural gas and distillate stocks are the main bearish factors that have brought prices down again,'' said Tetsu Emori, chief strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures. U.S. natural gas prices fell to a two-year low on Thursday after Energy Information Agency data showed that inventories had swelled by more-than-expected. This came on the back of data showing rising distillate fuels, including heating oil, increasing its supply cushion ahead of the northern winter. The market also eased after the suspension of an oil workers' strike in Nigeria, the world's eight-largest supplier, when tanker loadings at the country's Brass River export terminal resumed. The planned three-day strike was called off early after the oil unions were satisfied that the government was going to address their concerns over security in the Niger Delta. Supplies also look to be boosted as the U.S. Department of Transportation said it was reviewing a request by BP Plc to restart production at its problem-ridden Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska although no timeline has been given. BP shut the eastern section of the field, the largest in the United States, in August due to severe pipeline corrosion. Output at the field has been restored to 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) but well below its full capacity of 400,000 bpd. The improved supply picture has led investors to take profits, pushing the market down about 20 percent from a record-high of $78.40 in July. ``The funds are liquidating their long positions and accumulating short ones. There are still some long positions out there but they are slowly being liquidated and I think the net positions are a little bit on the short side,'' said Emori. REFINERY OUTPUT DOWN News of problems involving secondary units at two U.S. refineries failed to lift the market. BP said it detected a leak in a gasoline-making catalytic cracking unit tower at its 460,000-bpd refinery in Texas City, Texas. The unit could run during repairs, expected to complete on September 17, without a cut in rates. ConocoPhillips' 233,000-bpd plant in Sweeny, Texas had a problem with a coker flare, but the extent of the glitch was not disclosed. In Asia, refiners have taken 160,000 bpd of output offline on regional oversupply and weak plant margins. The U.S. Gulf hurricane season remained mild from the perspective of its impact on oil infrastructure as two tempests raged across the Atlantic but forecasters said neither posed any immediate threat to land. Concerns over potential supply disruptions from Iran, the world's fourth-largest producer, following its stand-off with the West over its nuclear plan faded in the absence of developments. The European Union had resumed talks, aimed at clarifying an offer diplomats said Tehran made at the weekend to suspend uranium enrichment temporarily.