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Gold/Mining/Energy : Oil and Gas Prices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gottfried who wrote (1)	10/8/1997 3:28:00 PM
From: Tommaso	Respond to of 82

Thanks very much for the links. I am trying to understand better than I do what moves oil prices. For example, there seemed to be enough new production coming on line to keep prices steady --and then we had a rise of several dollars a barrel. I don't understand either why natural gas prices rose steadily for several months. Because I have a large percentage of my net worth invested in oil and gas royalty trusts, my income fluctuates widely as the prices change. I also think that a big run-up in energy prices would help puncture what I think is the large stock market bubble. I am on the short side of the general market. So I hope that some people with a lot of information on this subject may contribute to the discussion. For example, the is the question of how much oil will be coming out of the Caspian Sea region, and how that will affect oil prices. There is the political issue of the stability of Saudi Arabia. Some people think a coup could occur there. What is the implication of the selling of the US Navy oil reserves? I think it was a foolish thing to do, myself. Also, it seems, the strategic stockpiles of oil have been mostly sold. I don't think it would take much of a crisis to send oil up to $50 a barrel. There's no domestic cushion or reserve left. Just some issues to toss out.

To: Gottfried who wrote (1)	4/13/1998 7:32:00 AM
From: Tommaso	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82

Asia Crude Outlook-Pressured by weaker demand Reuters, Monday, April 13, 1998 at 02:29 By Azlin Ahmad SINGAPORE, April 13 (Reuters) - The Asian crude market is expected to be under pressure on ample supplies this week, as refinery shutdowns for maintenance cut demand even as Indonesia and China reduce oil production, traders said on Monday. "The output cutbacks may in the mid to longer term help stabilise heavy regional crude prices, but there is still a fair bit of supply around right now," said a trader with a major oil company. "Bach Ho barrels are having difficulty finding buyers," he added. China and Indonesia separately announced earlier this month they would cut crude output by a combined 220,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) starting April. But this has not put a dent on the oversupplied crude market in Asia. With Asian refiners going to deeper maintenance shutdowns in May, the fall in demand is likely to more than offset the reduction in crude oil supplies, traders said. Some North Asian refiners, especially Japan, start their yearly maintenance turnarounds in April, but the bulk of the shutdowns will be carried out in May and June, traders said. The bearish market was evident by the lack of buying interest in heavy sweet Vietnamesese Bach Ho crude, they said. Vietnam closed its tender to sell 440-550,000 barrels of Bach Ho loading April 18-30 last week, but failed to make an award because the bids were considered too low. Bids submitted into the tender were at discounts of around 20 cents per barrel to the OSP, compared to earlier Bach Ho trades done at around OSP less 10 cents for first half April cargoes, traders said. Vietnam said it expected to commit the supplies to its term customers, but traders said few buyers would be willing to absorb the barrels in light of the current lacklustre refinery demand. But Middle East crude prices are likely to be steady this week, with demand seen adequate to soak up the remaining May supplies of Oman and Abu Dhabi grades, traders said. They said the latest retroactive official selling prices of Oman crude, released last week were supportive, leading to renewed buying for the crude. Oman's set its March OSP at $11.31, a 17 cents per barrel discount to benchmark Dubai and deeper than the seven cents discount a month earlier. Traders had said earlier the Oman OSP was overvalued and needed to fall to attract buying interest. "The latest Oman OSP was supportive, so the leftover May barrels will maintain their spot premiums," said a trader with a European major. Offers for May Oman were at premiums of five to six cents to the OSP, compared to trades done a week ago at premiums of three cents. -- Singapore Newsroom (65) 870-3082, Fax (65) 776-8112 -- Email: singapore.newsroom@reuters.com Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service c 1998 Quote.com, Inc. All