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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gottfried who wrote (32837)	12/14/1998 7:45:00 PM
From: Captain James T. Kirk	Respond to of 95453

Monday December 14 4:55 PM ET Crude, Products Rise Sharply By CLIFF EDWARDS AP Business Writer Crude oil futures rose sharply Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange as officials from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Mexico set a meeting for this week, raising hopes the three oil-producing countries will cut output further to ease a glut. On other markets, pork futures rose sharply, while soybeans fell sharply. Crude and its byproducts jumped in heavy trading ahead of Thursday's meeting in Madrid of three of the top exporters of oil to the United States. Crude prices had been closing in on all-time lows for futures trading amid signs world oil producers were loathe to slash demand despite tumbling prices. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries this year reduced daily output by 2.6 million barrels in the face of a supply glut and sharply lower demand from Asian and Russia. Other oil producers chipped in with cuts, bringing the total to 3.2 million barrels daily, but the pledges to date have not been met with 100 percent compliance. And increased shipments from Iraq under a U.N.-sponsored oil-for-aid plan largely negated the effects of the cuts. Market participants now are hoping the president-elect of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, will enforce production targets in his country, which has been exceeding its pledges. They also hope the three, who have spearheaded two production-cut initiatives this year, will present a viable plan for boosting prices. *Natural gas futures rose sharply as forecasters predicted below-normal temperatures finally will arrive in the key Midwestern heating region by the end of the week, which is likely to spur demand after a fall that has seen unusually warm temperatures.** Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose 50 cents to $11.29 a barrel; January heating oil rose 1.21 cents to 32.71 cents a gallon; January unleaded gasoline rose 1.15 cents to 35.49 cents a gallon; January natural gas rose 9.4 cents to $1.952 for each 1,000 cubic feet. Lean hog futures jumped 7.1 percent on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange amid some speculation the worst of a national pork glut has passed. Some investors were betting that after a period of record slaughterhouse operations in which producers sold their pigs for the lowest prices in 50 years that they will sharply reduce their herds in coming weeks because of poor profit potential. Pork futures have fallen sharply in the past few months as weak export demand takes its toll on those who ramped up production in the last two years following sharply higher prices. February lean hogs rose 2 cents to 30.07 cents a pound; February pork bellies rose 2.47 cents to 44.17 cents a pound. Soybean futures tumbled on the Chicago Board of Trade, pressured by expectations that ample weekend rainfall in southern Brazil aided crops there. Brazil is the world's second-largest soybean grower behind the United States, and the southern region is its most important for delivering bumper crops. With forecasters predicting more South American rains this week, which are relieving drought-stressed crops and making soil moist enough to plant, market participants are concerned about potential export competition at a time when U.S. supplies are plentiful and world demand is relatively weak.