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Gold/Mining/Energy : Nabors Industries(NBR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mike Perras who wrote (141)	2/5/1999 11:37:00 PM
From: MARIO PASQUA	Respond to of 174

The valve is closing... get your beach towel BEIJING (Nikkei)--China's suspension of its long-standing exports of Daqing crude oil to Japan is a sign that the Beijing government's priorities have shifted to domestic interests, analysts say. Last fall, Beijing stunned the international financial community with its announcement that it would liquidate the ailing Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corp., a major nonbank financial institution saddled with nonperforming debts. Behind Beijing's firm stance of protecting domestic interests is a tough economic environment, including a worsening balance of trade and delays in reforming state-run companies. If China further strengthens its emphasis on the domestic economy, however, it could alienate foreign capital that has sustained China's rapid economic growth, exacerbating economic uncertainty. Beijing's major concern is a deteriorating trade balance, which could erode its vast foreign-currency reserves totaling 145 billion dollars as of the end of 1998. China's exports have slowed significantly, posting a year-on-year increase of a mere 0.5% for 1998. Last October, the country banned spot imports of crude oil and also restricted imports of raw materials, including flat glass and steel products. In the case of Daqing crude oil, Beijing apparently concluded that its economy will benefit more from using the crude oil at home than from exporting it to Japan for hard currency, analysts say. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Saturday morning edition)

To: Mike Perras who wrote (141)	2/5/1999 11:39:00 PM
From: MARIO PASQUA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 174

Saturday, February 6, 1999 Indonesian Crude-Oil Price Rises On China's Export Cutoff TOKYO (Nikkei)--A cutoff in crude-oil shipments from China has sent the price of Indonesian crude-oil exports to Japan soaring as Japanese power companies scramble to replace China's Daqing crude with Indonesian substitutes and C fuel oil refined at home. For February shipments, the premium on standard Indonesian crude oil rose to 50-60 cents per barrel, up from minus 10 cents to zero at the end of last year. The prices of Japan-bound Indonesian crude oil are computed by adding premiums to standard prices Indonesia submits every month. The premiums are determined by the daily supply-demand balance. Prices of crude oil from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian producers may temporarily rise in the future, market insiders say. The supply-demand balance in the worldwide oil market has been lax, however, and the prices of crude oil from the Middle East, Europe and the U.S. are not likely to rise, according to one observer at a Japanese trading house. But if the suspension of Daqing crude exports continues into the summer, it could raise prices of oil from countries other than Indonesia, squeezing the earnings of Japan's electric utilities. The nine power companies imported 3 million kiloliters of Daqing crude in fiscal 1997, accounting for some 30% of the imported crude oil consumed for thermal power generation. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Saturday morning edition)