Oil & Gas 01 (May 08 - Jul 08)

[winston]

Oil falls as demand ebbs, Iran tension eases
Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:18am EDT

Retail gasoline demand drops: MasterCard
Senate panel to consider wider Iran sanctions
Bush sees no quick fix for high gasoline prices

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Thursday, after sharp losses on swelling stocks and fading demand in the United States and after a fresh diplomatic initiative from Washington over Iran.

The losses take crude to around $13 below last week's all-time peak with recent trade showing the biggest two-day loss in percentage terms since January 2007.

"Oil prices are now at a level where you are beginning to see demand adjustments," said David Moore, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Dealers said Wednesday's losses were triggered by a 3 million-barrel increase in U.S. crude stocks according to data from the Energy Information Administration, against forecasts for a fall, alongside a rise in gasoline and distillates.

"Besides the increase in crude, gasoline, and distillate stocks, it's interesting to note that demand in the United States remains relatively weak as well," Moore said.

The widely watched government report also showed U.S. oil products demand running 2.0 percent below year-ago levels, another sign that soaring prices are cutting into consumer demand for fuel.

Adding to pressure on oil prices, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday the United States planned to send an envoy for talks this weekend between Iran and major powers over Tehran's nuclear program.

Washington had said it will not be involved in any pre-negotiations with Iran unless it gave up nuclear enrichment. The standoff between the Islamic Republic and the West has helped boost oil prices.

Investment banks Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and JP Morgan trimmed their 2008 growth forecasts for China a strong motor of oil market demand, and ruled out interest rate rises this year after the government said growth slowed to 10.1 percent in the second quarter.

Investors looking to hedge against inflation and the weak dollar have dumped their money into oil and other commodities, contributing to a 50 percent oil price rally this year that reached a peak above $147 a barrel this month.

[millionairemind]

US to open 3.9m acres in Alaska for drilling
By Sheila McNulty in Houston

Published: July 16 2008 22:57 | Last updated: July 16 2008 22:57

The US federal government on Wednesday said it would open 3.9m acres of land in a designated petroleum reserve in Alaska for drilling as a means to help curb rising petrol prices.

“This is welcome news at a time when Americans are paying record prices at the pump,” said C. Stephen Allred, assistant US Secretary for Land and Minerals. “Together with proposed new production from other offshore and onshore areas, these increased supplies will help to stabilise energy costs.’’

The Alaska decision follows one by President George W. Bush on Monday to lift a presidential ban on drilling on the US outer continental shelf, off Florida. That decision still requires Congress to lift a separate ban on the area before the area can be leased for development.

But the Bureau of Land Management, an agency within the US Department of the Interior, said the Alaskan land that will now be offered requires no other approvals and will be up for leasing in the autumn.

The site was set aside decades ago but development was blocked by lawsuits from environmentalists concerned about disrupting wildlife. The government has tackled these fears, making it a condition of the lease by oil and gas companies that polar bears, waterfowl and caribou are protected.

[kennynah]

ok...i go plant a durian seed...when it starts bearing fruits...i revisit this alaska oil site to see if it has begun sprouting oil yet...the race is on....hahaha.

[iam802]

oil dip to 129.99 ....(like very long time never see this kind of figure already)

[mojo_]

extract from Kevin Scully's blog yesterday on netresearch-asia.com

Posted on 17 July 2008 at 4:04:00 PM
by Kevin Scully

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How low can crude prices go - if they fall ? The answer is that I dont know but I can hazard a guess using charts. The Bloomberg chart below shows that the major support is at US$135 per barrel and if breached - it could head down to US$115 per barrel and then to US$105 per barrel. This would cool global cost push inflationary pressure and allow Central Banks more room to move in terms of keeping interest rates low. Fed Chairman Bernanke has already indicated that he will not raise US interest rates at the next FOMC meeting but with inflation at more than 5% - he cannot delay the rate hike too long. Any weakness in crude oil prices will allow him more breathing space on the rate hike.
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[blid2def]

BTW - Firefox and Opera users: if you click on the image, you'll get some page that's all gibberish codes instead of the larger picture. The larget image link only works only for IE. Thanks to crap developers who code ASP pages and think there's only one browser in the world. Bunch of F**ktards.

[mojo_]

thankfully, the bbcode supports ASP-pointed images

[kennynah]

hey...this kevin sikarli very familiar ..ya? he is one of those that appears on TV quite frequently right?

[kennynah]

another very volatile trading day for crude...although the range is smaller now...

[HengHeng]

personally i think oil should linger here for sometime before bouncing back up. So i'm waiting for COTs reports to confirm my analysis.