Oil & Gas 01 (May 08 - Jul 08)

[kennynah]

Marathon Oil: Alvheim May Start To Flow Next Week - Norway MD

OSLO -(Dow Jones)- Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) Wednesday said its Alvheim floating production, storage and offtake vessel may start producing oil next week.
The 120,000 barrel a day project at capacity is Norway's biggest current field development.

Marathon's managing director for Norway Kristin Faerovik told Dow Jones Newswires: "We're plowing ahead. We hope to startup in some days...not this week, but possibly next week."

The company is currently carrying out leak testing on the Alvheim vessel which sailed to its site in the North Sea above Knele A and B, Kameleon and Boa, and satellite field Vilje.

Alvheim's start has been delayed by many months due to tight personnel and supply markets. The final preparations have been hindered by foggy weather conditions which have affected helicopter flights, Faerovik said.

[kennynah]

at this juncture, anything can spark a rally in Oil...

***********

07 May 2008 10:55 GMT

Marseille Port: 8 Crude, 5 Refined Products Tankers Stacked Up
PARIS -(Dow Jones)- France's state-administered Autonomous Port of Marseille, which includes the terminals of Fos-Lavera - the country's biggest oil port - said Wednesday that oil terminals there are working but delays caused by recent strike action continue.

Eight crude oil tankers, five tankers of refined petroleum products and four chemicals vessels are waiting in line there, the port said in a statement.

On Monday, a spokeswoman for the port told Dow Jones Newswires that, according to people who run the harbor, the usual level for waiting ships is a maximum of five.

Fos-Lavera is France's biggest oil port. Four refineries are located in the Fos-Lavera hub and pipelines running from Fos serve a number of other French and European refineries with crude oil, including the Miro refinery in Karlsruhe, Germany, which can process up to 300,000 barrels of crude a day.

Workers have been striking to protest government plans to privatize parts of France's so-called autonomous ports. The CGT union, which is leading the strikes, has called for a 24-hour strike at Marseille on May 9.

[winston]

May 7 (Bloomberg) --Oil fell before a U.S. government report forecast to show crude stockpiles rose last week, while a stronger dollar reduced the appeal of commodity investments.

Oil has lost more than 1 percent since rising to a record $122.73 a barrel in New York yesterday on supply concerns in Nigeria. A U.S. Energy Department report due today will probably show crude-oil stockpiles gained 1.63 million barrels last week, according to an analyst survey.

Crude oil for June delivery fell as much as 64 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $121.20 a barrel, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $121.36 at 11:43 a.m. London time.

The U.S. currency snapped two days of losses versus the Euro, reducing the appeal of dollar-priced commodities used to hedge against inflation, on speculation the world's largest economy will recover this year.

[blid2def]

Haha, np, here's what I got:

Last night
HP (Helmerich & Payne)
CNQ (Canadian Natural Resources)
TLM (Talisman Energy)
HES (Hess Corp)

Night before
NE (Noble Corp)
KMP (Kinder Morgan)
MMR (McMoran)

I also had XLE and TOT last night, but sold off to collect back commissions on above trades hahaha...

You know my TA not fantastic, but I try and apply what I learn, and let luck guide me. Hahaha...
Mostly cup-and-handle breakouts, and in HP and MMR case - ascending bases (HP = 3rd stage, MMR = 2nd stage).

[kennynah]

Haha, np, here's what I got:

Last night
HP (Helmerich & Payne)
CNQ (Canadian Natural Resources)
TLM (Talisman Energy)
HES (Hess Corp)

Night before
NE (Noble Corp)
KMP (Kinder Morgan)
MMR (McMoran)

CNQ = huat tat ....>$4 last night
TLM = >2.5% last night...another huat huat
HES = this one...nap nap.. ~8% jump last night...knn hor say liao

NE = another whammy >5% last night...
KMP = another winner...swee
MMR = >2%

all picks winners...


CONGRATS...!!!!!

[HengHeng]

Beh ki jiu lor .. inventory seems to put to market pushing. Now rice producers also wanna have something similiar to OPEC .. now see how the middle east have their food. Let them eat oil!

[winston]

Oil Trades Near Record on Insufficient Gasoline Output Concern

May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed near a record in New York on concern gasoline production in the U.S. may be insufficient to meet peak demand during the summer driving season.

U.S. refineries operated at 85 percent last week, down from 89 percent a year earlier, the Energy Department said yesterday. Worker productivity in the world's biggest energy consumer climbed at a higher rate in the first quarter than the previous three months, the Labor Department said yesterday. Oil jumped to a record $123.93 a barrel yesterday.

``People are more focused on the idea that we may have more demand than we expected,'' said Jonathan Kornafel, a director for Asia at Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. ``That's going to be a big problem with the refinery runs being as soft as they are for this time of year.''

``This is the time of year when prices would normally be taking a breather, the lull between the winter peak and the summer peak in the Northern Hemisphere, but we're not seeing that happen,'' said Gavin Wendt, a senior resources analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney.

U.S. gasoline demand typically peaks from Memorial Day on May 28 through Labor Day in September as holiday travel puts cars on the road.

Inventories Climb

Supplies surged 5.65 million barrels, or 1.8 percent, to 325.6 million barrels last week, amid increased crude imports, an Energy Department report showed yesterday. Analysts in a Bloomberg News survey had forecast a gain of 1.63 million barrels. Gasoline inventories also rose by 794,000 barrels.

Refiners have operated at lower rates than is typical for this time of year as the profit margin, or crack, for producing gasoline has remained at below average levels. The price difference between the motor fuel and crude oil was at $7.75 a barrel today compared with $30.33 a barrel last year.

``You have more crude coming in but it's just sitting there, no one is turning it into gasoline,'' said Hudson Capital's Kornafel. ``The margin is so cheap, you can't blame them.''

[winston]

Crude Oil Rises to Record Above $124 a Barrel on Supply Concern

By Christian Schmollinger and Nesa Subrahmaniyan

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose to a record $124.73 a barrel in New York, set for the biggest weekly gain since March last year, on concern supplies of diesel and gasoline may be insufficient to meet demand during the U.S. summer driving season.

U.S. distillate-fuel stockpiles and refinery output have declined from last year, while attacks by militants on Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Nigerian operations have disrupted output from Africa's biggest oil producer. OPEC said the group doesn't need to increase supplies because prices have been driven up by a weaker dollar.

``It's an interesting, scary moment in pricing,'' said Jonathan Kornafel, a Singapore-based director for Asia at Hudson Capital Energy, an energy-derivatives broker. ``You can't put solid deadlines on something in Nigeria right now. It's so unpredictable and disappointing on so many levels from a production standpoint.''

A May 7 government report showed that U.S. distillate-fuel inventories and refinery operations fell last week. Barclays Capital yesterday raised its forecast for U.S. crude oil prices, citing stronger demand from China and the Middle East.

Diesel Driving

``Diesel is the main driver for the oil rally right now with the U.S., Europe, Asia and Middle East short of cargoes,'' said Tetsu Emori, a fund manager at Astmax Ltd. in Tokyo. ``The Nigerian shutdown isn't helping as that type of crude oil is good to make gasoline and diesel.''

U.S. distillate stockpiles declined 107,000 barrels to 105.7 million, the Energy Department reported. Refineries in the U.S. operated at 85 percent last week, down from 89 percent the year before, the data showed.

``When refiners in Europe and the U.S. cut output on poor refining margins for gasoline, that affected the supply of diesel as well,'' Astmax's Emori said.

Diesel Demand

``There's huge diesel demand growth in Asia, which is going to keep pressure on supplies,'' said James Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates, in Galena, Illinois. ``Whenever there's a big rise in one energy market there's an impact on the psychology of the other markets. Also, demand for crude oil will rise as refiners boost distillate output.''

Some traders use heating-oil futures to hedge their diesel and jet-fuel purchases.

[winston]

A growing number of oil-market watchers say voters riled by soaring fuel costs may face far worse this summer, as factors ranging from unrest in Nigeria to slumping production in Russia could shove benchmark oil prices over $150 a barrel.

Oil's seemingly unstoppable surge has led some analysts to issue gloomier price outlooks. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which predicted the latest run-up, says the world may face a "super-spike" in which crude ranges from $150 to $200 a barrel as early as October, up from just over $120 now.

Even more unusual is that oil has maintained its upward momentum in the face of sharply diminished U.S. demand, which fell in February to 19.7 million barrels a day. That was down a million barrels a day from the 2007 average.

"It's not that the genie is out of the bottle – it's that 100 genies are out of the bottle," said Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Normally known for optimistic forecasts of lowering oil prices, Mr. Yergin's firm now says the price could rise to $150 a barrel this year.

– Wall Street Journal

[winston]

Crude Oil Falls on Signs Prices Have Risen Too Far, Too Fast

By Christian Schmollinger

May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil dropped in New York after six consecutive days of gains on concerns that prices have risen too far, too fast.

The 30-day relative strength index for oil, a measure of the momentum of the contract's movements, was at 64.89 today after reaching 65.58 on May 9. The last time the indicator was this high, crude fell 2.7 percent over the next two days. The top Libyan oil official said on May 9 OPEC could hold a meeting to review output. Venezuela's energy minister denied such plans.

``The oil market certainly has scope for a correction,'' said Victor Shum, senior principal at consultants Purvin & Gertz Inc. in Singapore. ``If there is more talk of potentially raising OPEC output and then crude oil inventories in the U.S. continue to grow, that will help damp down some of this bullish enthusiasm.''

Inventories May Rise

Inventories in the U.S., the world's largest oil user, have risen for three weeks and don't appear to be at ``critical'' levels, said Rowan Menzies, head of research for Commodity Warrants Australia Ltd., in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Sydney. U.S. demand is likely to soften and there is a risk that slowing growth in Europe may end the decline in the dollar, he said.

Crude oil may fall this week on forecasts that U.S. inventories will increase as refiners prepare for summer gasoline demand and on the return of Nigerian output.

Fourteen of 28 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, or 50 percent, said prices will drop through May 16. Ten of the respondents, or 36 percent, said oil will rise and four forecast little change. Last week, 61 percent said futures would fall