Energy Intelligence Briefing articles from April 2004

Energy Intelligence Briefing archives from April 2004

US gasoline thirst sucks African barrels to the West.
April 1, 2004... Trading in West African crude has picked up during the past week or so, with Atlantic Basin refiners snapping up several cargoes of Nigerian crude, and a few Asian buyers looking over the parapet for other selected grades. The US, spurred on by...

March plunge, looming surplus: trouble for Opec?
April 6, 2004... Late winter and early spring weather knocked global oil demand lower in March, resulting in a big supply surplus that could pose problems for Opec. Global demand fell 2.2 million barrels per day from February to 80 million b/d, while supply...

Market compass.
April 6, 2004... Oil prices have had a stomach-churning ride. Between Mar. 31 and Apr. 2, May WTI futures tumbled $3.47 per barrel, or 9.4%, while Nymex gasoline futures crashed an even more spectacular $5.80/bbl, or 11.7%, although both since have recovered...

Potential problems lurk beneath N. Sea May loadings.
April 19, 2004... LONDON -- North Sea May loading programs for the eight principal Norwegian and UK crude oil systems, at 94.93 million barrels, show a marginal increase against April of 1.27 million bbl, or 1.4%. However, on a barrel-per-day basis--given that...

Shell fires one, cuts more, exposes lies at the top.
April 19, 2004... LONDON -- As Royal Dutch/Shell announced on Monday yet another cut to its proven oil and gas reserves, and yet another executive casualty from the company's reserves fiasco, an internal probe has revealed that former chairman Phil Watts and...

Kirkuk tender keeps Iraq's April volumes strong.
April 19, 2004... With the results of Iraq's most recent tender, US markets are set to have even more Iraqi crude coming their way. Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (Somo) offered up 25% more Kirkuk crude, or 1.6 million barrels, than expected in the...

March data shows demand slipping, supply rising.
April 20, 2004... NEW YORK -- Global crude oil stocks built rapidly in March, as with oil prices marching well above $35, supplies showed no let-up, while demand--which typically slows down in March ahead of an even softer second quarter--lost ground to...

US ends sanctions on Libya; firms ready to deal.
April 23, 2004... WASHINGTON -- US President George W. Bush on Friday lifted two decades of sanctions against Libya. The long-awaited move opens the door for American oil companies to invest in Libya's expanding oil and gas sector, and for the US to import crude...

Black Sea bottlenecks force Russia to cut may loadings.
April 29, 2004... MOSCOW -- Black Sea bottlenecks and the onset of May holidays have forced Russia to scale back its export ambitions for the month. In the port loading schedules issued so far for May, Moscow has penciled in a reduction of 74,000 barrels per day...