Energy Intelligence Briefing articles from December 2005

Energy Intelligence Briefing archives from December 2005

No improvement in Iraq oil exports as tanks run dry.
December 1, 2005... NEW YORK -- Iraq's political problems may be dominating news headlines, but underneath the surface are equally serious problems afflicting the oil industry, as oil exports continue to fall. The country's export schedule for December shows no...

Demand growth slows further, crude oil stocks build.
December 5, 2005... NEW YORK -- Global oil demand growth is grinding to a halt. Consumption has been contracting by 0.6% in established economies in September, October and November versus the previous year, yet remained above 2% in industrializing nations....

Opec holding action waits for price, weather signals.
December 9, 2005... DUBAI -- Opec's assessment of global oil balances and market sentiment has led them to believe this is not a good time to fiddle with the market. In particular, Opec ministers preparing to gather in Kuwait for Monday's ministerial meeting...

Russia hikes crude exports, further punishes Yukos.
December 15, 2005... MOSCOW--Russia is continuing to ramp up crude exports despite a stifling tax regime that producers complain is hampering production growth. Moscow nonetheless is raising targeted exports by 166,000 barrels per day for next quarter from previous...

IEA inventory draw short on volume, long on effect.
December 16, 2005... NEW YORK -- When Hurricane Katrina knocked out virtually all of the 1.6 million barrels per day US Gulf of Mexico oil production and 2 million b/d of refining capacity on the Gulf Coast in late August, member nations of the Paris-based...

Weak North Sea January loadings fail to firm prices.
December 19, 2005... LONDON -- Last month's bear offensive that took front-month Brent to a $53.75 low on Nov. 30 ran into a couple of cold blasts and a rally towards the expiry of January Brent futures on Dec. 15. The rally was reinforced by a squeeze on...

Endless Enron saga takes yet another tortured twist.
December 28, 2005... HOUSTON -- The Enron epic evidently has no end, just a series of addendums that continue to remind similarly stricken companies, their employees and investors alike, of how misapplied ambitions cost them revenues, jobs, or opportunities--or all...

Moscow cuts exports and puts pressure on Lithuania.
December 29, 2005... MOSCOW -- The cold and storms of winter have finally caught up with Russian shipping plans. Moscow has been forced to cut its January seaborne crude exports, but by only a modest 21,000 barrels per day, from the previous months' aggressive...