Energy Intelligence Briefing articles from February 2002

Energy Intelligence Briefing archives from February 2002

Algeria Steps Up Pressure On EU Over Gas Liberalization.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2002... Algeria got what it wanted as host of this weekend's second Gas Exporting Countries' Forum (GECF), namely a mandate to prepare, with help from key ally Russia, a round table meeting later this year to discuss the impact on producers of the...

Report: Enron Hid $1 Billion In Losses, Many Failures.
February 4, 2002... Not even weekends halt the lobbing of bombshells in the ongoing saga of Enron's dramatic collapse. Former Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lay was due to testify before the US Senate Commerce Committee Monday morning, but he pulled out late...

Syria Takes Record Volume Of Iraqi Oil, Taunting UK.(Statistical Data Included)
February 4, 2002... Syria's reply to UK accusations last week that it is illegally importing crude oil from Iraq is less than subtle: Syrian sanctions busting imports from Iraq are set to reach a record high of 253,000 barrels per day in February. In its official...

Global Oil Demand Slide Steepens Again in January.(Statistical Data Included)
February 4, 2002... Early indications show global oil demand down sharply in the first month of this year. At an estimated 75.8 million barrels per day, total demand in January was down 2.59 million b/d from December, and 1.29 million b/d from January 2001. Once...

No Signs of Russian Cuts In Jan. or Feb. Loading Plans.(crude oil export data)(Statistical Data Included)
February 5, 2002... Few illusions should be left about Russia's inability or, more importantly, its lack of desire to rein in its crude exports. First, the country released its January export data, which contained no evidence of any cuts. Second, Prime Minister...

Sam's Plan Fails To Convince Enterprise Investors.(Sam Laidlaw's strategy for Enterprise Oil PLC)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
February 5, 2002... The takeover defense has begun. Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Europe's lone surviving medium-sized independent, the UK's Enterprise Oil, faced investors Tuesday to present his vision for the company's future; a future which, if he has his...

Signs Nigeria's Biting The Bullet On Opec Compliance.(Statistical Data Included)
February 8, 2002... Nigeria is finally taking serious steps to bring production in line with its Opec quota of 1.787 million barrels per day. After cutting cargoes from the end of the February program (see table), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. has followed...

First Sempra, Now Shell Is Cornering The Brent Market.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2002... Barely has US trader Sempra's grip on February dated Brent eased before Royal Dutch/Shell takes its turn, lobbing another grenade into the market, sending traders scurrying for cover. At the close of its February play, Sempra had cornered 21...

Cloudy Fundamentals Show Early Year Stockbuild.(petroleum industry)(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2002... After a fairly typical seasonal supply/demand balance and stockdraw in December, early estimates from EIG's Oil Market Intelligence show a more opaque set of fundamentals in January. Both global oil supply and demand fell in January, but the...

Asian Refiners Raise Buying Of West African Barrels.(Statistical Data Included)
February 14, 2002... Asian purchases of West African crude are recovering from the depths of December and January. Purchases in February have crept to over 600,000 barrels per day from about 520,000 b/d in January and looks set to rise to as high as 800,000 b/d in...

Oil Supply Growth Eases In January On Opec 10 Cuts.(Illustration)
February 15, 2002... Global oil supplies came down sharply in January as Opec imposed a new set of quotas and began to shore up leakage under the previous quotas. A 987,000 barrel per day drop in crude output from the ten members of Opec -- excluding Iraq -- led...

Market Wants More Brent Volumes To Prevent Plays.(oil volumes may increase)(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... Ongoing squeezes of the key Brent benchmark resulting from low production volumes and aggressive trading plays have triggered new discussions between pricing company Platts and market players to add other North Sea grades to the price mix, with...

Adding Volumes To Ailing Brent Marker No Quick Fix.
February 21, 2002... At first glance, a plan by pricing firm Platts to add North Sea Forties to the Brent stream makes a lot of sense: It increases physical volumes and helps prevent market squeezes in the world's dominant benchmark. It is clearly a lot more...

Iraqi Illegal Sales To Syria Strong, Official Exports Fall.(Statistical Data Included)
February 27, 2002... The imbalance between Syria's strong export commitments and its limited production capacity continues to draw in substantial volumes from Iraq. Syria is taking in well over 200,000 barrels per day from Iraq in March, in violation of United...