Energy Intelligence Briefing articles from October 2006

Energy Intelligence Briefing archives from October 2006

Oil demand growth picks up but base remains feeble.
October 3, 2006... NEW YORK -- Global oil balances loosened further last month as non-Opec supply rebounded sharply, nearly doubling the monthly gain in global demand. Supply moved 860,000 barrels per day ahead of demand in September after seeing the excess daily...

Bad weather forces Iraq to suspend crude oil exports.
October 6, 2006... NEW YORK -- Iraq temporarily halted oil exports on Friday, Oct. 6 due to strong winds and rough waters in the northern Mideast Gulf that forced tanker operators to suspend berthing at the Basrah Oil Terminal (BOT), shipping agents said. This is...

Oil market heads into winter cold and data darkness.
October 16, 2006... NEW YORK--The oil market is heading for some insecure months, as many key factors that can dramatically knock around supply and demand--and with it market psychology--are up for grabs, ranging from weather to political whim. Opec doesn't feel...

North Sea crude loadings get a rise out of November.
October 17, 2006... LONDON -- The world remains well supplied with crude and products and market sentiment is robustly bearish in the face of growing inventories, a perception that the political scene is a tad less tense than it has been and a singularly...

Opec is facing tough decisions on oil production cuts.
October 18, 2006... NEW YORK -- Having been a price-taker for more than two years, Opec would need to reestablish itself as a force that can micromanage an oil market now that prices are dropping, and a failure to do so at its emergency meeting in Doha on Thursday...

Market sending mixed signals to West African sellers.
October 19, 2006... LONDON -- Sellers of West African crudes face mixed signals as they gear up for Christmas and New Year's trading, with supportive conditions--low freight costs and somewhat lower benchmark prices--tempered by less-than-sterling refining margins...

Opec puts floor under oil price, aims to take control.
October 20, 2006... DOHA -- Evidently to impress markets, Opec decided on Friday in Doha, Qatar, to cut output for its 10 members with a quota by 1.2 million barrels per day from September's actual output levels of 27.5 million b/d, instead of the 1 million b/d...

Saudi royal ruling deals with future succession fear.
October 23, 2006... DUBAI -- Saudi Arabia has adopted new succession rules that streamline the process by which the next monarch and his crown prince are selected in an attempt to ensure stability and continuity in the world's top oil producer. The royal decree...

Moscow continues trimming oil loadings in November.
October 27, 2006... MOSCOW -- With Russia's record oil export taxes still in force and the weather steadily deteriorating, Moscow is again trimming back Russia's seaborne crude exports. State pipeline monopoly Transneft has written in exports of 2.757 million...