Energy Intelligence Briefing articles from September 2008

Energy Intelligence Briefing archives from September 2008

Availability of power might prove key after Gustav hit.
September 2, 2008... NEW YORK -- Early assessments show that Hurricane Gustav did little damage to the oil and gas industry in the US Gulf of Mexico or on land in Louisiana or beyond, but a return to business as usual can take days, and in some areas much longer...

Azeri loadings picking up, but uncertainties remain.
September 3, 2008... LONDON -- After being brought to a virtual standstill by a pipeline blast in Turkey and, just days later, by the conflict between Russia and Georgia, Azerbaijan's crude oil exports have now returned to their previous levels of around 1 million...

Market compass.
September 3, 2008... LONDON -- Crude oil sellers today face a very different market from a month ago. Not only have prices crashed spectacularly in the futures market from a $127.94 high on Aug. 1 to a $104.14 low on Tuesday, most physical differentials in the...

Contraction in demand helps drag down oil prices.
September 3, 2008... WASHINGTON -- World oil demand growth continues to take major hits, putting extraordinary downward pressure on oil prices. In just two months, Nymex crude prices have tumbled by as much as $40, with lower-than-expected demand widely seen as...

Iraqi August exports slip as pipelines, output play up.
September 5, 2008... NEW YORK -- Iraq's oil exports in August slipped to 1.83 million barrels per day from 1.9 million b/d in July due to pipeline interruptions in the north and lower output from the southern fields. Interruptions to flows along the Kirkuk pipeline...

Opec sees need to cut oil output -- probably quietly.
September 8, 2008... VIENNA -- As Opec prepares to meet in Vienna on Sep. 9, members agree that they need to scale back output to prevent an oil overhang that would pull prices down. But they disagree on what would be an acceptable oil price and when to officially...

Opec presents status quo as cut in its oil production.
September 10, 2008... VIENNA -- Opec ministers decided on Wednesday to "strictly comply" with output targets "since the market is oversupplied" and presented the meeting's outcome as a supply cut of 520,000 barrels per day. After stripping out Opec's play with...

First reports: energy sector escapes Ike devastation.
September 14, 2008... NEW YORK -- Hurricane Ike wreaked havoc on homes and businesses in eastern Texas and western Louisiana over the weekend, but initial assessments suggest that the energy industry off and along the US Gulf Coast might have escaped much of the...

Stormy days for oil markets contrast North Sea calm.
September 18, 2008... LONDON -- The US may be in the middle of the hurricane season, but the Gulf Coast is not alone. The month since the last North Sea EIB has been an exceptionally stormy one by any measure: weather-related, political or economic (EIB Aug.20). The...

Russian exports steady in Q4 despite gathering crisis.
September 19, 2008... MOSCOW -- Despite growing concerns that the drop in crude prices is seriously threatening exports of crude oil from Russia by turning them into loss-makers, state oil pipeline monopoly Transneft is holding crude oil exports broadly level in the...

Saudis, Iraq lift US oil supply, offsetting other falls.
September 19, 2008... NEW YORK -- Saudi Arabia and Iraq kept up supplies to the US in July, landing a combined 330,000 barrels per day more crude oil than in July 2007. These deliveries made up in part for falling deliveries from Mexico and Venezuela, data from the...

Nymex oil hits $130 on short covering, weak dollar.
September 22, 2008... NEW YORK -- Monday taught oil traders an old lesson: do not wait until the last hours of an expiring oil contract to cover a short position -- to buy oil needed to close a position. A rapidly depreciating US dollar sent oil prices higher on...

Moscow cuts tax, Russian firms keen to export more.
September 30, 2008... MOSCOW -- Russia is responding to a rise in demand for export allocations by opening up the pipelines in October, increasing seaborne crude oil loadings by a solid 127,000 barrels per day from September. Russian state oil pipeline monopoly...

Market compass.
September 30, 2008... Futures markets are focused almost entirely on the global financial turmoil and for now seem to be disregarding events and developments in the rest of the world. However, prices in the physical markets are finding support from production...