WSJ - Oil Prices Advance to New Record

[Klaus]

Oil Prices Advance to New Record

A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP
August 6, 2004 6:00 a.m.

Crude-oil prices scaled new heights Friday, inching closer to $45 a barrel despite reassurances from OPEC that it is prepared to raise output by more than a million barrels a day.

Crude-oil futures were up 25 cents in the European morning in electronic dealings, trading at $44.66 a barrel, after they had earlier reached a record $44.73 a barrel – the highest level ever in 21 years of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Uncertainty over supplies from the Middle East, fears of terrorism and worries about Iraqi crude exports have been driving up prices -- which are now nearly 40% higher than a year ago, though still below the levels of the early 1990s when adjusted for inflation.

Anxiety on the energy markets also has been aggravated by Russia's decision to revoke permission for troubled oil giant Yukos to use previously frozen bank accounts to keep afloat.

On London's International Petroleum Exchange, September Brent crude futures opened 23 cents higher in electronic trading at $41.35 a barrel, also a fresh record, before easing to $41.30 a barrel.

"There is a lot of speculation. Hedge funds are still buying, expecting prices to go even higher," said Victor Shum, an analyst with Texas-based energy consultants Pervin & Gertz in Singapore.

Faced with mounting pressure to curb prices, the president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Friday backpedaled from his comments earlier this week that the cartel couldn't immediately boost production. "We are ready to add another 1.5 million barrels a day but will discuss it first during the next meeting in Vienna," Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who is also the Indonesian oil minister, told reporters in Jakarta.

OPEC's current output is 30 million barrels a day. OPEC oil ministers are slated to meet in Vienna, Austria, on Sept. 14.

Analysts also worry that security and terror concerns in OPEC member countries Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria could impede the cartel's plans.

OPEC said Friday that its reference basket of seven crude oils hit its highest level in over two decades on Thursday, rising to $39.55 a barrel, up 26 cents from Wednesday, according to OPEC's official news agency, Opecna. The basket's record price is $41.80 a barrel, reached on Nov. 20, 1980, OPEC said.

OPEC's basket price has been above its preferred target band of $22-$28 a barrel since Dec. 2, 2003, but the group has chosen not to use its automatic mechanism of increasing output to bring the price back into the range, attributing high oil prices to geopolitics and speculation in the markets.

The group raised its production quota by two million barrels a day on July 1, and by another 500,000 barrels a day on Aug. 1.

[Klaus]

Oil Prices Advance to New Record

A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP
August 6, 2004 6:00 a.m.

Crude-oil prices scaled new heights Friday, inching closer to $45 a barrel despite reassurances from OPEC that it is prepared to raise output by more than a million barrels a day.

Crude-oil futures were up 25 cents in the European morning in electronic dealings, trading at $44.66 a barrel, after they had earlier reached a record $44.73 a barrel – the highest level ever in 21 years of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Uncertainty over supplies from the Middle East, fears of terrorism and worries about Iraqi crude exports have been driving up prices -- which are now nearly 40% higher than a year ago, though still below the levels of the early 1990s when adjusted for inflation.

Anxiety on the energy markets also has been aggravated by Russia's decision to revoke permission for troubled oil giant Yukos to use previously frozen bank accounts to keep afloat.

On London's International Petroleum Exchange, September Brent crude futures opened 23 cents higher in electronic trading at $41.35 a barrel, also a fresh record, before easing to $41.30 a barrel.

"There is a lot of speculation. Hedge funds are still buying, expecting prices to go even higher," said Victor Shum, an analyst with Texas-based energy consultants Pervin & Gertz in Singapore.

Faced with mounting pressure to curb prices, the president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Friday backpedaled from his comments earlier this week that the cartel couldn't immediately boost production. "We are ready to add another 1.5 million barrels a day but will discuss it first during the next meeting in Vienna," Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who is also the Indonesian oil minister, told reporters in Jakarta.

OPEC's current output is 30 million barrels a day. OPEC oil ministers are slated to meet in Vienna, Austria, on Sept. 14.

Analysts also worry that security and terror concerns in OPEC member countries Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria could impede the cartel's plans.

OPEC said Friday that its reference basket of seven crude oils hit its highest level in over two decades on Thursday, rising to $39.55 a barrel, up 26 cents from Wednesday, according to OPEC's official news agency, Opecna. The basket's record price is $41.80 a barrel, reached on Nov. 20, 1980, OPEC said.

OPEC's basket price has been above its preferred target band of $22-$28 a barrel since Dec. 2, 2003, but the group has chosen not to use its automatic mechanism of increasing output to bring the price back into the range, attributing high oil prices to geopolitics and speculation in the markets.

The group raised its production quota by two million barrels a day on July 1, and by another 500,000 barrels a day on Aug. 1.

[Klaus]

Oil Prices Advance to New Record

A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP
August 6, 2004 6:00 a.m.

Crude-oil prices scaled new heights Friday, inching closer to $45 a barrel despite reassurances from OPEC that it is prepared to raise output by more than a million barrels a day.

Crude-oil futures were up 25 cents in the European morning in electronic dealings, trading at $44.66 a barrel, after they had earlier reached a record $44.73 a barrel – the highest level ever in 21 years of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Uncertainty over supplies from the Middle East, fears of terrorism and worries about Iraqi crude exports have been driving up prices -- which are now nearly 40% higher than a year ago, though still below the levels of the early 1990s when adjusted for inflation.

Anxiety on the energy markets also has been aggravated by Russia's decision to revoke permission for troubled oil giant Yukos to use previously frozen bank accounts to keep afloat.

On London's International Petroleum Exchange, September Brent crude futures opened 23 cents higher in electronic trading at $41.35 a barrel, also a fresh record, before easing to $41.30 a barrel.

"There is a lot of speculation. Hedge funds are still buying, expecting prices to go even higher," said Victor Shum, an analyst with Texas-based energy consultants Pervin & Gertz in Singapore.

Faced with mounting pressure to curb prices, the president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Friday backpedaled from his comments earlier this week that the cartel couldn't immediately boost production. "We are ready to add another 1.5 million barrels a day but will discuss it first during the next meeting in Vienna," Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who is also the Indonesian oil minister, told reporters in Jakarta.

OPEC's current output is 30 million barrels a day. OPEC oil ministers are slated to meet in Vienna, Austria, on Sept. 14.

Analysts also worry that security and terror concerns in OPEC member countries Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria could impede the cartel's plans.

OPEC said Friday that its reference basket of seven crude oils hit its highest level in over two decades on Thursday, rising to $39.55 a barrel, up 26 cents from Wednesday, according to OPEC's official news agency, Opecna. The basket's record price is $41.80 a barrel, reached on Nov. 20, 1980, OPEC said.

OPEC's basket price has been above its preferred target band of $22-$28 a barrel since Dec. 2, 2003, but the group has chosen not to use its automatic mechanism of increasing output to bring the price back into the range, attributing high oil prices to geopolitics and speculation in the markets.

The group raised its production quota by two million barrels a day on July 1, and by another 500,000 barrels a day on Aug. 1.