Oil and Gas Press

Industry Newsbite for Aug. 5th

Crude continued its downward trend Tuesday
Oil prices fell $2.18 a barrel Tuesday on expectations the economic downturn in the U.S. will erode consumer demand for crude products. Oil prices have fallen among fears over waning U.S. consumer demand. The U.S. dollar’s gains against the euro also contributed to lower oil futures’ prices,the euro fell to $1.5475 from the $1.5587. Oil and other commodities are getting less attractive to investors seeking a hedge against inflation and dollar weakness.Light, sweet crude for September delivery lost 78 cents to $120.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier falling to $118, the lowest level since May 5.Crude has now fallen more than $25 since reaching a trading high of $147.27 on July 11.

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Limited, has announced that it has entered into an agreement for the supply of gas to the National Integrated Power Plants(NIPP) by third quarter of 2009.NIPP is built by the Federal Government from its Gbaran facility in Bayelsa State.
According to a statement by SPDC’s Spokesman, Mr Precious Okolobo, the contract was entered with Hanover Nigerian Limited for the construction of the processing facility at the Gbaran/Ubie Integrated Gas Project. Hanover is  partnering with Inter Global Procurement and Engineering Services for provision of  technical and engineering services.
 
Crude oil plummeted and fell below 120 U.S. dollars a barrel for the first time since early May as Tropical Storm Edouard seemed unlikely to threaten oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Light, sweet crude for September delivery slid 5.60 dollars to 119.50 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest intraday trading price since May 6. The futures edged up later and settled at 121.41 dollars a barrel, trading down 3.69 dollars. Crude has lost nearly 18 percent off its trading record of 147.27 dollars a barrel achieved on July 11. Brent crude for September delivery fell 3.50 dollars to settle at 120.68 dollars a barrel.     

    
 Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hussein Nozari has revealed that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will seriously consider rationing its oil production, the semi-official FARS news agency reported. “I think OPEC will be serious about this issue” in case of continuous decline of crude oil prices and lack of oil output control by some OPEC members which keep high level oil production, Nozari was quoted as saying.

A draft bill to seek legitimacy for the proposed new structures in the oil and gas sector and to seek the repeal of all existing laws in the sector had been presented to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua by the presidential committee on Oil and Gas Sector Reform Implementation headed by Dr. Rilwanu Lukman.
Nigeria’s Senate yesterday bemoaned the country daily loss of  $15 million  to gas flaring, and announced  plans  to review the Gas Master Plan as proposed by the Ministry of Energy (Gas). Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Osita Izunaso, said, “the bottom line is, we are going to review the Gas Master plan. Nigeria is so blessed, so rich and people are suffering; we are flaring gas, throwing it away as if it doesn’t have meaning. We are losing approximately,  $15 million a day on flaring,” Izunaso told Senate Correspondents, adding that the Senate was not very comfortable with the master-plan proposed by the Ministry of Energy (Gas).
According to him, the Gas Master Plan as proposed by the Ministry of Energy (Gas) needs to be reviewed.
 
 
ExxonMobil will convert gas to liquids in Nigeria.
The global oil major announced its Nigerian arm has started building its natural-gas-to-liquids project. The $1.3 billion project is being partially funded by local banks.
The project is part of the government’s goal of finding alternative energy sources to meet growing demand.Energy companies including Shell have had problems with production in Nigeria because of violence.The plant, once complete, will be capable of producing about 275 million barrels of natural gas liquids a day.
  

Oil exploration is set to begin in Chile.
At least five international oil companies were awarded exploration blocks in Chile’s southern Magallanes region, and drilling could begin as early as next month.
Winners include Canada’s Apache Corp. (NYSE:APA), U.S.-based Pan American Energy LLC, U.S.-Swiss consortium IPR-Manas, New Zealand’s Greymouth Petroleum Holding Ltd. and a group composed of Methanex, Geopark and Wintershall.Exploration contracts are for up to seven years. Last year nine blocks were awarded for oil and gas exploration and development, Uruguayan news agency Mercopress reported.

Tags: downward trend, Newsbite