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Showing posts with label saudi arabia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saudi arabia. Show all posts

Friday, March 02, 2012

Oil price falls back from 43-month high

Oil price falls back from 43-month high
Last Updated at 02 Mar 2012, 10:15 GMT

Oil prices have dipped from a 43-month high after Saudi Arabia denied reports that a key pipeline had exploded.

Brent crude fell back to $125.6 a barrel after jumping almost $6 to $128.40 in New York on Thursday. US light crude fell slightly to $108.5.

A number of factors had pushed prices to their highest level since July 2008, including tensions over Iran's nuclear plans and regional unrest.

Thursday's high beat the level seen during the Libyan civil war last year.

'Market nervousness'

The problem facing the oil market at the moment is that events in a number of countries could have an impact on supply and demand, often causing traders to react more quickly to speculation and increasing volatility.

On Thursday, the trigger was a report in Iranian media that an explosion had occurred at a pipeline in Saudi Arabia.

The report came at a time when there has been a steady increase in friction between Iran on one side and the United States and its allies on the other.

The US has imposed fresh sanctions against Tehran targeting the country's oil exports, while the European Union has announced a ban on imports of Iranian oil.

For its part, Iran has threatened that it will close the Straits of Hormuz, a vital trade route for oil from the Gulf - including Saudi oil - if the West were to impose more sanctions.

Analysts said all these issues had created an uncertainty over oil supplies and the latest reports had only fanned those fears further.

"The sharp move up on the pipeline story points to the market nervousness on anything related to supply problems," said Gene McGillan of Tradition Energy.

Sufficient capacity

Among the biggest buyers of Iranian oil are Asian economies such as China, Japan, India and South Korea.

The US has been trying to convince these nations to reduce their imports of Iranian oil, to put further pressure on Tehran.

Earlier this year, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner visited China and Japan to drum up support for US sanctions.

But there have been concerns that if nations stop buying oil from Iran they will have to turn to other oil producers in order to meet their demand, pushing up prices and hurting global economic growth.

However, US authorities tried to allay those fears, saying that global oil producers were well placed to make up for any shortfall in Iranian oil.

"I think there is sufficient spare capacity," said Steven Chu, US Energy Secretary.

At the same time, some analysts said that change in global weather may also help in keeping oil prices in check.

"Oil prices have overshot in the short-term, and with warmer temperatures as we move from winter to spring, oil demand could start to fall, starting in March," said Gordon Kwan, head of energy research at Mirae Asset Management in Hong Kong.

"Brent could fall back below $120 (per barrel) if Iran doesn't flare up."  

 News By BBC

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Saturday, January 07, 2012

Hormuz Bypass Oil Pipeline Delayed as Iranian Tensions Mount

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Ships load fuel at an oil products storage terminal in Fujairah
A pipeline that would allow oil from the United Arab Emirates to bypass the Strait of Hormuz separating it from Iran has been delayed because of construction difficulties, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

As many as 270 construction issues have pushed back the completion date, said the two people, declining to be identified because they’re not allowed to speak publicly on the matter. The $3.3 billion project won’t be ready until at least April, one of them said. Abu Dhabi, holder of the U.A.E.’s oil reserves, had planned to start exports in January 2011 through the pipeline to a port outside the strait, Dieter Blauberg, the project’s former director, said in May 2009.

The 1.5 million barrel-a-day link would ensure the U.A.E. can export crude without risking a blockade at Hormuz, where fully laden tankers exit the Persian Gulf with one-fifth of the world’s traded oil. The chance that Iran might try to close the waterway intensified as Europe prepares to follow tougher U.S. sanctions on the country.

“That pipeline would carry pretty much all of Abu Dhabi’s oil,” Robin Mills, an analyst at Manaar Energy Consulting in Dubai, said Jan. 5. “It’s a critical bit of infrastructure, and it is remarkable it hasn’t been completed.”

The strait, 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, has 14 crude tankers passing through it each day on average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Important Chokepoint

Most of the oil exports from Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest producer, as well as crude from Iraq, Kuwait, the U.A.E., Qatar and Iran itself must pass through the waterway, making Hormuz the world’s most important chokepoint with a daily flow of 17 million barrels a day last year, according to EIA data.

An official at International Petroleum Investment Co., the pipeline’s owner, declined to say when the project would start when asked by Bloomberg on Jan. 3 and the company didn’t respond to an earlier e-mail seeking comment. China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp., the pipeline’s contractor, didn’t respond to a fax seeking comment on Dec. 15, and a spokesman for its parent China National Petroleum Corp. declined to comment when Bloomberg contacted him that day by phone.

An official at Abu Dhabi Co. for Onshore Oil Operations, or ADCO, the state company assigned to operate the pipeline, referred all inquiries to IPIC, speaking by phone on Jan. 6. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., or Adnoc, which owns 60 percent of ADCO, did not respond to questions e-mailed on Dec. 21 and public relations officials had no immediate response when contacted by phone that day and on Dec. 22 and Jan. 3.
Across Desert, Mountains

Among ADCO’s minority shareholders, Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) declined to comment in a Dec. 21 e-mail, as did Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) while BP Plc (BP/) declined to comment in a Jan. 3 e-mail and a Partex Oil and Gas official declined to comment by phone on Jan. 4. Total SA (FP) didn’t respond to Dec. 21 e-mail seeking comment.

Once ready, the pipeline will transport crude from Habshan, the collection point for Abu Dhabi’s onshore oil fields, over 230 miles (370 kilometers) of desert and razorback mountains to the port of Fujairah, on the U.A.E.’s eastern coast, facing the Gulf of Oman. The project’s declared aim is to “offset reliance” on Gulf terminals while reducing shipping congestion, according to IPIC, the Abu Dhabi government-run owner.

The line terminates at a kilometer-long (0.6 mile-long) site containing eight white storage tanks and pipes stacked four high over the length of a football field, nestled at the foot of the Hajar Mountains.

Tankers will also save two days sailing time, worth about $38,000, by loading at Fujairah instead of Abu Dhabi, according to data provided by Clarkson Research Services Ltd.
Almost Ready

IPIC initially planned to begin filling the pipeline in September 2010 then load cargoes the following January, Blauberg said in 2009. It later pushed back the start without explanation, saying in a bond prospectus on Oct. 19, 2011, that it expected to deliver first oil in “early 2012.”

The U.S. tightened economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program on Dec. 31, and the European Union is weighing a ban later this month on purchases of Iranian crude. Iran held 10 days of naval maneuvers east of Hormuz ending Jan. 3 and warned it would block the strait if prevented from selling its oil, according to Iranian state-run news agencies. Brent crude futures have risen 5 percent so far this month to $133 a barrel.

A potential Hormuz blockade “still remains the ultimate fear in the oil market,” Barclays Plc said in a Jan. 5 note.

‘Tanker War’

Should the Hormuz be closed to ships, the pipeline alone won’t prevent price rallies because most of the oil from the Gulf would still be stopped, Kamel al-Harami, an independent oil analyst said by phone from London on Jan. 6.

Weeks of Iran tension has added about $10 a barrel to Brent crude prices, said al-Harami, who was head of crude and products marketing at state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. during the 1980s “Tanker War” when Iran and Iraq attacked each other’s ships.

Still, a closure of the strait by Iran, in response to opposition to the nation’s nuclear program, is not a “high- likelihood event,” David Fyfe, head of the International Energy Agency’s oil market and industry division, said in a Jan. 4 telephone interview from Paris.

A Jan. 5 visit to the Fujairah site marked by a black-and- white sign saying “Abu Dhabi Pipeline Co. Oil Terminal,” showed construction workers in blue overalls and hardhats shuttled into and out of the oil storage facility by bus.

Khaled al-Raeesi, a public relations and securities officer for China Petroleum Engineering & Construction, declined to comment on the pipeline’s status, when questioned at the site that day, deferring all questions to IPIC. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan visited the project last month, he said.

News by Bloomberg


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