Falklands : Hydrocarbons Daily Record (07/09/06)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 08.09.2006 (Article Archived on 22.09.2006)
Crude prices are at a 5-month low today.
HYDROCARBONS DAILY RECORD: THURSDAY, 07 SEPTEMBER 2006
By J. Brock (FINN)
At 1800 LMT on Thursday, 07 September 2006 Light Sweet Crude fell $1.10 Cents to stand at $67.50 and Brent Crude fell $1.16 Cents to stand at $66.93.
TRENDS
Geopolitics seems to have been behind recent crude price rises. With UN troops in Southern Lebanon and the lifting of the Israeli air blockade more investors are gaining confidence in the region and crude prices dropped as a result.
The Labour Day Holiday in the States marks the end of the Summer Drive Season in the United States. Approximately two months remain prior to the winter heating season and this helped to drop the price of Crude today.
Investors are still feeling good about Chevron’s announcement about the newly discovered oilfield in the US Gulf of Mexico. All added to confidence for investors.
THE MARKETS
FTSE
The Bank of England’s decision not to raise interest rates could have kept prices from dropping further. Fluctuating economic news helped to lower prices today.
At the close of play today, the FTSE 100 was down 71.17 points to settle 5,858.10 and the FTSE 250 was down 124.83 points to end at 9.576.10. FTSE Small Cap closed down 34.50 points to settle at 3,447.50.
DOW JONES AND NASDAQ
News about inflation fuelled a sell-off today.
At the end of play today the Dow Jones Index fell 74.76 points or 0.66% to settle at 11,331.44 and the NASDAQ closed down 12.55 to settle at 2,155.29.
DEVELOPMENTS:
(United States)
Congress in the United States has criticised BP for its negligent maintenance of infrastructure at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. This comes despite an apparent claim by BP that it could put their infrastructure on full capacity by the end of October.
Chevron and several partners are still celebrating the discovery of a huge deep water oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico that could increase US supplies of crude by 50%. Test wells are contributing 6,000 barrels of crude daily to US supplies.
DEVELOPING REGIONAL FACTORS:
(Honduras)
China National Petroleum (CNPC) will visit Honduras next week to have a look at the country's hydrocarbons potential. The visit is the initial contact with CNPC and will determine if it would carry out exploration work. Other groups such as Brazil's federal energy Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) and Colombia's state oil company Ecopetrol have visited Honduras, although nothing has been decided to date.
(Bolivia)
On Tuesday the Bolivian Government opened negotiations with oil companies operating in the nation to sign new deals in accordance with demands put forward with the 1st May nationalisation, according to Carlos Villegas, Bolivia’s Planning Minister. Villegas will head the negotiations along with Juan Ramon Quintana.
(Falkland Islands)
Share prices at the close of play on Thursday, 07 September 2006
Desire Petroleum Plc was down 1.00 point or 2.50% on the day to settle at 39.00.
Falkland Oil and Gas Limited (FOGL) fell 5.50 points or 4.49% on the day to stand at 117.00.
Rockhopper Exploration ended up 1.00 points or 1.21% on the day to settle at 45.00.
Borders & Southern ended unchanged on the day to stand at 45.25.
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