Falklands : Hydrocarbons Daily Record (31/10/06)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 01.11.2006 (Article Archived on 15.11.2006)
Crude prices dropped on rising inventory figures as well as a calmer geopolitical situation. There is still doubt that OPEC will make good on its decision to cut production by 1.2 million bpd.
HYDROCARBONS DAILY RECORD: TUEDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2006
By J. Brock (FINN)
At 1800 LMT Tuesday, 31 October 2006 Light Sweet Crude lost .91 Cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange to stand at $57.45 and Brent Crude lost .38 Cents to stand at $58.30 on London’s ICE Futures Exchange.
TRENDS
Crude prices dropped again today on rising inventory figures and doubts that OPEC will make good on its decision to cut production by 1.2 million bpd. Even if it does cut production there will be minimal damages as OPEC has increased its output to 30.18 million bpd from its September levels. Generally there is a release of tension across global markets, helping to keep crude prices low.
THE MARKETS
FTSE
At the close of play today, the FTSE 100 was up 2.41 points to settle 6,129.80 and the FTSE 250 gained 63.58 points to end at 10,372.20. FTSE Small Cap gained 7.80 points to settle at 3,636.70.
DOW JONES AND NASDAQ
At the end of play today the Dow Jones Index lost 5.17 points or 0.05% to settle at 12,080.73 and the NASDAQ gained 2.94 points or 0.12% to settle at 2,366.71. The S&P500 gained 0.01 points or 0.00% to settle at 1,377.94 and the NYSE lost 8.20 points or 0.09% to settle at 8,774.98.
DEVELOPING FACTORS
(Algeria)
Calgary Petroleum Limited has announced that commercial quantities of hydrocarbons has been discovered in their new Algeria exploration area.
(BP)
Press today catalogue a history of poor maintenance and neglect of BP’s assets all over the world. The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) read released internal BP documents written between 2002 and 2005 that reveal the Company management had knowledge of major safety problems at the Texas City, Texas, refinery, and at 34 other BP businesses around the world, prior to the March 2005 explosion. The reason given for non maintenance of infrastructure, including that at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, was budgetary constraints. It is thought inexcusable for this to happen when oil profits soared over the northern summer. This intriguing story will not go away and FINN will keep readers updated as developments arise.
(France)
A spokesman for French oil firm Total SA on Tuesday refused to confirm Brazil’s press reports that it would invest $1.882 billion for exploration and development of three gas fields in Bolivia. Earlier on Tuesday Brazil’s daily, “Valor” reported the investment, attributing it to comments by Bolivian Hydrocarbons Minister Carlos Villegas. This is a developing story that will be watched as well as analysed in due course.
(Timor Sea)
Petroleum Nasional Berhad (Petronas) along with South Korean exploration firms are exploring for hydrocarbons in the Timor Sea.
DEVELOPING REGIONAL FACTORS
(Bolivia)
Bolivia’s government has postponed nationalising that country’s mining industry. It is hoped that they will wait and see how the hydrocarbons nationalisation is going before trying to nationalise other businesses. As for the companies signing new contracts: BG Group Plc, Occidental, Petrobras, Repsol-YPF and Total SA, they can expect a 15% profit margin from Bolivian production, according to Bolivia’s Energy Minister, Carlos Villegas. The contents of the contracts are not yet public because they must have congressional scrutiny prior to their release. Brazil’s Petrobras, with refineries in Bolivia worth $150Million, wants compensation for relinquishing control to Bolivia’s state run energy company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos. There are no reports about if or when or how much compensation will be paid.
(Falkland Islands)
Share prices at the close of play on Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Desire Petroleum Plc ended up 1.25 or 3.82% on the day to settle at 34.00.
Falkland Oil and Gas Limited (FOGL) ended up 9.00 points or 11.46% on the day to stand at 87.50.
Rockhopper Exploration ended unchanged on the day to settle at 43.00.
Borders & Southern ended down 0.50 or 1.33% on the day to stand at 37.00
Tullow Oil ended down 4.25 points or 1.08% to stand at 389.50.
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