Falklands : Hydrocarbons Daily Record (14/02/07)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 15.02.2007 (Article Archived on 01.03.2007)
Crude prices declined today due to less than expected declines in US distillate inventories. Stocks of heating oil and diesel were expected to drop by 4.3 million barrels but the actual figures showed a decline of 3 million barrels.
HYDROCARBONS DAILY RECORD: WEDNESDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2007
By J. Brock (FINN)
At 1800 LMT on Wednesday, 14 February 2007 Light Sweet Crude fell $1.06 Cents to settle at $58.00 on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent Crude fell $1.35 Cents to settle at $57.43 on London’s ICE Futures Market.
TRENDS:
Crude prices decreased today due to a less than expected fall in US distillate inventories. Stocks of heating oil and diesel were expected to drop by 4.3 million barrels but the decrease was significantly less at 3 million barrels.
THE MARKETS:
FTSE 100 closed at 6,421.20 up +39.44
FTSE 250 closed at 11,541.30 down +65.60
FTSE Small Cap closed at 4,053.10 up +15.70
DJI closed at 12,741.86 up +87.01
NASDAQ closed at 2,488.38 up +28.50
S&P500 closed at 1,455.3 up +11.04
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS:
(Syria)
From a Press Release
Gulfsands Petroleum plc, the oil and gas production, exploration and development company with activities in the U.S.A., Syria and Iraq announces that the Company has reached total depth on the Tigris-1 well within Block 26, Syria and is setting a 7 inch production liner to total depth in the well.
Gulfsands, the operator and 50% working interest owner in Block 26, Syria, has completed drilling operations on the Tigris-1 well. The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,500 metres. Wireline logging operations and formation pressure testing have also been completed and sidewall cores acquired.
The results of the operations to date are inconclusive. While the lower portions of the well (3800 - 4500 metres) evidence hydrocarbon-bearing pay over a substantial interval, the pressure tests indicate lower permeability reservoirs. It is not possible at this stage to make a determination as to whether or not these reservoirs will ultimately be capable of producing hydrocarbons at commercial rates.
While these results are disappointingly incomplete, Gulfsands considers it is too early to make a determination as to the ultimate commerciality or otherwise of the Tigris-1 well. There are numerous possible reasons for the apparent low permeability of the reservoirs and there are a variety of techniques (e.g. fracture stimulation) which may be suitable to be employed if required to render the reservoirs commercial.
It is also possible that, as a result of further analysis, deepening of the well may be deemed an attractive option. Irrespective of the ultimate commercial outcome, there is also a wealth of valuable additional data to be collected from further testing and evaluation of this well. Once a 7 inch liner has been set, the well bore will be preserved in good condition for production testing or additional drilling.
(United States)
Exxon Mobil Corp.'s CEO says his company is not in any hurry to find alternatives to oil and gas. Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday that the Exxon Mobil Corp. is spending the bulk of its profits on exploring for and producing crude oil and natural gas. He went on to say that Americans should understand that bio-fuels and other renewable resources will continue to play a small, if growing, part in global energy supplies for many years. Mr. Tillerson has a global approach combat climate change and advocates engaging the countries that use the most hydrocarbons.
(Black Sea)
Minister Vasyl Dzharty of the Ukrainian Environment Ministry is involved in preparing a government proposal for a PSA agreement on development of Ukraine’s Black Sea shelf with U.S. Vanco Energy. The United States-based energy company won a tender to bid for the right to explore and develop hydrocarbon deposits in Ukraine’s section of the Black Sea, which could yield billion of barrels of oil a year ago. Signing of a production sharing agreement has been put back several times because the government continues to raise objections to Vanco Energy’s production sharing agreement proposals, both sides say they are confident that a compromise will be reached.
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS:
(Bolivia and Brazil)
Though mutual energy interests topped the agenda on Wednesday when President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with Bolivia’s President Evo Morales to discuss how much Brazil should pay Bolivia for natural gas. It is reported that there were disagreements on the amount in some newspapers but local ones said the meeting was upbeat. President Morales was accompanied by Bolivia’s Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca and Hydrocarbons Minister Carlos Villegas. Several Latin American newspapers report that President Morales refused to answer questions from reporters as he entered Brazil's Presidential Palace. The Hydrocarbons Minister confirmed that gas prices were a main topic. Brazil's state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA has a natural gas operation in Bolivia media reports say Brazil buys 26 million cubic meters of Bolivian natural gas per day and pays more than US$4 per million British thermal units (BTU) on average. Bolivia says about US$5 per million BTU is more like it.
(Falkland Islands)
A meeting of the Mineral Resources Committee will take place on Thursday, 15 February 2007 at 1330hrs in the Department of Mineral Resources. FINN will be there.
Relevant Share Prices for Wednesday, 14 February 2007:
Tullow Oil down -6.00 to stand at 399.25
Desire Petroleum unchanged at 31.00
FOGL up +2.00 to stand at 88.00
Rockhopper Exploration down -0.50 to stand at 44.50
Borders & Southern unchanged to stand at 33.00
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