Falklands : Hydrocarbons Daily Record (05/04/07)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 07.04.2007 (Article Archived on 21.04.2007)
Crude prices shifted lower today on the release of the 15 British Service Personnel from Iran.
HYDROCARBONS DAILY RECORD: THURSDAY, 05 APRIL 2007
Compiled BY J. Brock (FINN)
At 1800hrs LMT on Thursday, 05 April 2007 Light Sweet Crude was trading at $64.28, down 10 Cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent Crude traded at $68.24 down 16 Cents on London’s Ice Futures Market.
ANALYSIS:
Today’s decline in crude prices is due to the release of the 15 service personnel held by Iran. Generally crude prices are higher than they were at the beginning of the year due to geopolitical reasons. An upward fluctuation due to decreasing inventories prior to the summer drive season also contributes to higher prices, as well as a lack of refinery runs.
BRIEF INVENTORY REPORT (Continued):
Weekly Gasoline Prices, released late Wednesday, say that a gallon has settled at $2.1094. Gasoline stocks are down by 5 Million Barrels to 205.2 Million barrels.
The report continues that there is a lack of refinery runs and those refineries are operating at 87% capacity. Inventories of distillates, such as heating oil, are down by 503 Million Barrels. The supply of heating oil, however, is unchanged at 118 Million Barrels.
Supplies of natural gas in storage are at 1,569 BEF as of 30 March 2007. This is 27% more than the 5-year average.
THE MARKETS:
FTSE 100: 6,397.30 up 32.60
FTSE 250: 11,915.90 up 26.70
FTSE Small Cap: 4,051.90 up 6.19
DJI: 12,560.20 up 30.15
NASDAQ: 2,471.34 up 12.65
S&P 500: 1,443.76 up 4.39
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS:
Italy and Russia:
The remains of Yukos have been bought by Italy’s Eni and Enel - the first foreign Company successfully bidding on Wednesday at a bankruptcy auction. Eni then promptly announced plans to pass the bulk of the assets to Gazprom. EniNeftegaz, C, beat out a Rosneft subsidiary and another company, bidding 151.54 billion rubles ($5.83 billion), which includes Yukos’ 20 percent stake in Gazprom Neft as well as two gas production units. Eni said in a statement Gazprom Neft’s share will be transferred to Eni, Italy’s top oil major, which has given Gazprom a call option to buy the stake for $3.7 billion within two years.
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS:
Falkland Islands:
While it is regrettable that Argentina has gone back on its agreement to jointly explore for hydrocarbons in the Special area of Co-operation, the decision will be of minimal affect to hydrocarbons exploration in the Falklands.
Though Argentina accuses the Falklands of drilling for oil, there has been no drilling ship or even a rig in the North or South Falkland Basins in nearly 10 years. Exploration – not exploitation – continues at a slow pace while the bulk of exploration companies finalise their pre-drilling plans.
The leveller is the exploitation effort in other parts of the world where hydrocarbons have been extracted for decades. Put in perspective, those areas are more attractive than the South West Atlantic, which is called a frontier province.
RELEVANT SHARE PRICES:
TLW: 368.75 up 0.50
DES: 27.25 down -0.25
FOGL: 88.00 Unchanged
RKH: 35.00 Unchanged
BOR: 24.00 down -1.00
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