NEWS / Foreign Exchange

Crude Market Update

- The EIA released its weekly natural gas inventory data yesterday, which showed that natural gas inventories fell more than expected by 46bcf to 1.546 trillion cubic feet.

- The United States called on Nigeria's opposition parties Wednesday not to carry out a threatened boycott of presidential elections this weekend. US applauded a last-minute Nigerian Supreme Court ruling lifting a ban on a popular vice president and rival to outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo from running for the presidency. This Saturday's presidential vote is expected to usher in the first civilian-to-civilian government handover in coup-prone Nigeria since the country gained independence in 1960. Note that Nigerian militants in the delta region said recently that the Nigerian elections will not hinder their campaign to gain control of local resource.

- According to Energy Intelligence protesters in Bolivia temporarily shut down natural gas exports to Argentina and took more than 40 policemen hostage during bloody demonstrations for control of revenues from a natural gas field operated by Spain's Repsol.

- According to the union, Belgian oil workers may call for strikes next week at four refineries, which employ approximately 6,000 workers and are responsible for aggregate output of about 600K barrels of oil per day. Union delegates are set to meet later today to discuss further action. The oil refineries are owned by Total, Exxon, and Petroplus.

- It was announced overnight that the EU's Solana will meet Iran's Larijani on April 25th regarding the nuclear enrichment dispute.

- On the weather front, Accuweather wrote on its website that sunshine and warm temperatures moving into the East will help to erase thoughts of last week's powerful nor'easter, while storms rolling into the West Coast will bring much-needed rain to Southern California and a weekend outbreak of potentially damaging storms on the Plains.