NEWS / Foreign Exchange

Crude Market Update

- The EIA releases its weekly natural gas inventory data today at 10:30 a.m. According to a widely followed wire survey, natural gas inventories are expected to have risen 16bcf last week. Yesterday the EIA reported that crude oil inventories rose more than expected by 2.07M barrels, gasoline inventories declined more than expected by 2.79M barrels and distillate inventories rose less than expected by 5K barrels.

- According to the New Zealand Herald, amongst other reports, the EU and Iran have made some progress in nuclear talks, however no details of the progress are known as of yet. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's top negotiator Ali Larijani plan to hold a joint news conference on Thursday but have already agreed to meet again in two weeks' time.

- According to the Economic Times India and Japan will together explore oil and gas in a third country to enhance global energy security and build lasting partnerships in the sector. This was decided at the first ever meeting of ???India-Japan Energy Dialogue??™ held in Tokyo on April 23. The dialogue was launched with the aim of promoting comprehensive co-operation in the energy sector.

- Centrica, Britain??™s largest energy supplier, announced plans to cut rates for power and gas customers for the second time this year. Centrica said that they will be cutting residential electricity prices by 6%, and residential gas prices by 3%.

- Regarding the weather, Accuweather wrote on its website that on Thursday and Friday the threat of severe weather will shift toward the East Coast. A shift in the jet stream behind the storm system will allow warm temperatures to spread across the country through the weekend.