NEWS / Foreign Exchange

Crude Market Update

• Natural Gas Inventories: 68 bcf vs. 56 bcf exp. [yesterday]
• A 50K bpd Eni oil platform in Nigeria was shutdown after it was attacked overnight [wire headlines]
• Russia plans to raise its oil export duty tax to $274/ton from $250.30/ton [wires citing Finance Ministry]
• Indian oil output rose by 0.7% during the first half of 2007, boosted by non-state run companies [wire summary story]
• Australia??™s Santos acquired a stake in a natural gas field as well as exploration interests in Bangladesh. The company acquired the assets from Carin Energy for $50M up front and the possibility of additional payments based on results [sto.au] [cne.uk]
• Total announced the acquisition of 40% interest in three exploration permits in Australia [fp.fr]
• Premier Oil completes testing on the Masimpur-3 project and concludes that the well did not flow commercial oil and gas volumes [pmo.uk]
• The US Energy Information Administration has identified Canadian reserves as being second only to those of Saudi Arabia. So if you worry about peak oil and the world??™s energy future, you would be foolish to ignore the geopolitics and energy economics that are racking Canada today. The Canadian petroleum industry is facing a perfect storm of ill effects. These are five in number: First, the Canadian dollar is at its highest level against the dollar in 30 years. Second, the natural gas industry is in the tank. Third, environmental issues are getting critical. Fourth, industrial inflation is rocketing out of site. And finally, governments have become greedy. [Language Matters]
• A top climate scientist warned Wednesday that Texas faces a dual threat from floods and drought if global warming is left unchecked. [Houston Chronicle]
• Oil prices are, in real terms, flirting with highs not seen since the Iranian revolution in 1979. A psychological three-digit target for a barrel of oil has been set after futures prices traded through the US$90/bbl mark on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) last week. [Financial Mail]
• The peak oil debate may be over if discussions at the annual Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA conference in Houston this month were anything to go by. A broad but growing consensus has emerged that oil production will reach its zenith no later than 2030, if it hasn't already. The prospects for major technological "silver bullets" don't seem promising -- technology can do only so much, and is often costly, benefiting first those who can pay for it, rather than those who need it most. [Petroleum Intelligence Weekly]
• Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach released details of the Canadian province's new royalty framework late Thursday, saying that the terms would give the oil and gas industry the fiscal certainty and predictability necessary to continue development of the province's oil and natural gas resources while ensuring that all Albertans receive "a fair share" of the benefits of higher prices and increased production. [Oil Daily]
• NHC: No tropical cyclone formations are expected within the next 24 hours.