Feb. 3–GULF TANKER RATES CLIMB ON DEMAND: Gulf supertanker rates have risen on demand for March cargoes and limited availability. About 25 tankers are likely to take on cargo in the Gulf next month.At just nine, only a fraction of the March bookings have been completed. In February there were 100 bookings and 96 in January.
OIL PRICES EDGE DOWN FURTHER: Oil prices fell further on February 2 with milder weather fuelling fresh selling by speculative US hedge funds. London Brent fell USD0.37 to USD28.81 a barrel. New York crude too was down by a similar amount to USD32.68 a barrel. Expectations that Opec will not cut output, have impacted on the price weakness.
IRAQ JANUARY OIL EXPORTS 11PC SHORT: Oil exports from Iraq during January at 1.51 million bpd were about 11 per cent short of the target of 1.7 million bpd. Rough seas and power cuts were blamed for disrupting tanker loadings. About 46.6 million barrels of crude moved through Basra terminal in January. December had seen 48 million barrels move.
EGYPT’S CRUDE OUTPUT EDGES LOWER: Egypt’s average monthly crude output has fallen to 618,589 bpd in 2003, down by 1.5 per cent a year earlier, Mees said. Crude output last year was lower by 81,000 bpd or 12 per cent against 2000. Natural gas and condensate production, however, continued to rise.
ADNOC CONDENSATE OUTPUT TO RISE: Adnoc’s condensate production is to go up by an additional 130,000 bpd by 2007 once the OGD-3 project is completed, Khaleej Times said. Adnoc currently refines around 230,000 bpd of crude and another 220,000 bpd of condensate providing 4.3 million tonnes a year of naphtha, 3.3 million tonnes a year of jet fuel and 1.4 million tonnes a year of gas oil.
IOC BEGINS LUBE PRODUCTION: Indian Oil Corp has begun production of its Servo brand of lubricants in Dubai for the Mideast and African markets. Servo is a leading brand in India, Khaleej Times said. IOC is having the lubricant blended at the BP plant in Jebel Ali. Marketing will begin soon. IOC plans to blend 100 kilo litres in the first year.
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(c) 2004, AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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