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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2011
To download the full report (PDF document) please click here SPECIAL PDF REPORT - THREAT OF IRAN SANCTIONS WORRIES OIL MARKET Iran aims to sell its biggest Asian customers oil at higher prices and on tougher terms, even as it faces the prospect of fewer sales as Western nations mull sanctioning the economic lifeline of the world's fifth largest crude exporter.
For Reuters reports on the meet, click here COLUMN: Commodity funds pick oil as safest option: John Kemp --John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own--
LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - In a tough landscape for commodities, most hedge funds and other money managers have decided to stick with long positions in crude oil, boosting their investments even as prices slide.
For commodity funds, who must basically be long of something to justify their continued existence, crude is the least-dangerous among a series of tricky alternatives. Money the driver in Asia response to Iran oil: Clyde Russell
--Clyde Russell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.--
SINGAPORE, Dec 20 (Reuters) - It's often tempting to view the machinations of global oil markets through the prism of politics, ascribing actions to the strategic interests of the various states, but it's far more likely money is the driver.
That's not to say politics doesn't have an influence, witness the latest attempts by the United States and Europe to pressure Iran into giving up its nuclear ambitions. U.S. crude extends gains, up $1 on supply worry
LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. crude extended gains to rise $1, on worries about supply, even as euro zone concerns dented sentiment on other demand-sensitive assets like equities.
By 0846 GMT, U.S. light crude had touched the day's high of $95.05, $1.00 higher.
U.S. stock index futures rise; AT&T eyed
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.5 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.3 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.4 percent at 0819 GMT.
European stocks were slightly down in morning trade, extending their two-week slide on nagging concerns about the region's debt crisis after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi quashed hopes for more aggressive bond purchases.
FOREX-Euro climbs, but any bounce seen fleeting
LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The euro inched up, but sentiment was fragile as efforts by policymakers to address the debt crisis are falling short of expectations and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has been dashing hopes of any aggressive support.
"Sentiment remains fragile towards the euro," said Simon Derrick, head of currency research at Bank of New York Mellon. "They have agreed to boosting resources by 150 billion euros which still raises questions about Italy and the threat of rating agencies looming. You just need another piece of bad news and the euro will nudging closer to its 2011 lows."
GLOBAL MARKETS-Uncertainty stalks euro, hits stocks
LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - European stocks and the euro were under pressure after a euro zone plan to boost crisis funds parked with the IMF failed to reach a hoped-for target, though looming ECB funding for the region's banks lifted sentiment in some bond markets.
"Concerns about the European situation will keep the euro under pressure even if it manages short-term rises," said Sumino Kamei, a senior currency analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
TOP NEWS:
Russia's Surgut launches new East Siberia oilfield
MOSCOW, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Russia's third-largest crude oil producing company Surgutneftegaz said on Tuesday it had launched production at a greenfield in East Siberia, a region crucial for stable oil output in the world's top energy producer.
Surgutneftegaz, one of Russia's most reclusive oil company, located in the West Siberian city of Surgut, said it started oil output at North-Talakanskoye field in the Republic of Yakutia.
Thailand diesel exports down in Dec as domestic demand rises
SINGAPORE, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Thailand's diesel exports fell in December as domestic demand increased with year-end holidays and as vehicles returned to the streets after the country's worst floods in 50 years, industry sources said on Tuesday.
Diesel exports to Singapore nearly halved in the first two weeks of December to 628,340 barrels, from the same period a month ago, data from Singapore's International Enterprise showed.
PetroChina starts operating 2nd LNG receiving terminal
BEIJING, Dec 20 (Reuters) - PetroChina began pumping gas into northeast China pipelines from Dalian's liquefied natural gas receiving terminal on Saturday, marking the start in operations of its second terminal, the China Petroleum Daily reported on Tuesday.
Dalian, also China's fifth import terminal, received its first cargo of the super-chilled gas on Nov. 16 and planned to send gas into pipelines before the year-end.
CNOOC says gas leak found in south China pipeline
Dec 20 (Reuters) - Chinese offshore oil and gas firm CNOOC Ltd halted production at two platforms after discovering a leak in the subsea gas pipeline at the Zhuhai terminal in southern China near Hong Kong, the company said in a press statement.
"Currently the terminal is under accelerated depressurization process," CNOOC said in the statement. "This incident neither caused any injuries nor environmental pollution, and the situation is under control."
Spill reported at Shell Gulf of Mexico drill site
HOUSTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard was investigating a 13,000-gallon spill from an oil rig leased to Shell, operating about 26 miles (41 km) southeast of last year's BP Plc Macondo oil well disaster, a Coast Guard spokesman said on Monday.
The spill of either drilling fluid or oil mixed with drilling fluid was reported Sunday by Transocean Ltd's Deepwater Nautilus rig, which was drilling a well at Shell's Appomattox discovery.
ConocoPhillips OK'd to drill in petroleum reserve
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec 19 (Reuters) - ConocoPhillips on Monday won a key permit that will allow construction of an oil field that is expected to provide the first-ever production from the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on the western North Slope.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it granted a modified wetlands-fill permit that will allow ConocoPhillips to build a road, bridge and above-ground pipeline connecting its CD-5 project with the Alpine oil field on state land just east of the petroleum reserve.
BP to sign deals to explore in Angola's Kwanza Basin-agency
Dec 19 (Reuters) - BP on Tuesday will sign deals with Angola to explore oil and gas in several blocks in the southern African country's Kwanza Basin, Angolan state news agency Angop cited the oil firm's chief executive Bob Dubley as saying.
Angop said Dubley held a meeting with Angolan Vice President Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos in the capital, Luanda, on Monday to discuss the company's investment plans in Africa's second-largest oil producer after Nigeria.
REFINERY NEWS: Japan's JX unit to skip refinery maintenance in 2012 -source
TOKYO, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The Osaka International Refining Co, a unit of Japan's top refiner JX Nippon Oil & Energy , will skip planned maintenance on its sole 115,000 barrels per day Osaka refinery in western Japan in 2012, an industry source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The export-oriented refinery, 51 percent-owned by JX, with the rest held by Petrochina, underwent a scheduled turnaround from mid-March to mid-April this year. Medium-scale maintenance is planned in 2013.
Motiva reports FCCU trip at Convent, LA, refinery
Dec 20 (Reuters) - Motiva said a gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) tripped at its 235,000 barrel-per-day Convent, Louisiana, refinery on Monday, in a filing with the U.S. National Response Center.
"Unit slowed down and the compressor was restarted," the filing said.
Valero reports DCU snag at Port Arthur
Dec 19 (Reuters) - Valero Energy Corp reported a delayed coker unit (DCU) upset at its 287,000 barrel-per-day, Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, according to a filing with state pollution regulators.
The incident occurred on Sunday from 4:46 pm to 6:15 pm local time and on Monday from 06:04 am to 07:20 am local time, the filing with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said.
Libya delays plans to restart largest refinery
LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Libya's National Oil Company (NOC) has delayed plans to restart its largest refinery at Ras Lanuf by at least a month, a senior source told Reuters on Monday, as the plant remains cut off from a steady supply of crude for processing.
Ras Lanuf can process up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and accounts for well over half of the country's total oil refining capacity.
BEYOND THE HEADLINES: China halves Jan Iran oil imports in payment dispute
BEIJING, Dec 19 (Reuters) - China's top refiner Sinopec Corp will in January buy less than half the crude it typically imports from Iran, trade sources said on Monday, as the two haggle over terms against a backdrop of rising international pressure on Tehran.
Iran's largest crude buyer has cut its January purchases by about 285,000 barrels per day (bpd), sources said. That is over half of the close to 550,000 bpd that China has been buying on annual contract this year.
Clashes in oil region threaten Kazakh leader
ALMATY, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Riots by oil workers in western Kazakhstan suggest pressure is mounting for President Nursultan Nazarbayev to relax the rigid authoritarian system he has built in the vast Central Asian state, which is fast losing its veneer of stability.
Officials say 14 people were killed in Friday's clashes following the dismissal of oil workers in Zhanaozen in western Kazakhstan and another person was killed when violence spread to a nearby village on Saturday. It was a local crisis that had long been simmering and local authorities had failed to master.
Drilling at major N.Sea field to resume in early 2012 -Statoil
OSLO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Norwegian oil major Statoil will resume production drilling at Gullfaks, a key North Sea field, early next year, a top company executive said on Monday.
"We can start production drilling next year ... it will be early 2012," Oeystein Michelsen, Statoil's head of development and production in Norway, told Reuters.
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EVENTS TO WATCH TODAY (EST) U.S. ICSC CHAIN STORES YY WEEKLY (0745) U.S. BUILD PERMITS: CHANGE MM NOV (0830) U.S. HOUSE STARTS MM: CHANGE NOV (0830) U.S. HOUSING STARTS NUMBER MM NOV (0830) U.S. API WEEKLY CRUDE STOCKS WEEKLY (1630) U.S. API WEEKLY DIST. STOCKS WEEKLY (1630) U.S. API WEEKLY GASOLINE STK WEEKLY (1630)
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