Inside Oil - Friday December 23 2011

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 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:   Bakken by the numbers: John Kemp   --John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own--  LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The magnitude of North Dakota's oil revolution is hard for outsiders to grasp. Superlatives fail to convey the speed and scale of the transformation and its impact on the economy of the state.  The fracking boom is upending the traditional petroleum geography of the United States. On current trends, North Dakota will overtake California as the third-largest oil-producer in the United States by the end of Q1 2012. Output is likely to exceed production from Alaska by the end of 2012 or early 2013. Only Texas will be producing more crude.     MARKET NEWS:   Oil up on supply worry, supportive U.S. data NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Oil rose for a fourth straight day on Thursday in thin, choppy trading on fears of potential supply disruptions from Iraq and Iran and supportive U.S. economic data.  "Iran and the broader Middle East, including Iraq now that the United States is gone, will continue to act on the oil market with exposure for price spikes at any time. The geopolitics of the region are once again on the radar," he said.   NYMEX-Natgas ends up slightly for 3rd day after seesaw session NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures ended a seesaw session slightly higher on Thursday, with short covering ahead of the long holiday weekend countered by concerns about record-high supplies and mild weather forecasts that should slow demand.  "Aside from those that may be short covering ahead of the long holiday period I am not sure why anyone would want to go long natural gas at this point in time based on the outlook   or the weather," Energy Management Institute's Dominick Chirichella said in a report, which said fundamentals for gas, like weather and storage, were still bearish.   GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares up as U.S. data drives year-end gains SINGAPORE, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged up on Friday, as signs of a strengthening economy in the United States encouraged a modest year-end rally in riskier assets. Wall Street stocks had risen for a third straight day on Thursday, leaving the S&P 500 index virtually flat for the year, after data showed new claims for unemployment benefit dropped to their lowest in 3-1/2 years.   S.Korea Nov crude oil imports down 5.2 pct y/y SEOUL, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Crude imports by South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, fell 5.2 percent in November from a year earlier, as refining margins eased and domestic demand for oil products declined, state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) said on Friday.  South Korea imported 73.17 million barrels of crude oil last month compared with 77.2 million barrels imported a year ago, after marking the highest import growth in October since July, the KNOC data showed.  Petrobras to incorporate its chemical holdings co. SAO PAULO Dec 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras  said on Thursday its board of directors approved the incorporation of its chemicals holding company Petrobras Quimica S.A. through which it holds some of its stake in petrochemical giant Braskem. Petrobras Quimica is known as Petroquisa.  Alaska N.Slope oil sells $6.90 over WTI for Feb HOUSTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Alaska North Slope crude oil  for February delivery sold Thursday for $6.90 a barrel over West Texas Intermediate , down 35 cents from the last January deal, traders said.  A total of 900,000 barrels traded in three deals of 300,000 barrels each and all were done at $6.90 over for February, traders said. The last previous deal announced was done Dec. 15 for January delivery at a premium of $7.25. Petrobras ends drilling tender, in talks with 2 cos Dec 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras  has  cancelled a tender for the contracting of 21 offshore well-drilling units, the company said in a filing to the securities regulator late on Thursday.  The company said it would now begin immediate negotiations with the only two bidders in the tender, Ocean Rig do Brasil Ltda and Sete Brasil Participacoes S.A. "with the objective of obtaining the best conditions" it said in a short statement.  US WCoast Products-Gasoline keeps rising HOUSTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - West Coast gasoline continued rising for the third straight day on Thursday due to a unit shutdown at a San Francisco Bay-area refinery, traders said.  Unleaded ethanol-blend CARBOB gasoline for January delivery on the Los Angeles market jumped 6.75 cents at 23.5 cents a gallon over February RBOB futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange.  Major maintenance completed at Venezuela upgrader CARACAS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A major maintenance program has been completed at Venezuela's Petroanzoategui heavy crude upgrader, state oil company PDVSA said on Thursday.  The 130,000 barrel per day (bpd) facility had been offline since September. In a statement, PDVSA said work was done on its vacuum, distillation and gas recovery units, among others.  Valero says no impact from McKee power disruption HOUSTON Dec 22 (Reuters) - Valero Energy Corp  said a Thursday morning partial power disruption was not expected to have a material impact on production at its 156,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) McKee refinery in Sunray, Texas.  The refinery's main production units remained in operation during the loss of one of the main feeder lines to the refinery in the Texas panhandle between Oklahoma and New Mexico, Valero spokesman Bill Day said in a statement.  WAfrica Crude-Nigerian diffs jump after Bonga closure LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Nigerian benchmark crude oil differentials jumped on Thursday as traders bet that the closure of the Bonga deepwater facility will disrupt schedules loadings for early 2012.  Royal Dutch Shell  said on Thusday its giant 200,000 barrel per day deepwater Bonga facility is now shut, with no planned restart date, after an oil leak occurred on Tuesday while a tanker was loading.     BEYOND THE HEADLINES:   Oil fund BlueGold loses focus, sinks deep into red NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Respected commodities hedge fund BlueGold has veered from its energy-focused strategy, betting half its money on equities and other trades that are worrying investors as it turns in its first down year.  The London-based fund, founded by former Vitol oil traders Dennis Crema and Pierre Andurand, is heading for a negative annual return, losing 34 percent through mid-December. Its asset base is down to $1.2 billion from $2 billion about a year ago.       EVENTS TO WATCH TODAY (GMT)   U.S. Quarterly Hog Inventory Q3 (2000) U.S. CFTC commitment of traders data Weekly (2030)   MORE INFORMATION   Learn more about our products and services for Commodities Professionals click here Contact Thomson Reuters click here To subscribe to this and other Commodities News Briefs click here  Join our market Forums. To find out more click here: • Oil Forum • Ags Forum • Base Metals Forum • Gold Forum • European Power & Gas  Forum • North American Power & Gas Forum     Knowledge Network: Interactive training for your Thomson Reuters desktop. 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