To download the full report (PDF document) please click here COLUMN: Petroplus victim of euro credit crunch-Campbell -- Robert Campbell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own. --
NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - News reports about the woes at independent oil refiner Petroplus Holdings have honed in on its heavy debt load, but the real culprit is a liquidity crisis triggered by a festering European credit crunch.
To be sure, Switzerland-based Petroplus is a troubled company. Battered by poor refining margins and structural changes in the Atlantic basin oil market that have depressed gasoline and naphtha prices, it has been losing money and closing refineries as it bleeds cash. ENERGY: Brent oil falls below $112 after sharp gains
SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Brent crude fell below $112 a barrel on Wednesday after sharp gains the previous day because of rising tensions between Iran and the West and upbeat economic data from the United States and China.
"The market typically starts the year bullish," said Jeremy Friesen, commodity strategist at Societe Generale. Vitol to ship 2 mln bbls of N.Sea Forties to China
SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Vitol has fixed a very large crude carrier (VLCC) to load 2 million barrels of North Sea Forties crude for delivery to China, the first U.K. crude shipment to the world's second largest oil consumer for at least a year, ship brokers and oil traders said on Wednesday.
China is scouring international crude markets for spot cargoes after it reduced imports from Iran due to a dispute over 2012 payment terms. India approves Reliance's $1.5 bln D6 field plan-report
Jan 4 (Reuters) - The Indian government has approved Reliance Industries' $1.53 billion investment plan for developing four satellite fields in its D6 gas block off India's east coast, two newspapers reported on Wednesday.
The investment plan, which will help boost falling output of the gas field in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, has been pending with the authorities for two years, the Times of India and the Mint said, citing news agency Press Trust of India.
Vietnam's Saigon Petro seeks up to 32,000 T gasoil and gasoline
SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Vietnam's Saigon Petro is seeking up to 32,000 tonnes of gasoil and gasoline for late January to February in a tender, after cancelling previous tenders on high offers, traders said on Wednesday.
The state-owned importer is seeking 10,000 tonnes of 95-octane gasoline for Jan. 31-Feb. 4 arrival or Jan. 27-31 loading and 10,000 tonnes of 0.25 percent sulphur gasoil for Feb. 6-10 delivery or Feb. 2-6 loading.
Brazil national oil output nudges up to new high
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's steadily-rising oil production hit yet another record in November, reaching an average of 2.19 million barrels per day, the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) said on Tuesday, a 4.8 percent increase from November of 2010.
The fields which saw output rise most were those operated by state-controlled oil company Petrobras , which alone accounted for 90 percent of crude oil production in that month.
HRT stock dives after Amazon well test
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Shares in HRT petroleum fell 12.9 percent on Tuesday after the company released an estimate for output from a remote Amazon exploration well, revealing more natural gas than oil which is cheaper and safer to transport to distant markets.
HRT said the well has the potential to produce as much as 750,000 cubic meters a day of natural gas and 1,000 barrels per day of condensate liquids, a very light form of oil associated with natural gas deposits.
AGRICULTURE: US corn dips from 2-month peak; soy, wheat ease
SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Chicago corn slid half a percent, falling from a near two-month top, while soy eased after a rally to its highest since end-October as increased selling by U.S. farmers pressured markets. "It is generally a lower start across the grains and oilseeds markets, we are looking at a little bit of profit-taking after striking some resistance levels yesterday," said Luke Mathews, Commodities Strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Global rubber output seen up 3.1 pct in 2012-ANRPC
BANGKOK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Global natural rubber production is expected to rise by 3.1 percent to 10.415 million tonnes in 2012, little changed from the previous forecast of a 3.6 percent rise made in November, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) said on Wednesday.
"The downward revision results from the upward revision for the base year output," the ANRPC said in a report.
Costa Rica coffee exports edge up in Dec from year ago
SAN JOSE, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Costa Rica, a Central American producer of high-quality arabica coffee beans, exported 78,300 60-kg bags of coffee in December, 2.6 percent more than it exported the same month a year ago, the national coffee institute said.
The coffee harvesting season in the region begins in October and comes to a close in September.
Heavier rain a mixed blessing for Brazil coffee
BRASILIA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Plentiful rain in Brazil's key coffee growing areas helped trees recover from overly dry weather in the last few months of the year, but relentless showers and little sun in some areas could bring more problems, forecaster Somar said on Tuesday.
The crop now developing in the world's top coffee producer will be a larger 'on year' crop, and a successful, good-sized harvest is critical for a global coffee market which has seen prices soar since mid-2010 due to a shortage of quality beans.
Argentine soy crush down 5.4 pct in November
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Argentine soy crushing activity fell 5.4 percent in November year-on-year to nearly 3 million tonnes following a record 2009/10 crop and a smaller 2010/11 season, the government said in its latest crushing report.
Argentina is the world's top supplier of soyoil and soymeal and the No. 3 exporter of unprocessed beans.
Cocoa exporters seek changes to Ivory Coast reform
ABIDJAN, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Leading cocoa exporters want changes to the pricing scale used in Ivory Coast's reform of the sector before they will take part in bean auctions by the world's top grower due to start later this month, export officials said on Tuesday.
President Alassane Ouattara's government intends to roll back a decade of liberalisation and adopt greater regulation as part of a move to guarantee that local farmers get at least 60 percent of the export price of their produce.
South Africa imports Romanian yellow maize
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Two cargo ships of Romanian maize are en route to South Africa's Western Cape province and could be followed by more imports as the country faces a maize supply shortfall for the rest of the season, the head of producer group Grain SA said on Tuesday.
"Our understanding is that there are two cargo shipments on their way to the Western Cape. It's yellow maize from Romania for the feed (livestock) industry in that province," Jannie de Villiers, Grain SA's chief executive, told Reuters.
BASE METALS: LME copper falls as Europe worries offset US optimism
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 (Reuters) - London copper fell, snapping two days of gains, as worries that the financial crisis in the euro zone will slow global economic growth overrode optimism from upbeat U.S. economic data. "There's too much uncertainty," said Koun-Ken Lee, commodities strategist at Standard Chartered in Singapore. Rio sees 1/3 capacity at lockout-hit aluminum smelter
TORONTO, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto Alcan is prepared to operate its Alma aluminum smelter in eastern Canada at one-third capacity during a lockout of unionized employees that began Jan. 1, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.
"There are 200 managers that are operating the plant right now and are going through the process of shutting down the second third of production," spokesman Bryan Tucker told Reuters. Freeport Indonesia workers heading back after strike -union
TIMIKA, Indonesia, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Workers headed back to Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc's mine in Indonesia on Tuesday at the end of a three-month strike that shook labor relations in southeast Asia's biggest economy.
Some 200 workers who were bussed back last week to the Grasberg mine in the highlands of Papua island have begun work, according to a mine worker who spoke to Reuters by telephone from Grasberg but declined to give his name.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold eases after rally; Iran tensions support
SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Spot gold lost half a percent, shedding the previous session's strong gains on encouraging economic data from the United States and Europe, although the fall may be capped by rising concerns on Iran. "Gold may not be a safe haven in financial turmoil, but it does seem to function as a safe haven against real-world geopolitical risks," said Nick Trevethan, Senior Commodity Strategist at ANZ. GLOBAL MARKETS: Stocks cheered by growth hopes, euro steadies
TOKYO, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose and the euro steadied, as investor risk appetite returned after upbeat U.S. and European economic data improved the global growth outlook despite deep-set worries over the euro zone debt crisis. "While we are structurally underweight risk, we suggest adopting a more neutral stance in the first two weeks of 2012," analysts at Barclays Capital said in a research note. CHART OF THE DAY: SHANGHAI COPPER - 24 HRS TECHNICAL OUTLOOK 
BEYOND THE HEADLINES: Cropcast cuts Argentine corn, soy estimates
CHICAGO, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Cropcast, a weather information service widely followed by grain traders for its global crop outlooks, on Tuesday reduced its forecasts for Argentine corn and soybean production and said further cuts may be coming.
Cropcast lowered its estimate of the Argentine corn crop to 24.5 million tonnes, down 3 million tonnes from projections it gave last week, and soybeans by 1.6 million to 49.82 million as the leading global corn and soy producer suffers from drought.
Big banks may line up to block sale of LME
LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Top bank stakeholders of the London Metal Exchange are likely to amass enough support to block a sale they fear would bring a more heavily regulated owner and hurt their lucrative warehousing businesses, senior industry sources say.
The LME said in September that at least 10 parties had expressed interest in buying it, and analysts estimate it could be worth as much as $1 billion. As a member-owned organisation, the exchange requires approval from members holding 75 percent of outstanding ordinary or "A" shares for any sale.
Poland stands firm on mine tax,plans shale gas levy
WARSAW, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Poland's government will grant no more concessions on a proposed mining tax and plans a new levy on shale gas and other hydrocarbons in the first half of 2012, Deputy Finance Minister Maciej Grabowski said on Tuesday.
The finance ministry on Monday rejigged the revenue-boosting tax on copper and silver operations, slightly easing the burden on Europe's no.2 copper producer KGHM which will bear the brunt of the new levy.
Natgas price plunge puts heat on producers
Dec 30 (Reuters) - A steep drop in natural gas prices is squeezing the profits of producers such as Southwestern Gas Corp , EXCO Resources and Quicksilver Resources , which may need to shut wells, raise cash, cut staff or seek merger partners in the coming year.
Spot natural gas futures dipped below $3.00 per million British Thermal units on Friday, the lowest level in more than two years, as a glut of gas from shale fields across the United States pushed inventory levels to historic highs.
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment