Inside Oil - Friday January 06 2012

FRIDAY, JANUARY 06, 2012  To download the full report (PDF document) please click here     MARKET NEWS:   Oil falls back on U.S. stock build, higher dollar, technicals NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Brent crude dropped back drastically and U.S. crude deepened losses near the close on Thursday as investors took a second look at data showing a surprise build in U.S. stockpiles and the sharp rise in the dollar encouraged traders to jettison riskier assets.  "The late extension of losses reflect a delayed reaction to the EIA data (and) the dollar's gradually rise and the euro's slump also put pressure on crude futures," said Dominick Chirichella, senior partner at Energy Management Institute in New York.  NYMEX-Natural gas sinks 4 pct to below $3/mmBtu NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures slid nearly 4 percent on Thursday, pressured back below $3 per million British thermal units for the third time in four sessions amid concerns over bloated inventories and mild winter weather.  "With the recent cold spell breaking in major heating regions and warming back above normal, heating demand continues to be muted thus far seasonally. Couple that with brimming storage levels and natural gas prices continue to remain under pressure," said Caprock Risk Management president Chris Jarvis.  Euro Coal-Rises $1-2/t as buying picks up LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - South African physical prompt coal bids rose by around $1.00 a tonne percent on Thursday as buyers began to emerge after the end-year holiday hiatus.  "Drummond is seeing the worst delays of around two weeks, Prodeco almost as bad but even though Prodeco's coal is high-grade and some is specialist pulverised coal for steelmaking, it is important and it does matter to the market," one European utility source said.  COMMODITIES-Markets tumble after strong start to 2012 NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - A surprise build in U.S. crude stockpiles pulled oil prices down sharply on Thursday while grains markets tumbled on euro zone worries and a resurgent dollar, casting a pall over commodities' strong start to the year.  "The dollar is going to continue to strengthen, Europe is in trouble. Those issues are going to come back to the forefront," said Robert Bresnahan, who runs grains trading advisory Trilateral Inc in Chicago.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Europe woes weigh on shares, euro; US helps curb loss TOKYO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Asian shares edged down and the euro hovered near a 16-month low against the dollar and an 11-year low against the yen on Friday on worries the euro zone debt crisis is crippling European banks, but more positive U.S. data helped curb the losses.  "Euro area stresses remain elevated," said Standard Chartered in a research note. "Poor economic data, sovereign downgrades and weak demand for government bond issues remain key threats to the region."       BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon discuss Alaska gas export plan ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The chief executives of BP  and ConocoPhillips , two of Alaska's three major oil producers, said on Thursday that the only profitable way to exploit a vast but stranded quantity of Alaska's North Slope natural gas is to export it to Asian Pacific markets.  In a dramatic change from decades-old plans to send North Slope natural gas to domestic U.S. markets by overland pipeline through Canada, the BP and ConocoPhillips CEOs said they will work with Exxon Mobil , the third major North Slope oil producer, to develop an LNG project that would export to Asia.   Marubeni to buy stake in US shale oil project -Nikkei TOKYO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp  will spend $1.3 billion on buying a 35 percent stake in a Texas-based shale oil and gas project from Texas firm Hunt Oil Co and on developing the field, the Nikkei business daily said on Friday.  The company did not immediately comment on the report.  Union wants govt oversight of Pa. refinery closures WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The United Steelworkers (USW) said on Thursday it was looking for some oversight from legislators into the closure of three Philadelphia area refineries and the impact on prices of heating oil and gasoline in the Northeastern United States, as well as the nation's energy security.  Two of the three refineries -- ConocoPhillips'  Trainer refinery and Sunoco's  Marcus Hook refinery -- are already shut down while Sunoco's Philadelphia refinery is still operating. It is slated for closure by July 2012 if a buyer hasn't been found.     Transocean looking for new CFO Jan 5 (Reuters) - Transocean , said on Thursday its chief financial officer is retiring and the world's largest offshore drilling contractor is looking for a replacement.  Ricardo Rosa, 55, will step down from his position on January 9. He will be replaced by former CFO Greg Cauthen, who will return to the company on an interim basis.  YPF finds new oil resources in Argentina BUENOS AIRES, Jan 5 (Reuters) - YPF  has discovered prospective resources of an estimated 40 million barrels of oil equivalent in the Chachahuen block in Argentina's western Mendoza province, the company said on Thursday.  The energy firm, which is the local unit of Spain's Repsol , said preliminary test results from three wells revealed the presence of between 200 and 315 barrels per day (bpd) of medium-density crude.  Unions seek US Congress hearings on Philadelphia refineries Jan 5 (Reuters) - The United Steelworkers (USW) said on Thursday it would seek U.S. Congressional hearings on the planned closure of three Philadelphia refineries announced last year.  The USW warned of price spikes and potential gasoline and heating oil shortfalls if the three refineries close. The closures were announced last September by Sunoco  and ConocoPhillips .    Argentina says may seek third LNG tender for 2012 BUENOS AIRES, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Argentina may launch a third tender for liquefied natural gas cargoes (LNG) to meet its record demand in 2012, a spokesman for state-run energy company Enarsa told Reuters on Thursday.  The tender is likely as the South American country struggles to secure LNG cargoes amid surging prices that forced it to cut short its last two tenders.  Colonial allocates GA-TN distillate line for Cycle 4 Jan 5 (Reuters) - Colonial Pipeline allocated Cycle 4 shipments on its Line 20 carrying distillates from Atlanta, Georgia, to Nashville, Tennessee, in a notice to shippers late on Thursday.    Colonial said it would announce committed information on Monday.        BEYOND THE HEADLINES:   Screws tighten on Iran as big buyers shun its oil TEHRAN, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Iran faced the prospect on Thursday of cutbacks in its oil sales to China and Japan as new measures to block Tehran's crude exports over its nuclear programme appeared to be driving its economy to the wall.  The developments in Asia follow news on Wednesday that EU leaders had agreed to halt European purchases of Iranian crude.         EVENTS TO WATCH TODAY (GMT)   EZ ECONOMIC SENTIMENT DEC (1000)   U.S. NON-FARM PAYROLLS DEC (1330)   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. Find out more click here    Find out about Thomson Reuters Commodity Indices     THOMSON REUTERS thomsonreuters.com   Privacy Statement: To find out more about how we may collect, use and share your personal information please read our privacy statement.   You may instruct us to remove you from one or more of our Commodities News Briefs by clicking here.