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COLUMN:
Oil speculators stay cautious on Iran risk: John Kemp
-- John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own. --
LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Escalating tensions between Iran and the West have so far drawn only a small amount of extra speculative money into oil-linked futures and options contracts.
Far fewer hedge funds and other money managers are wagering on a big price increase than after the Libyan civil war last year, according to position data released by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and exchanges.
MARKET NEWS:
Oil falls on euro zone concern, eyeing Iran
NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday on concerns about the euro zone's economy, but the decline was limited by fears about Iran's threats to shut the Strait of Hormuz oil-shipping route and Tehran's ongoing dispute with the West over the Iranian nuclear program. "Overall, the geopolitical premium is supporting amid tensions with Iran, but on the other hand the price of crude in euros remains high and will hurt demand in Europe," Olivier Jakob from Zug-based consultancy Petromatrix said.
NYMEX-Natural gas ends down despite colder late-week forecast
NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures ended lower on Monday in fairly light trade, with mild early-week weather and record high supplies pressuring the complex despite the colder outlook for later this week and next week that should boost heating demand. "The surplus that is building in inventory ... is going to get harder and harder to work off until it gets cold over a major portion of the U.S.," Energy Management Institute's Dominick Chirichella said in a report.
Euro Coal-Prices dip with oil, utility selling
LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Prompt European physical coal prices fell by $1 to $2 per tonne on Monday, in line with weaker oil, as some smaller European utilities started to sell cargoes they would not need due to the mild winter. "The market's looking a bit more bearish because in Europe there's been lower coal burn than expected, the winter's been mild, it's wet and windy but not cold, China won't be back until the end of January and the shorts seem to have covered," one utility source said.
COMMODITIES-Crop markets dominate as soy, corn, cocoa rally
NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean and corn prices rebounded sharply on Monday from two straight losing sessions as renewed fears about a drought in South America helped agricultural markets dominate the day's action in commodities. "This is do-or-die week for the moisture down in South America. They still have some double-crop beans and some corn to plant and that would be at risk if it stays on the drier side," said Mark Schultz, chief analyst at Northstar Commodity Investments Co in Minneapolis.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares, euro rise; Europe worries weigh
TOKYO, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Asian shares and the euro rose on Tuesday, but concerns over funding of euro zone sovereigns ahead of key auctions this week and of the debt crisis spilling over into the wider financial system kept investors cautious about taking riskier positions.
"EURUSD continues to trade below $1.2800, and prospects for EUR remain bleak," analysts at BNP Paribas said.
Nexen says CEO resigns
Jan 9 (Reuters) - Nexen Inc said its chief executive, Marvin Romanow, is leaving the Canadian independent oil producer effective immediately and Chief Financial Officer Kevin Reinhart will serve as interim CEO.
The company is conducting a search for a new CEO, Nexen said in a statement.
Australia's Ichthys LNG lands Taiwan, Japan supply contracts
CANBERRA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Australia's Ichthys LNG project has signed long-term supply contracts on Tuesday with Taiwan's Corp , as well as Japan's Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas , Australia's Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said.
"Today, we add Taiwan to the list of countries that will be powering their economies with clean, safe and reliable Australian LNG," Ferguson said at a contract signing ceremony in Melbourne. "This sales agreement will boost overall LNG imports to Taiwan by over 15 percent," he said without elaborating.
Saudi to supply full Feb crude to Asia -sources
TOKYO, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, will supply full contracted volumes of crude oil in February to at least two Asian term buyers, unchanged from January, industry sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. "As usual, there were no cuts," the source said. "It was as expected."
The two buyers were not considering using an option to buy additional crude on top of the contractual volumes despite rising tensions over Tehran's ongoing dispute with the West over the Iranian nuclear programme.
Nigeria faces second day of strikes over fuel
ABUJA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Nigerian unions begin a second day of nationwide strikes on Tuesday to protest against the removal of fuel subsidies, as President Goodluck Jonathan and workers remain in deadlock after three people were killed in the first day of demonstrations.
Nigeria's fuel regulator announced on Jan. 1 that subsidies on imports of motor fuel would end immediately, more than doubling the price of petrol to about 150 naira ($0.93) a litre and sparking protests across the country.
Study needed on shale gas effects on health-group
ARLINGTON, Virginia, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The public health effects of shale gas development need to be rigorously studied as production rapidly spreads in the United States, public health professionals and advocates said on Monday.
Advances in the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, drilling technique have revolutionized the U.S. natural gas industry, but researchers said more must be done to evaluate what the shale boom means for the those living near wells.
Valero mum on report of second U.K. refinery buy
HOUSTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Leading independent U.S. refiner Valero Energy Corp declined to discuss media reports from the United Kingdom that it was in talks to buy a second refinery in Wales.
The Milford & West Wales Mercury newspaper reported on Saturday that Valero was negotiating a purchase of Murphy Oil Corp's 130,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Milford Haven, Wales.
U.S. say oil rig bound for Cuban waters looks good
HAVANA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A Chinese-built drilling rig to be used in the first major exploration for oil in Cuba's offshore waters looks good to go, U.S. officials said on Monday after a safety inspection of the massive platform docked in Trinidad and Tobago.
The rig, known as the Scarabeo 9, was found to "generally comply with existing international and U.S. standards" by which its operator, Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF , "has pledged to abide," the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, or BSEE, said in a news release out of Washington.
POLL-U.S. crude stocks seen up on higher imports
Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. commercial crude oil stockpiles were expected to have modestly risen last week as imports continued to rise, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.
On average, domestic crude oil inventories were forecast up 200,000 barrels, according to the poll of six analysts. Four analysts forecast a build in crude inventories.
BEYOND THE HEADLINES:
India's HPCL to double Saudi crude imports-sources
NEW DELHI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - India's state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp will double the volume of Saudi crude it imports in an annual deal beginning in April, two industry sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday, in a move that could replace some of its Iranian supplies.
Indian refiners are looking for ways to gradually replace their imports of Iranian oil, given that global sanctions could shut a mechanism through Turkey's Halkbank that allows them to make payments to Tehran.
Dung Quat refinery to raise 2012 output 10 pct -CEO
HANOI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Vietnam's only oil refinery, Dung Quat, will raise its oil output this year by 10.1 percent from 2011 to around 6 million tonnes at a time when plans for other facilities have been put on hold, a senior executive said on Monday.
The $2.2 billion refinery will process 6.5 million tonnes of crude oil, including 1.3 million tonnes of imported crude, Nguyen Hoai Giang, chief executive of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co, which runs Dung Quat, told Reuters.
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