Inside Oil - Wednesday January 04 2012

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2012  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.      MARKET NEWS:   Oil jumps 4 percent on Iran anxiety; U.S., China data NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices surged on  Tuesday, with U.S. crude hitting the highest settlement since May, fueled by strong economic data from the United States and China and mounting concern about supply disruption from Iran. "The supportive economic data and the geopolitical concerns are furthering the crude oil rally," said John Kilduff, partner at hedge fund Again Capital LLC in New York. Natural gas ekes out gain, remains under $3/mmBtu NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures managed to eke out a small gain on Tuesday, but settled under $3 per million British thermal units for a second straight session. "The first half of the winter has been mild and thus bearish. The second half of the winter is obviously still an unknown," said Energy Management Institute's Dominick Chirichella. Euro Coal-Prices dip by $1/T but trade subdued LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Physical prompt coal markets began 2012 subdued, with no fresh trades reported, while prices drifted $1.00 a tonne lower with European power prices and EU carbon. "Everybody's back at their desks now but nobody wants to do anything. There are bids and offers but still no real appetite to trade," one European trader said. COMMODITIES-Strong start to 2012 but Europe remains a worry NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Commodities began 2012 with a bang as a key market benchmark posted its largest gain in three months on Tuesday, but the unresolved European crisis and fears of last year's volatility continuing made analysts wonder if it was too early to rejoice. "Funds are now investing again, taking a bit more risk after a poor year" in 2011, said Peter Fertig, analyst at Europe's Quantitative Commodity Research. GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, euro firm as growth hopes warm risk appetite TOKYO, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Asian stocks and the euro firmed on Wednesday, as investor risk appetite returned after upbeat U.S. and European economic data boosted global shares and commodities and hopes for improved growth outlook grew despite 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.   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 PETR4.SA, 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 HRTP3.SA 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. Valero reports unit restart at Port Arthur refinery Jan 3 (Reuters) - Valero Energy Corp VLO.N on Tuesday reported a restart of the waste water treating unit (WWTU-8742) regenerative thermal oxidizer following a trip at its 287,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, according to a filing with state pollution regulators. The unit tripped due to high temperature the filing said, adding that investigation determined mechanical problems. Libya's Waha oil output to hit pre-war level in Jan TRIPOLI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Libya's Waha Oil Co will reach pre-war oil production levels of 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of January, the company's manager said, a day after the firm sent its first shipment of 600,000 barrels to Italy. Al-Sedr oil port, managed by Waha Oil, resumed operations this week, enabling the company to restart exports months after the terminal stopped running during a civil war that ended Muammar Gaddafi's rule. Pennsylvania gas drillers unaffected by Ohio well closure NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Gas drilling operations in Pennsylvania's vast Marcellus Shale were largely unaffected by Ohio's suspension of operations at five wells used to dispose of oil and gas drilling fluid, companies and industry officials said on Tuesday. Of five wells operated by Northstar Disposal Services LLC that were suspended at the weekend following the latest in a series of earthquakes, only one was in operation, said Tom Stewart, executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. The other four are in the permitting or construction phase. Cushing oil stocks below half of storage space-Genscape NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil inventories at the key Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub dropped below half of the tank farm's storage capacity, energy information firm Genscape said on Tuesday. Genscape's latest figures show there are 32.3 million barrels of oil stored at Cushing today, down 980,000 barrels from Friday and accounting for only 49 percent of the storage space there. Mexico's main oil export ports stay shut due to weather MEXICO CITY, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Mexico's three biggest oil exporting ports remained closed on Tuesday due to bad weather off the Gulf of Mexico, the transport ministry said. The Dos Bocas and Coatzacoalcos terminals were closed on Monday morning and the largest Gulf port of Cayo Arcas shut later in the afternoon, the ministry said in a statement. UAE's Fujairah buys stake in oil storage project DUBAI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - United Arab Emirates-based trader Gulf Petrochem has agreed to sell a 12 percent stake in its planned oil storage terminal to the government of Fujairah, the company said on Tuesday.  Gulf Petrochem Group has been building a 412,000 cubic metre oil storage terminal in Fujairah, one of the emirates in the UAE and a major ship refuelling hub, for $136.4 million.       BEYOND THE HEADLINES:   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.       EVENTS TO WATCH TODAY (GMT)   U.S. Total Vehicle Sales Dec (0500)   EZ Markit Services PMI Dec (0858)   EZ Inflation, flash yy Dec (1000)   U.S. ICSC chain stores yy Weekly (1245)   U.S. Factory orders Nov (1500)   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. 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