Oil Muddle: Full Coverage

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[1 Sep 2008: Govt Rules Out Immediate Cut In Fuel Prices The government on Monday ruled out an immediate reduction in petrol and diesel prices as state-run firms are still running into daily loss of over Rs 400 crore despite softening in international oil prices. &quot;Where is the scope for reducing prices? Oil companies are still making losses,&quot; Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters in New Delhi.The drop in international oil prices has resulted in revenue loss of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum dip to Rs 400 crore per day from Rs 450 crore a fortnight back. Read Story 21 Aug 2008: Oil Rises To $116 Oil rose to $116 a barrel on Thursday, climbing for a third straight session, as Washington's missile shield deal with Poland angered Russia, adding to international tension. The spat adds to political factors that has supported oil prices in recent months, such as the dispute over Iran's nuclear work. A weaker dollar also boosted the appeal of commodities as an inflation hedge. &quot;There's a myriad of geopolitical factors rumbling in the background -- Russia, Iran,&quot; said Tony Machacek, broker at Bache Commodities Ltd. &quot;Also, the dollar is weaker.&quot; Read Story 11 Aug 2008: Panel For Sharp Hike In Fuel Prices Petrol and diesel prices will rise every month while subsidised domestic cooking gas to households will be gradually phased out if recommendations of the high-powered B.K. Chaturvedi Committee are implemented.The panel headed by the Planning Commission member has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to raise petrol prices by Rs 2.50 a litre per month till March 2009 and diesel prices by Rs 0.75 per litre till 2010 to eliminate subsidies on the two fuels. Read Story 09 Aug 2008: Oil Falls To $115 On Economic Worries Oil dropped $5 to a three-month low on Friday as the dollar surged and concerns about global economic growth weighed on demand expectations. The fall came even as Russia sent forces into Georgia, a key energy transit region, to repel a Georgian assault on the breakaway South Ossetia region. Strong demand from emerging economies such as China sent oil on a six-year rally, with prices up sevenfold at their peak. More support came from investors rushing into commodities as a hedge against inflation and the weak dollar. Read Story 05 Aug 2008: Oil Falls To 3-Month Low Oil fell to a three-month low on Monday, pressured by evidence of rising OPEC output in the midst of declining demand in the United States and Europe. The losses extended a steep slide from the mid-July peak above $147 a barrel and came despite a storm in the Gulf of Mexico that was curbing oil output, shipping and refining. &quot;Crude futures are down despite a brewing storm and that shows you how momentum has shifted in this market,&quot; said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading in Chicago. Read Story 23 July 2008: Oil Extends Losses Oil prices fell for the second session on Wednesday, extending losses from a record high this month, as fears eased Hurricane Dolly would deal a blow to oil and gas supply and on rising worries over dwindling US demand. A second strong session for the dollar on the back of comments from a Federal Reserve official suggesting US interest rates may have to rise also reduced the appeal of commodities, prompting investors to exit oil. Full Story 17 July 2008: Oil Steadies After Dip On Demand Oil prices steadied on Thursday, after sharp losses on swelling stocks and fading demand in the United States and after a fresh diplomatic initiative from Washington over Iran. U.S. crude futures eased 20 cents to $134.40 a barrel at 0807 GMT, after sliding $4.14 on Wednesday. The losses take crude to around $13 below last week's all-time peak with recent trade showing the biggest two-day loss in percentage terms since January 2007. Dealers said 17 July's losses were triggered by a 3 million-barrel increase in U.S. crude stocks according to data from the Energy Information Administration, against forecasts for a fall, alongside a rise in gasoline and distillates. Full Story 14 July 2008: Govt Bars New Fuel Pumps The government has stopped state firms from building new fuel stations for two years to cut costs at companies losing heavily from having to sell fuel at prices far below market rates, an oil ministry source said on Monday. In June, the government raised petrol and diesel prices by about 10 percent, its biggest increase in 12 years, but the hike lagged far behind the the recent rally in crude oil prices, which soared to a record above $147 a barrel on Friday.Full Story &nbsp; 11 July 2008: Oil Surges To Record High Above $14 Oil jumped more than 3 percent to a record high above $146 a barrel on Friday, boosted by concern of threats to supplies from major oil exporters Iran and Nigeria.U.S. crude hit $146 a barrel for the first time and later rose as high as $146.90.Oil jumped over $4 to a new record high near $146 a barrel on Friday, spurred by growing worries of threats to supplies from Iran and Nigeria and a strike of Brazilian oil workers next week. Full Story &nbsp; 7 July 2008: World Must Brace For Oil Beyond $150 Oil's meteoric rise since the start of the year to nearly $150 has distressed consumers and policy makers the world over, but the stark reality is prices are likely to rise higher still.For two decades, prices were relatively stable, but then they rose seven-fold from a trough below $20 in 2001. Since breaching the $100 mark on the first trading day of this year they have risen around 45 per cent. Given such momentum, politicians' efforts to bring the price down could well be a waste of energy. Full Story &nbsp; 2 July 2008: Iran Rules Out Raising Crude Output Soon Iran, the second largest exporter among oil cartel OPEC, on Wednesday ruled out increasing the output immediately to cool record high prices but said current rates were not good for both consumers and producers.&quot;We have some spare capacity in oil production. At the same time we have to say that there is no need for more supplies to the market,&quot; Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari told reporters on the sidelines of the 19th World Petroleum Congress in Madrid. Record rates at $142 a barrel have forced countries like India to raise fuel price, which is spurting thier domestic inflation.Full Story &nbsp; 1 July 2008: OPEC Rejects Call For Oil Price Band Oil cartel OPEC on Monday rejected India's call for regulating crude prices through a price band, saying the market was the best judge and forecast prices climbing to $170 a barrel on summer demand in the US. &quot;Producing and consuming nations never agree on any price... They never agreed with (OPEC) price band (that operated between 2000 and 2005). Then we did away with the price band... We are never going to agree (on the price band),&quot; OPEC President Chakib Khelil told reporters on sidelines of the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid. Full Story &nbsp; {mospagebreak} 30 June 2008: Stagflation Fears Boil Oil prices rose on Monday spurred by brewing Middle East tensions, climbing near Friday's record high $142.99 a barrel and weighing on Asian stocks, which posted their worst first-half performance in 16 years. The record breaking rally in oil prices has made stagflation -- quickening inflation combined with slowing economic growth -- a top fear for investors and is making analysts unhopeful about equity markets in the second half. Full Story &nbsp; 27 June 2008: Oil Hits Record Near $143 On Rising Investor Flows Oil prices rose to a record near $143 a barrel on Friday as a drop in global equities markets sent fresh investors into commodities. U.S. crude settled 57 cents higher at $140.21 a barrel, as profit taking sent prices from the record $142.99 hit earlier. London Brent crude settled up 48 cents at $140.31 a barrel.Global stocks slumped to three-month lows on concerns about the outlook for corporate profits and inflation, putting the Dow Jones industrial average on the verge of entering a bear market for the first time since 2001. Full Story &nbsp; 24 June 2008: Too Slick To Pin Down India on Monday arrayed alongside countries that challenge America&rsquo;s diagnosis of why oil prices are shooting up, widening a chasm that reduces the possibility of hard measures to check the spurt. At a conference of fuel producing and consuming countries in Saudi Arabia&rsquo;s Jeddah in the middle of the world&rsquo;s third &quot;oil shock&quot;, the kingdom offered to pump more crude but warned that a supply increase alone would not be enough to calm the markets. Finance minister P. Chidambaram rejected the widespread view in the West that demand (by India and China) was causing the phenomenal rise in oil prices. &ldquo;We respectfully reject the suggestion that rising demand is the cause of spiralling oil prices,&rdquo; Chidambaram told the energy meeting in this Red Sea coastal city. Full Story &nbsp; No Shortage In Markets, Says OPEC Chief OPEC President Chakib Khelil reiterated on Tuesday that there was no shortage of oil available on markets and the recent record prices of petroleum were due to other factors. &quot;Our view from a producers' point of view ... is that as far as fundamentals are concerned I think we have equilibrium between supply and demand,&quot; Khelil told reporters. &quot;In fact right now we have more supply than demand.&quot; Full Story &nbsp; 23 June 2008: Jeddah Deepens Price Dialogue, But No Quick Fix World energy powers embarked on a new level of dialogue to try to rein in runaway oil prices at an emergency meeting in Jeddah, but were unable to come up with a quick fix. Host Saudi Arabia vowed to pump still more oil in response to consumer countries' requests, but said that alone would not be enough to calm a market driven to a record close to $140 a barrel last week by an array of factors.&quot;In this critical hour, the world community should rise to its responsibility and cooperation should be the cornerstone of any efforts,&quot; Saudi King Abdullah said on Sunday, calling for a global &quot;energy-for-the-poor&quot; initiative.A barrel of oil has doubled in price over the past year, stoking inflation and triggering protests from Asia to Europe. Full Story &nbsp; India has said it will follow up its suggestion on having a price band for crude oil once the producing nations reflect on the idea, even as it asked them to step up oil output. &quot;It (price band) is an idea that I have mooted in the earlier IMF meetings and it is the first time I am addressing an oil ministerial meeting. So let them reflect on that, we will follow it up,&quot; Finance Minister Chidambaram told a private news television channel before leaving for Jeddah. Full Story {mospagebreak} 17 June 2008 &quot;At a time when the growth of consumption is lower than the growth of production and the market is full of oil, prices are rising and this trend is completely fake and imposed,&quot; Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday said in a televised speech. &quot;It is very clear that visible and invisible hands are controlling prices in a fake way with political and economic aims,&quot; he said when opening a meeting of the OPEC Fund for International Development in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, has repeatedly said the market is well-supplied with crude and blames rising prices on speculation, a weak U.S. currency and geopolitical factors. Full Story &nbsp; 16 June 2008 Refiners across Asia said on Monday they were not likely to buy more Saudi crude at current prices, highlighting the kingdom's challenge in attempting to contain soaring markets by promising extra barrels.The world's top exporter is set to increase output to 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday, the first official indication of Saudi Arabia's second supply boost in as many months.The extra 250,000 bpd would come on top of the 300,000 bpd it promised to pump this month, most of which appeared to head West as margins for simple refiners in Asia slumped to their deepest losses in over a decade. Full Story 13 June 2008 Indian oil firms plan to invest $3 billion to develop gas fields in Iran's Farsi block if Tehran gives the go-ahead, a source at one of the companies said, adding the block holds estimated recoverable gas reserves of 12.8 trillion cubic feet.The Persian Gulf block is the first overseas asset for which Indian firms have been given exclusive exploration rights, with a service contract awarded to them in 2002, but permission to develop the asset has yet to be given. Full Story &nbsp; 11 June 2008 With the skyrocketing oil prices heavily weighing on his mind, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that the quest for access to oil resources will become a major factor of power play in the world and the Chinese have moved far ahead. &quot;The world is not able to grapple with the crises that it faces... The demand is increasing faster than ever before and the quest for access to the oil resources is going to become another major factor of power play in the world,&quot; he said addressing the IFS probationers in New Delhi. Full Story Meanwhile, oil jumped more than $3 to top $133 a barrel on Wednesday after oil major BP said the world's proven oil reserves were mostly unchanged last year, a further indication of tightening global oil supplies. GOING UP IN SMOKE: The war in Iraq has led to a steady increase in crude prices over the years (Bloomberg) 9 June 2008 Oil fall by more than $1 as traders book profits from crude's biggest one-day jump, but OPEC's resistance to pumping more oil keep prices near their latest record high. Full Story &nbsp; 7 June 2008 Oil jumps nearly 9 percent to a record $139 a barrel, extending a two-day rally to more than $16 as the slumping US dollar and mounting tensions between Israel and Iran attracted a stampede of buyers. Full Story Meanwhile, the oil price rise fuel protests around the globe, including India. Full Story &nbsp; 6 June 2008 Petroleum Minister Murli Deora says the prices of petrol and diesel will be reduced by about Re one per litre and Rs 0.50, respectively, if states agree to forego incremental sales tax revenues they stand to earn on this week's fuel price hike. Full Story &nbsp; &nbsp; 5 June 2008 After the hike in fuel prices in the wake of government's resource crunch, the Prime Minister asks his ministers to go in for an austerity drive, especially curtailing expenditure on foreign travel. Full Story The aviation industry too is weighed down by rising operating costs despite jet fuel prices slashed by 4.3 per cent the same day. Full Story &nbsp; 4 June 2008 The government raises the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG sharply evoking widespread protests.Full Story News Rattle Markets. The stock markets fall like ninepins with the benchmark Sensex shedding over 440 points, the biggest fall in two months, on heavy selling pressure across counters which was aided by weak European bourses as well. Full Story In an address to the nation the same evening, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admits the fuel price Increases will Be unpopular. Full Story Economists say inflation is bound to cross a 13-year high of nine per cent from the current level of 8.1 per cent, as a fallout of the sharp hike in petrol and diesel prices. Full Story {mospagebreak} 30 May 2008 Spiralling crude prices bring domestic oil firms to despair. India&rsquo;s largest refiner and marketer Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) warns that its coffers are drying up and it won&rsquo;t be able to pay crude imports bills beyond September. Full Story As crude oil prices surge, oil companies knock at the doors of banks for both short- and long-term funding.The Reserve Bank comes to the rescue of beleaguered state-owned oil marketing companies by raising the exposure limits of banks to these companies. Full Story &nbsp; 14 May 2008 The Finance Ministry turns down the demand of the petroleum ministry to issue oil bonds worth Rs 44,000 crore to partially offset the Rs 77,000 crore losses suffered by oil marketing companies during 2007-08 due to rise in global crude prices. Full Story (BW Online)