Headlines
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Weaker dollar sends gold up
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Base metals look for direction
Brent and Distillates
Crude oil eased yesterday after the latest U.S. weekly crude inventories showed that stocks are 3.3 mln.b up, well above the consensus forecast for a rise of 1.2mln.b, following a rise in imports and a small dip in refinery utilisation. Total crude inventories in the U.S. have reached a 16-year high. On the contrary petrol stocks fell 1.1mln.b last week, above the consensus forecast for a drop of 600 kb, while demand averaged 9.06 mln.b/d over the past four weeks, up 0.7 % compared with the same period a year ago. Also distillate stocks fell 1.6 mln.b, surprising the consensus forecast for an increase of 200kb.
A sharp drop in U.S. drilling spurred by lower oil prices, scarce funding and potential tax hikes may thwart the Obama administration's plans to end U.S. reliance on foreign oil. U.S. oil output could rise 8 % this year to 5.4 mln.b/d -- the first increase since 1991 after a six-year rally in prices fed exploration and production projects -- according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Japan's crude oil import fell to their lowest February volume in 20 years last month, as OPEC suppliers in the Middle East curbed supplies to prop up global prices and as a deepening recession eroded demand. Japan's customs-cleared crude oil imports fell 13.9 % in February from a year earlier to 4.26 mln.b/d.
Striking oil workers in Brazil stayed off the job for a second straight day Tuesday, but state energy company Petrobras kept production flowing with emergency crews, the union said. Workers belonging to the FUP association of oil workers' unions began a fiveday strike on Sunday night over contractual conditions and recent layoffs and said they had temporarily cut oil output on Petrobras's facilities nationwide.
Equatorial Guinea aims to double its port capacity and turn the tiny oil-rich nation into a shipping hub and the Dubai of Africa by investing billions of dollars in its harbours, a senior official said on Wednesday. Nevertheless, security is a concern in the surrounding Gulf of Guinea, which has seen an upsurge in attacks on ships and oil rigs.
