Headlines
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Gold stops its way up
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Higher risk aversion eases base metals
Brent and Distillates
Oil prices sank below 50 $/b on Monday as a bleak near-term energy demand outlook prompted investors to take profit and as a fresh wave of risk aversion amid concerns that GM and Chrysler could go bankrupt.
This morning crude rose towards 49$/b, recouping some of previous session's loss, but worries over the health of the global economy and a firm U.S. dollar limited gains.
It was too early to say if OPEC would need to cut oil output again at its meeting in May, Qatar's oil minister said on Sunday. Oil would likely trade in a range of 40 to 50$/b this year, Abdullah al-Attiyah told reporters in Kuwait.
Dealers also expect that Opec’s members have increasing difficulty complying fully with the production cuts that the cartel agreed after oil prices rose towards 55$/b.
OPEC's oil output in March is expected to average around 1 mln.b/d above its target as Iran and some other members pump above agreed levels, an industry consultant from Petrological said. Output from the 11 OPEC members with production targets is expected to average 25.9 mln.b/d, compared with a revised 25.93 mln.in February.
Vanishing gasoline demand from U.S. and a longterm fall in local oil use mean Europe's refiners should shut down capacity. Already Total said it will shut a quarter of its Gonfreville plant, the biggest in France. Old refineries are particularly vulnerable. Swiss-based Petroplus will turn its U.K. Teesside plant into a depot if it cannot find a buyer and Italy's ENI wants to sell its Livorno plant.
Oil has spilled into the Baltic sea in western Finland and is covering a broad area of the archipelago there, the Finnish coast guard said on Monday. A spokesman said the oil was in an area bordered by Turku, Naantali and the Aland Islands. The exact size of the spill and its source were not yet known.
Saudi Aramco has opened a new refined oil products storage facility in central Saudi Arabia, to allow for more flexibility in scheduling refinery maintenance and minimising supply disruptions, the state news agency said. The 650 kb underground facility in Qassim is linked to a distribution terminal with 74 km-long oil pipeline.
Chevron said on Monday it has trimmed Cook Inlet oil production as Alaskan and U.S. officials debated whether crude oil stored at a terminal near the base of erupting Redoubt Volcano should be removed.
