OPEC News Archives

CHINA'S Sinopec Group and OPEC member Kuwait yesterday signed a preliminary pact to build a mega refinery and petrochemical complex in south China's Zhanjiang, an industry executive said.

'Sometimes the price of oil has no correlation to demand and supply,' Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said today in Ras Laffan, Qatar.

Some in the OPEC have since last week been raising the prospect of an output increase, a sign they are concerned the rallying oil price could hamper economic recovery.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would intervene if oil prices were to reach $100 a barrel, according to the group's president and Kuwait's oil minister.

In a recent interview posted here , Professor Nouriel Roubini said: I worry that oil is going to go up above $100 for reasons that have nothing to do with the fundamentals of supply and demand.

Oil fell for the third day to below $80 a barrel on Monday, as investors continued to take profit from last week's one-year high on renewed concerns about the strength of the global economy.

In a recent interview posted here, Professor Nouriel Roubini said: I worry that oil is going to go up above $100 for reasons that have nothing to do with the fundamentals of supply and demand.

Improbably, Russia's oil sector has emerged as one of the country's few growth industries.

The blogosphere is abuzz with reports of the dollar's looming demise. The greenback has fallen against the euro by nearly 15 percent since the beginning of the summer.

TEHRAN // Iran has always been committed to OPEC's crude production quotas, the country's OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi told the semi-official Mehr news agency on Saturday.

Crude is being tugged higher for different reasons this time, rising primarily as the dollar gets weaker.

Oil prices were mixed in Asia overnight as investors waited for the release of US existing homes sales figures later today for more clues about the state of the US economy.

The Obama administration is urging China, Japan and other countries to scale down their Iranian petroleum purchases to put pressure on Iran while the U.S. and others consider toughening economic sanctions on the regime.

Opec, the cartel of 12 oil-exporting countries, blamed speculators for a recent rise in the price of oil.

NEW YORK: Oil jumped above $79 a barrel to a 2009 high on Monday on continued dollar weakness, hopes of increasing demand and as investors looked to U.S. corporate earnings for signs consumers may be regaining confidence.

OPEC, the cartel of petroleum-producing countries, has clashed with the Western energy majors over the reasons that the oil price on Tuesday hit a year-high of $80 per barrel at one stage.

LONDON: Oil hit a year-high above $79 a barrel on Monday, driven by bullish sentiment across financial markets, but later slipped back as traders questioned whether ample fuel supplies justified current price levels.

Venezuelaa s president has said that countries including Venezuela, Russia and Iran have proposed the U.S. dollar should be replaced as the currency used for oil trade.

Oil hits 2009 high before retreating China National Offshore Oil Corporation's oil rig in China's Bohai Sea is seen in this October 21, 2003 file photo.

Crude oil traded little changed in New York after rising above $US79 a barrel for the first time in a year on speculation demand will increase as the global economy recovers from recession.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday that countries including Venezuela, Russia and Iran had proposed the U.S. dollar should be replaced as the currency used for the oil trade.

Cisco Systems is buying Starent Networks in deal valued at $2.9 billion. Oil up to near $74 in afternoon European trade as investors look to crude as inflation hedge - October 13, 2009 Oil up to near $74 in afternoon European trade as investors look to crude as inflation hedge - Oil prices rose to near $74 a barrel Tuesday as the weakening dollar ...

If there's a bright spot to greenhouse gasbags curtailing carbon output, it's watching the Saudis squirm.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Qatar Airways is claiming its place in history by operating the world's first commercial flight using fuel made from natural gas, creating a potential new source of aircraft fuel for the future.

A rebounding global economy spurred on mainly by China and other developing nations is expected to boost world oil demand by slightly under 1 percent next year, OPEC said Tuesday while cautioning that the pace of recovery remains far from certain.

Iran's parliament on Monday moved ahead with a bill to sharply slash energy and food subsidies, approving one article of a draft law that has the potential of stoking major unrest in a country struggling under international sanctions.

PETROL will become 33 cents per litre cheaper on Wednesday, pushing the price to below N$7 dollar a litre in most places in Namibia.

Aabar Investments' deal - the latest in a string of big bets by the fund this year - is another sign that Gulf governments are regaining their appetite for fresh investments and have plenty of cash left to spend despite the economic downturn.

Faltering returns on a popular oil trade strategy - holding crude off the market and committing to sell it later - is drawing millions of barrels into the world's physical markets.

Kuwait is delaying by a decade plans to boost its output capacity to four million barrels per day because of weakness in the market, its oil minister said Tuesday in an indication of the challenges confronting the OPEC member that sits atop 10% of the world's proven crude reserves.

There are plenty of needy countries at the U.N. climate talks in Bangkok that make the case they need financial assistance to adapt to the impacts of global warming.

Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said no decision had yet been made on OPECa s policy on crude oil prices ahead of the groupa s next meeting, although current world prices were lower than expected.

Big oil producing nations denied a British newspaper report on Tuesday that Gulf Arab states were in secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the U.S. dollar with a basket of currencies in trading oil.

KUWAIT: Kuwait's Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah on Tuesday ruled out any OPEC production increase this year and predicted oil prices would remain at $60-$80 a barrel.

The increase of half a percentage point from the IMF 's earlier estimate largely reflects the overall increase in crude oil prices, the dominant revenue source for many Middle Eastern economies.

Venezuela will train peasant militias that work with soldiers as tensions rise with landowners after a spate of shootings of small farmers, including two attempts on one man's life this year.

Oil fell toward $70 a barrel on Friday, driven lower by the dollar's recovery and concerns over U.S. employment data, while worries over the West's talks with Iran about the OPEC member's nuclear plan eased.

Oil fell more than 1% Friday, settling below $70 a barrel after U.S. employment figures raised doubts about the strength of the economic recovery.

Libya has replaced the head of its national oil company amid a battle between reformists and conservatives that analysts said Thursday could determine the direction the North African nation takes in opening up to new business.

The United States said on Thursday six-power talks with Iran had opened the door to better relations with the West but cautioned Tehran it must take concrete steps to prove it was not seeking nuclear arms.

KUWAIT: OPEC's spare capacity would lessen the impact on oil prices of any disruption to Iran's oil supply if the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program escalates, a Kuwaiti OPEC delegate said in a newspaper column.