Oil Prices Up in Europe on Iran Concerns - The Associated Press  - Monday, May 1, 2006; 8:25 AM

LONDON -- Crude oil prices rose Monday in European trading on oil supply concerns arising from Iran's defiance of a U.N. Security Council deadline to stop enriching uranium.  Light, sweet crude for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 57 cents to $72.45 a barrel in electronic trading by afternoon in Europe. The contract rose 91 cents a barrel on Friday.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator defiantly declared Sunday that his country was "allergic to the suspension" of uranium enrichment, while its president insisted Iran was within its rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium to fuel reactors for civilian electricity generation.

Friday marked the U.N. Security Council deadline for Iran to stop uranium enrichment, and International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei has issued a report certifying Iran was in violation. His report opened the way for the council to take punitive measures against Iran, but immediate action was not seen as likely because veto-holding members Russia and China are opposed to international sanctions.

Iran, OPEC's second-largest oil producer, has said it does not intend to halt oil exports as a political tactic, but some traders fear it's a possibility if the dispute escalates, which would most likely cause oil prices to rise.  June Brent crude at London's ICE Futures exchange rose 58 cents to $72.60 a barrel in light holiday trading. Trading was thin due to a legal holiday in Britain.  Also supporting prices are tight U.S. gasoline supplies, strong global demand and supply disruptions by separatist rebels in Nigeria, the fifth-largest source of U.S. oil imports.  Gasoline futures added 1.2 cents to $2.1012 a gallon while heating oil prices advanced 2.21 cents to $2.0350 a gallon. Natural gas prices rose 0.95 cent to $6.650 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In Nigeria, the militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta on Saturday set off a car bomb, damaging a base for tankers lifting fuel from a refinery in the city of Warri, a southern oil port, but causing no deaths or injuries.  The group has carried out a series of attacks on oil infrastructure in the southern Niger Delta region where most of Nigeria's oil is pumped, resulting in a 20 percent cut in production from the average 2.5 million barrels per day.  The militants say they are fighting for a bigger cut of oil revenue controlled by the government. President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration says the militants are little more than thieves, involved in lucrative black-market dealings in stolen oil.

Crude oil prices are about 40 percent higher than a year ago. But accounting for inflation, prices are still about 20 percent below the records reached in 1981, when supplies became tight after a revolution in Iran and a war between Iraq and Iran.

Administration Has No Magic Gas Price Fix - The Associated Press -May 1, 2006,

WASHINGTON — President Bush's new chief of staff said Sunday that the White House plan to address high gasoline prices will have only a modest impact and the ultimate goal must to be reducing dependence on foreign oil.

"This is a very large problem," Josh Bolten said on "Fox News Sunday" in his first interview since taking over April 14 as Bush's top aide. "It's built up over many years _ decades, in fact. It's not going to be solved in the short run by some silver bullet."

Administration officials, on the Sunday talk shows, drove home the importance of reducing U.S. consumption of foreign oil. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it a "trap" and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman acknowledged that rising gas prices had become a crisis. But he suggested that finding short-term fixes to soothe consumers angered by pump prices topping $3 per gallon might be difficult.

"The suppliers have lost control of the market. Demand exceeds supply," Bodman said, citing demand worldwide from China, Indian and other growing economies. "Clearly, we're going to have a number of years _ two to three years _ before suppliers are in a position to meet the needs of demands."  Rice left the impression that the president is not going to take action against oil-producing nations for high prices through the World Trade Organization, as some lawmakers have urged. She said the United States is encouraging oil-rich countries to increase production, but the long-term solution is to diversify sources of energy.

"We need to deal with the long-term problems of technologies that may get us out of this trap," Rice said on ABC's "This Week." "But I can tell you that if anything has surprised me as secretary of state, it is the degree to which the kind of search for hydrocarbons is distorting international politics. That means that the quicker we get about the business of reducing our reliance on oil, the better we're going to be."

Bolten said he didn't know how much the president's plan would lower the price of a gallon gas. "I expect the effects would be relatively modest," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "All of those policies need to come together because we need to leave behind a legacy in which this country is headed toward weaning itself from its dependence on foreign oil," he said. "We've been going in the wrong direction for years, for decades."

Bush said last week that he wants Congress to give him the power to raise fuel efficiency standards for cars. The fleet average of 27.5 miles per gallon has not changed for two decades. Bolten said the president does not have a specific increase in mind and the transportation secretary would take time to figure it out. Bolten said Bush does not just want to raise the standard, but change it so that it is based on vehicle weight and size.

Bodman reiterated his opposition to imposing a tax on oil companies if they make excessive profits. When tried several years ago, the windfall tax "did not work. It resulted in decreased production," Bodman said. Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, defended his industry's profits, saying U.S. companies have consolidated over the years to compete with the growing size of foreign oil companies. U.S. oil company profits "typically come close to industry average," he said.  He also said the unrest in Iraq has exacerbated the situation by disrupting oil production.  "As soon as you can stabilize the civil situation, they'll significantly be able to ramp up production. But it would take years," Cavaney said.

Bodman agreed. "As we see Iraqi security forces gradually take control, we'll see improvements," he said.

Another oil industry lobbyist, former Sen. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana, said "saber rattling" on Iran is contributing to the high cost of crude oil. "We'd see gasoline prices above $5 or $6; crude oil above $100 if we bomb Iran," he said on ABC's "This Week."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the U.S. must start looking at increasing domestic supply such as "sensible drilling." Rolling back gas taxes or handing out $100 rebates, as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has proposed, might soothe consumers this summer but not in the long run, she said.

"There's a lot of finger-pointing and blaming that's going on right now," said Murkowski, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "What we're faced with are the laws of supply and demand, and Congress isn't going to be able to repeal the laws of supply and demand." But Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said the U.S. cannot assume it can "drill our way out" but should renew efforts on boosting competition and creating an alternative fuel market. "We need a strong law in place to protect consumers today."

Oil Prices Steady in Asian Trading - The Associated Press -April 30, 2006

SINGAPORE — Crude prices held steady in Asian trading Monday on continued oil supply concerns arising from defiance by key petroleum producer Iran of a now-expired U.N. Security Council deadline to stop enriching uranium.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery dropped 3 cents to US$71.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midmorning in Singapore. The contract rose 91 cents to settle at US$71.88 a barrel Friday.  Gasoline futures lost 0.78 cent to US$2.0795 a gallon (3.8 liters) while heating oil prices declined marginally to US$2.0125 a gallon. Natural gas prices were steady at US$6.555 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator defiantly declared Sunday that his country was "allergic to the suspension" of uranium enrichment, while its president insisted Iran was within its rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium to fuel reactors for civilian electricity generation.

Friday marked the U.N. Security Council deadline for Iran to stop uranium enrichment, and International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed El Baradei has issued a report certifying Iran was in violation.  His report opened the way for the council to take punitive measures against Iran, but immediate action was not seen as likely because veto-holding members Russia and China are opposed to international sanctions. The United States, Britain and France _ the other veto-wielding, permanent members of the council _ have said sanctions may be needed to convince the Iranians they must stop enriching nuclear fuel.

Iran, OPEC's second-largest oil producer, has said it does not intend to halt oil exports as a political tactic, but some traders fear it's a possibility if the dispute escalates.  That bullishness has been aggravated by tight U.S. gasoline supplies, strong global demand and supply disruptions by separatist rebels in Nigeria, the fifth-largest source of U.S. oil imports.

In Nigeria, the militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta on Saturday set off a car bomb, damaging a base for tankers lifting fuel from a refinery in the city of Warri, a southern oil port, but causing no deaths or injuries.  The group has carried out a series of attacks on oil infrastructure in the southern Niger Delta region where most of Nigeria's oil is pumped, resulting in a 20 percent cut in production from the average 2.5 million barrels per day.  In Warri _ a major oil-industry headquarters _ most of the region's people remain mired in deep poverty and the militants say they're fighting for a bigger cut of oil revenue controlled by the government.  President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration says the militants are little more than thieves, involved in lucrative black-market dealings in stolen oil.

Crude oil prices are about 40 percent higher than a year ago. But accounting for inflation, prices are still about 20 percent below the records reached in 1981, when supplies became tight after a revolution in Iran and a war between Iraq and Iran

Alon to Buy to Gas Refining Companies - The Associated Press - May 1, 2006

 DALLAS — Petroleum refiner Alon USA Energy Inc. on Monday said it agreed to acquire Paramount Petroleum Corp. and Edgington Oil Company in two separate transactions, more than doubling the company's refining capacity and boosting its role in the asphalt-production business.

Alon will pay $307 million in cash to acquire Paramount assets that include refineries in Paramount, Calif., and Portland, Ore.; and seven asphalt terminals in four Western states. Alon will also assume $100 million in debt. The company will pay about $52 million in cash for Edgington Oil and its refinery in Long Beach, Calif.  Both purchases will add 90,000 barrels per day of refining capacity to the existing 70,000 bpd at Alon's Big Spring, Texas, refinery.

China's Hu Signs Oil Deal With Nigeria - 2006 The Associated Press - April 27, 2006, 2

ABUJA, Nigeria — Chinese President Hu Jintao said Thursday his government will seek closer ties with Africa _ a resource-rich frontier for the world's fastest growing economy _ after signing a series of major business deals with oil-rich Nigeria.

Hu, on the second and final day visiting Africa's largest oil producer before heading to Kenya, said China is seeking "a strategic partnership" with the continent that would improve living standards for Africa.  Hu and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo signed an agreement Wednesday that requires Nigeria's petroleum ministry to give China's state oil firm preferential access to four blocks of oil exploration rights in return for China taking over a money-losing refinery in the northern city of Kaduna.

China also agreed to build a hydroelectric power station in the northeastern Mambilla plateau and a fast-rail system linking the capital, Abuja, with the economic capital, Lagos.  And two Chinese telecommunication firms will install rural telephone service across large swathes of Nigeria with the help of Chinese government loans worth more than $200 million.

China's interest and growing profile in Africa has worried Western rivals for the continent's resources and markets. And some Africans have complained about being flooded with cheap Chinese goods.

Nigeria is the top African producer of crude and the seventh-largest in the world, normally pumping 2.5 million barrels per day. It was the first sub-Saharan Africa stop on a tour by Hu that has included the United States, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

Militants claiming responsibility for oil-installation attacks and kidnappings that have shut down more than 20 percent of Nigeria's oil production this year vowed more violence in response to the Chinese deals.  "They should go back to China and do all these things they say for the millions of starving Chinese. We want control over our resources, not Chinese management and development," the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

China is hungry for the energy, timber, minerals and other raw materials Africa can provide, and in January, China's state-controlled oil firm, CNOOC, announced it had reached a deal to pay $2.3 billion for a 45 percent stake in a Nigerian offshore oil field.  Obasanjo's office said as Hu wrapped up his visit Thursday that China had granted Nigeria $5.7 million in aid to be used in part to buy anti-malaria medicines and to train Nigerians in malaria control and prevention.

With 130 million people, Africa's most populous country is also a major market for Chinese-produced goods. Chinese companies have been accused of flooding local markets with fake and substandard goods, notably textiles. In December, Nigerian officials took the dramatic step of shutting down several shopping centers run by Chinese traders in Lagos.  In the last five years, China's trade with Africa has grown fourfold, to $40 billion in 2005.

The world's most populous country, with 1.3 billion people, has also set new development targets to increase its gross domestic product and lower energy consumption, the Chinese leader told Nigerian lawmakers Thursday.  "By the year 2020 ... GDP would quadruple that of 2000 to reach $4 trillion, averaging $3,000 per head," Hu said.  China, a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member, also has offered key diplomatic support to some governments shunned by the West, like Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Oil Prices Up in Europe on Iran Concerns - The Associated Press - May 1, 2006

LONDON — Crude oil prices rose Monday in European trading on oil supply concerns arising from Iran's defiance of a U.N. Security Council deadline to stop enriching uranium.  Light, sweet crude for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 57 cents to $72.45 a barrel in electronic trading by afternoon in Europe. The contract rose 91 cents a barrel on Friday.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator defiantly declared Sunday that his country was "allergic to the suspension" of uranium enrichment, while its president insisted Iran was within its rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium to fuel reactors for civilian electricity generation.  Friday marked the U.N. Security Council deadline for Iran to stop uranium enrichment, and International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei has issued a report certifying Iran was in violation.

His report opened the way for the council to take punitive measures against Iran, but immediate action was not seen as likely because veto-holding members Russia and China are opposed to international sanctions.  Iran, OPEC's second-largest oil producer, has said it does not intend to halt oil exports as a political tactic, but some traders fear it's a possibility if the dispute escalates, which would most likely cause oil prices to rise.  June Brent crude at London's ICE Futures exchange rose 58 cents to $72.60 a barrel in light holiday trading. Trading was thin due to a legal holiday in Britain.  Also supporting prices are tight U.S. gasoline supplies, strong global demand and supply disruptions by separatist rebels in Nigeria, the fifth-largest source of U.S. oil imports.  Gasoline futures added 1.2 cents to $2.1012 a gallon while heating oil prices advanced 2.21 cents to $2.0350 a gallon. Natural gas prices rose 0.95 cent to $6.650 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In Nigeria, the militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta on Saturday set off a car bomb, damaging a base for tankers lifting fuel from a refinery in the city of Warri, a southern oil port, but causing no deaths or injuries.  The group has carried out a series of attacks on oil infrastructure in the southern Niger Delta region where most of Nigeria's oil is pumped, resulting in a 20 percent cut in production from the average 2.5 million barrels per day.  The militants say they are fighting for a bigger cut of oil revenue controlled by the government. President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration says the militants are little more than thieves, involved in lucrative black-market dealings in stolen oil.  Crude oil prices are about 40 percent higher than a year ago. But accounting for inflation, prices are still about 20 percent below the records reached in 1981, when supplies became tight after a revolution in Iran and a war between Iraq and Iran.

Japanese Stocks Inch Up, Dollar Falls - The Associated Press -May 1, 2006

TOKYO — Japanese stocks edged up Monday, recovering from their lowest level in a month, as commodity issues rose on higher metals and oil prices. The dollar fell against the yen.  The Nikkei 225 index rose 19.48 points, or 0.12 percent, to finish at 16,925.71 points. On Friday, the index fell 1.22 percent to 16,906.23, its lowest since March 28.  Volume was light, with some foreign investors off for May Day and domestic traders taking time off during Golden Week. Japanese markets will be closed Wednesday through Friday.

The Nikkei's weak bounce after Friday's drop also reflected caution after several high tech companies and other blue chips released last week conservative profit outlooks for the current fiscal year ending March 2007, traders said. "It's natural their forecasts became cautious because they released forecasts at a time when oil prices are high and the yen is stronger," said Hiroshi Arano, an adviser at Dai-ichi Kangyo Asset Management.  The Nikkei may hover at its current level for the next weeks, when most earnings statements have been released, he said.

Commodity-linked stocks were generally up on the rise in metals and oil prices. Winners included Cosmo Oil Co., up 2.75 percent at 673 yen ($5.96) and trading house Mitsui & Co. closed up 1.69 percent at 1,750 yen ($15.49).  Utility stocks advanced on hopes the stronger yen will make imports of fuel and other raw materials less costly. Tokyo Electric Power Co. climbed 3.25 percent to 3,020 yen ($26.73).  Toshiba Corp., which announced healthy earnings last week, rose 3.23 percent in Monday's trading to 750 yen ($6.64).  But Sony Corp. extended losses, dropping 4.55 percent 5,460 yen ($48.32), after the company said Thursday its loss widened in the most recent quarter. The stock tumbled 5.1 percent in trading Friday.

The broader Topix index, which includes all shares on the market's first section, added 0.74 point, or insignificant in percentage terms, to 1,717.17 points.  First-section volume fell to 1.319 billion shares, from Friday's 1.739 billion shares. Decliners beat advancers 856 to 731, with 104 issues unchanged.  In currencies, the dollar was trading at 113.20 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market at 5 p.m. Monday, down 0.63 yen from late Friday in New York. The euro fell to $1.2616 from $1.2636.  The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond fell to 1.8800 percent, from Friday's finish of 1.9200 percent. Its price rose 0.33 to 99.33 points.

Horizon Offshore Reports First Quarter Results; Strong Performance Continues; and Outlook Remains Positive - PRIMEZONE - May 1, 2006

HOUSTON, May 1, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Horizon Offshore, Inc. (OTCBB:HRZO) today reported results for the first quarter of 2006. Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 was $15.5 million, or $0.51 per share-diluted. This compares with a net loss of $(15.5) million, or $(12.01) per share-diluted, for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. Horizon also reported Adjusted EBITDA, as defined below, of $38.5 million for the first quarter of 2006, compared with $0.6 million for the first quarter of 2005. For the three months ended March 31, 2006, gross profit was $38.4 million, or 29.5% of contract revenues of $129.9 million, resulting in operating income of $30.1 million, compared with gross profit of $2.6 million, or 7.0% of contract revenues of $37.3 million, resulting in an operating loss of $(3.0) million, for the three months ended March 31, 2005.

The improvement in the Company's operating results and Adjusted EBITDA is primarily due to its domestic operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The demand for marine construction services has increased in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico due to the substantial amount of hurricane related pipeline and structural repair and salvage work and the increase in capital expenditures by oil and gas companies for offshore drilling as a result of high commodity prices. This demand has increased the level of construction activity, resulting in improved pricing and vessel utilization. The Company has been able to maximize utilization of its vessels, personnel and marine bases due to the demand for offshore construction services, as evidenced by its domestic revenues and gross profit for the first quarter of 2006.

Oil leaps a dollar on Italy refinery fire -  May 1 (Reuters)

LONDON,  - Oil climbed more than a dollar on Monday after a refinery fire in Italy added to fears Iran's defiant pursuit of its nuclear programme and violence in Nigeria will lead to a global fuel shortage.

IPE Brent crude futures <LCOc1> stood 66 cents higher at $72.68 by 1111 GMT. Earlier they had risen more than a dollar to a session high of $73.05.  U.S. light, sweet crude <CLc1> jumped 59 cents to $72.47 a barrel, off a session peak of $72.85.  Prices were driven higher after a weekend fire that shut ERG group's 160,000 barrel per day (bpd) Impianti Nord refinery in Sicily [nL01506866] renewed concerns about inadequate refining capacity.   "It's all to do with the refinery in Sicily," said Rob Laughlin of brokers Man Financial in London.  But he added that thin volume because of a public holiday in Europe and much of Asia was exaggerating price moves.

Concern about years of underinvestment in the refining sector, together with worries about disruption of unrefined crude, especially in Iran and Nigeria, has generated a sustained rally in oil prices.   U.S. crude hit a record of $75.35 before easing last week, partly because of U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to ease fuel standards temporarily to increase availability of refined products.  

But concerns overall crude supplies could run short because of the tension in major oil producing countries prevented a deeper sell-off.  "Supply side factors continue to be the wild card for further price advances, but if these fail to materialise, we believe oil prices will fall back towards the $65 a barrel level," Deutsche Bank wrote in a research note.  "We believe that another shock could take prices up over $100 a barrel," it warned, but said prices were unlikely to be sustained at this level.

Iran, which the world's nuclear watchdog said last week had ignored international calls to abandon its atomic programme, vowed on Sunday to carry on pursuing a nuclear fuel cycle and to strike back if it is attacked.  U.N. ambassadors from the United States, Britain and France are expected to introduce this week a Security Council resolution to oblige Iran legally to comply with demands to halt enrichment.  Failure to do so could result in limited sanctions, although Russia and China -- the other two veto-wielding council members say they do not favour such a move for now.

Violence in Nigeria, where militant attacks have cut crude production by a quarter, also added support to oil markets.  The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which wants more local control over the southern delta's oil wealth, said it had detonated 30 kg (66 lb) of dynamite in a car bombing close to a refinery in the oil capital of Warri.  The militants said it was a warning to oil industry workers and investors, singling out the Chinese government, which last week clinched a multi-billion dollar deal for access to oil acreage.  

Australia's Roc Oil Produces First Oil From Cliff Head - Monday May 1

MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--Australia's Roc Oil Co. (ROC.AU) said Monday that it produced the first oil from its Cliff Head project offshore Western Australia.  First production was from the CH-6 well and is at a rate of 1,000 barrels of oil a day, Roc said in a statement.

"Field production rates are expected to increase to greater than 10,000 barrels of oil a day as five other designated oil producers, including four horizontal wells, are brought on stream during the next several weeks," Roc said.  Roc operates and owns 37.5% of Cliff Head. Its partners are Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd. (AWE.AU), Arc Energy Ltd. (ARQ.AU), Wandoo Petroleum Pty and CIECO Exploration and Production Pty.

Assam, Oil India Ltd Promises cap oil blockade - Dibrugarh, April 30:

Saddled with huge financial losses after just a day of disrupted operations in Assam, Oil India Ltd today agreed to accord “top priority” to the demands of the four student organisations behind the “economic blockade” in return for calling off their agitation.

Leaders of the All Assam Tai Ahom Students Union, All Assam Moran Students Un-ion, All Assam Muttock Yuba Chatra Sanmelan and All Assam Sonowal Kachari Students Union relented after OIL chairman-cum-managing director M.R. Pasrija met them in Duliajan this afternoon.  Pasrija is understood to have promised to form a co-ordination committee with representatives of the company, the student unions and the civil administration to analyse the demands and suggest ways to fulfil them.

The 72-hour blockade, which took effect yesterday, hit OIL’s operations across Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts. The Tinsukia district administration convened a round of talks before the blockade, but failed to dissuade the students from going ahead with their plan.  Although they called off the blockade, the four student unions appeared cautious and said they would strictly monitor OIL’s follow-up actions. Union leaders explained their cynicism by claiming they had been “betrayed” by the company on numerous occasions.  Bharali said OIL’s operations would be normal in “two to three days”.

CARACAS, Venezuela – Mar 23 06--Private oil companies that won 32 operating contracts in the 1990s will see drilling acreage included in the original contracts cut by 60 percent under a proposed law, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Thursday.

Ramirez said the contracts cover 15,500 square miles, but will be reduced to 6,000 square miles because most of the acreage has not been developed.

A year ago, the state-oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, said it would compensate oil companies for the contract changes by granting additional drilling areas. Ramirez said PDVSA will launch natural gas licensing rounds to develop the 9,800 square miles that will fall under its control under the new legislation.

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Mar 23 06--European Union leaders tried to get past their protectionist squabbling Thursday to work out cooperative ways to boost Europe's economy and ensure energy supplies.

The European Commission has been pushing for EU nations to drop national barriers to business, saying this will help create new jobs and make Europe fit to compete with fast-growing economies such as India and China.

The commission has asked EU leaders to open up energy markets and "speak with one voice" as part of a larger effort to cut the continent's growing addiction to imported oil and gas.

High oil prices and a dispute between Russia and Ukraine that affected Europe's gas supply have pushed the need for better coordination on fuel stocks, but national governments are reluctant to take more radical steps that would see them hand over responsibility to the commission or a new European energy regulator.

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Mar 23 06--As U.S. aid dwindles, Iraq's rebuilding must rely on uncertain oil exports, other foreign aid and a drastic overhaul of its economy to attract investment, the U.S. reconstruction chief for Iraq said Thursday.

International experts estimate up to $100 billion will be needed to restore Iraq's ruined infrastructure; the U.S. aid program since the 2003 American invasion has totaled $21 billion.

But "the idea of this program was to kick start the economy," not rebuild it, Speckhard said.

Only when exports surpass that level will the government be able to invest in capital reconstruction, he said.

"Most importantly will be private-sector investment in this country," the American diplomat said.

MOSCOW – Mar 23 06--Russian oil company OAO Yukos said Thursday that promissory notes worth more than $3 billion are missing and may have been stolen from a defunct trading subsidiary whose former general manager is the subject of a criminal lawsuit.

Yukos said it discovered last fall that the notes were missing from the subsidiary _Fargoil -- but claimed its attempts to track them down had been frustrated by the subsidiary's management.

The news comes a day after Fargoil general manager Antonio Valdes Garcia, who has dual Spanish and Russian citizenship, was charged by prosecutors Wednesday with siphoning $13 billion from the company by organizing fictional oil sales along with two other Yukos managers.

MOSCOW  Mar 23 06-- The president of Russia's state-owned oil firm Rosneft, which plans an initial public listing of shares this summer, said Thursday the company's production growth plans did not envisage the acquisition of any remaining units of the shattered Yukos oil company.

In an e-mail statement, Johnson said that the defendants -- who include Rosneft, Bogdanchikov, state gas giant Gazprom and the Russian finance and energy ministers -- would be required to respond to the complaint by May 15 if they were served before April 25.

A spokesman for the Russian Foreign ministry declined to comment on the case, while a U.S. embassy official quoted by the Interfax agency said the United States was not a party to the litigation and took "no position on the merits of this case."

Nigeria -March 23, 2006 - Oil Blocs Up for Sale

THE Federal Government has put 10 oil and gas blocs on offer in a mini licensing round for downstream investors committed to spend not less than $2 billion (about N258 billion) on either the construction of a refinery, power plant, gas pipeline or railroad project, while assuring that a larger licensing round would be conducted before the close of the year.

Shedding light on plans for the 2006 bid round yesterday in Lagos, Director-General of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr Tony Chukwueke, said the development was a consolidation of government in the main round.

"Investors who are willing to or have committed over $2bn, either building refineries or building power stations or gas pipelines for gas consumption or railroad project or even agriculture, the fuel replacement project to put ethanol in our energy mix would be the main beneficiaries. But they must be substantial downstream investors. Those are the ones that will participate," he said.

LAGOS (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) suspended exports from the 380,000 barrel-a-day Forcados terminal on Saturday after militants bombed the tanker loading platform, a senior oil industry source said.  The company is still trying to ascertain the damage to the platform, which is located three miles offshore, but has already begun shutting oilfields in the area which feed the terminal, the source added. "Of course no ships can go near there now. This is going to be a major deferment," the senior industry source said.  "If we can't export, we can't produce," he added.  Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil exporter and normally pumps about 2.4 million barrels per day.  The militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which is fighting for more local control over the Niger Delta's oil wealth, claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks, which also included the kidnapping of nine foreign workers and the bombing of two pipelines.  President Olusegun Obasanjo has called a meeting of oil industry and security chiefs to discuss the crisis later on Saturday, the source said.

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian militants launched a string of attacks on the world's eighth largest oil exporter on Saturday, abducting nine foreign workers, bombing a major oil tanker terminal and sabotaging two pipelines.  The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said the raids were a response to military helicopter gunship attacks on villages in Delta state earlier this week and would be followed by another wave of attacks "on a grander scale."  "We decided in response to pleas from our kin in these communities, to carry out strikes against oil and gas facilities in Delta state," the group said in an email.

LAGOS, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A fire that broke out on Shell's 380,000 barrel-per-day Forcados offshore oil tanker loading platform was extinguished on Saturday, a company source said.  Industry sources had earlier said the fire was on a nearby facility.

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nine foreign oil workers were taken hostage from an offshore barge in Nigeria on Saturday, a security source said, during a series of attacks on the oil industry in the world's eighth largest exporter.  A Shell oil facility near the Forcados export terminal was also attacked, and militants said they destroyed a gas pipeline running from the Escravos area to the Kaduna refinery in northern Nigeria.  A fire broke out at a Shell oil facility near Forcados export terminal, but was later extinguished, a company source said.

CHICAGO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Agribusiness giant Cargill Inc said on Friday it filed an appeal of a federal judge's ruling in December that Cargill patents for high oleic canola oil, a food ingredient, were unenforceable in the United States. The move is the latest twist in a case pitting Cargill against Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co. (DOW.N: Quote, Profile, Research), in a battle over patents for high oleic canola oils, low-fat healthy vegetable oils in growing demand.  Minneapolis-based Cargill, the second-largest privately held U.S. company, posted global sales of $71 billion in fiscal 2005.

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday warned the United States would get no more Venezuelan oil if Washington "crosses the line" as relations between the two governments deteriorated in an escalating battle of words.  The latest exchange between the United States and top oil supplier Venezuela came two weeks after left-winger Chavez expelled a U.S. naval attaché accused of spying and Washington sent home a Venezuelan diplomat in tit-for-tat dispute.  Chavez's comments came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington wanted to curb his influence in South America by lobbying allies to criticize the former soldier allied with U.S. foe Cuba.  The sentiment with his message of socialist revolution as an alternative to U.S.-backed free-market policies.

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned on Friday the U.S. government would not get any more Venezuelan oil if Washington "crosses the line" and said he had started taking measures in preparation.  Chavez, a left-winger increasingly at odds with Washington and who has previously warned the United States over its oil supplies, did not say what measures he had taken or what action by the U.S. government would force such a move.  "The U.S. government should know that if they cross the line they will not have any Venezuelan oil," Chavez said at a public event.  Venezuela, the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter, supplies about 15 percent of U.S. energy imports.

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  - The currency finished at C$1.1513 to the U.S. dollar, or 86.86 U.S. cents, up from C$1.1577 to the U.S. dollar, or 86.38 U.S. cents, at the previous close.  "Perhaps part of the story for the Canadian dollar is the bump in oil prices and these wholesale numbers, but that's not all that evident in the fixed-income market," said Eric Lascelles, strategist at TD Securities.  While wholesale numbers showed a smaller than expected 0.4 percent rise in December, the details were good, said Lascelles, pointing to a 1.4 percent increase in inflation-adjusted sales and rising inventory levels.  Market activity slowed around midday, as the U.S. bond market closed early ahead of the U.S. Presidents Day holiday weekend.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Oil rose toward $60 a barrel on escalating violence in Nigeria, raising fears of a supply disruption from the eighth largest crude exporter.  Shares of Dell slid 4.9 percent to $30.38 on Nasdaq after the world's largest personal computer maker forecast first-quarter results below analysts' expectations and Banc of America Securities downgraded the stock.  The U.S. Labor Department's core Producer Price Index, excluding volatile food and energy prices, gave the stock and bond markets a scare, with a 0.4 percent jump that was twice Wall Street's estimates.  Helping stem the Dow's decline was Honeywell International Inc. (HON.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose back near $60 a barrel on Friday as fighting escalated in Nigeria between government forces and militants, raising fears of a supply disruption from the eighth largest crude exporter.  Energy players have expressed concern that potential international sanctions on Iran could hinder crude shipments, or lead Tehran to withhold exports in protest.  The gains in oil prices put an abrupt end to a 15 percent slide since late January that was triggered by swelling inventory levels in the United States.  U.S. oil supplies have grown to their highest since June, while gasoline stockpiles have climbed to the highest since 1999, when energy prices were near historic lows.

WASHINGTON Sat Jan 28,(Reuters) - A meeting of World Bank and Chad officials on Monday is one step in consultations to resolve a dispute over oil pipeline profits, which were supposed to fund poverty reduction programs in the African nation, a senior bank official said on Saturday.  The meeting in Paris follows talks in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, last week between President Idriss Deby and the country's representative on the 24-member World Bank board, Paulo Gomes.  Ali Khadr, the bank's country director for Chad, speaking just before his departure for Paris, said there were no plans for World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to attend the meeting.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Iraq is currently exporting 1.2 million barrels of oil per day from the south but virtually nothing from the north and must urgently fix this, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi said on Saturday.  "The current oil export is 1.2 million barrels a day from the south. Very limited, nothing almost, from the north, and this must be fixed very quickly," Chalabi told Reuters at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

TORONTO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Strong oil prices helped propel Toronto stocks more than 100 points to record levels on Friday, while a high-profile takeover bid in the steel industry lured more money into the materials sector.  The energy sector, which makes up about 30 percent of the index's overall weighting, climbed 1.7 percent after the price of oil rose sharply on worries about supply from Iran and Nigeria.  Suncor Energy (SU.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) rose C$2.91, or 3 percent, C$90.68, giving the TSX its biggest lift for the second consecutive day. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) rose C$1.32, or 2 percent, to C$68.75.

NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended higher for the second straight day on Friday as supply worries over Iran and Nigeria overshadowed hefty increases in U.S. petroleum inventories reported at midweek. Crude for March delivery  settled $1.50 higher, or 2.3 percent, $67.76 a barrel, after hitting a session high of $67.95, below the week's high of $69.20 hit Monday, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. "If Iran decides by itself to stop production or Iran is forced to stop production because of a sanction, I don't think OPEC necessarily has a role to play there," OPEC President Edmund Daukoru told Reuters.

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Tension in leading oil producers Nigeria and Iran pushed crude prices to nearly $68 a barrel on Friday as high stockpiles in the United States failed to calm investor nerves. "The U.S. inventory data clearly worried the market, but the Iranian and Nigerian situations are providing support to prices," said Tobin Gorey of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.  He also predicted fellow OPEC producer Iran would be unlikely to halt oil supplies in response to mounting pressure over its nuclear program, though the market is still concerned about possible disruption of Iran's 2.4 million bpd of exports.

LUKOIL Cuts February Exports (Reuters)- Traders said other firms may follow suit and make more verbal commitments to show loyalty to the Kremlin, but added that February fuel oil exports could be seriously cut only if the local market offers higher netbacks than exports.  Benchmark HSFO barges  gained $6-$7 a ton on Friday, trading between $288 and $291 a ton fob Rotterdam, mainly due to higher crude oil prices.  A cargo trader in the Mediterranean said tighter supply in that region, partly due to reduced FSU exports via Black Sea ports, had led him to raise his cargo bid on Friday by a couple of dollars.

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday said current oil prices were satisfactory, with the country's basket of heavy crude and products selling at around $50 to $60 a barrel.  Between $50 to $60 a barrel is good," Chavez told an audience during a public event to inaugurate the state-run Agriculture Bank.  Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, sells its crude at cheaper prices than U.S. oil because it is heavier and harder to refine.  OPEC-member Venezuela is a price hawk and has said it would support a trim in OPEC production to defend prices at the group's next meeting on Jan. 31 in Vienna.

TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ticked up for a second day on Friday due to persistent worries over Iranian and Nigerian supplies and a view that recent sell-offs were overdone, traders said.  NYMEX crude for March delivery <CLc1> was up 47 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $66.73 a barrel in ACCESS electronic trading.  In London, March Brent crude <LCOc1> settled 69 cents higher at $64.92 a barrel on Thursday.  Concern over exports from Nigeria also lingers because of ongoing attacks by militants, which have stopped some output from the world's eighth-largest oil exporter.  NYMEX February heating oil <HOc1> was 1.45 cents higher at $1.7925 a gallon.

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - South Korean lobbyist Tongsun Park pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges linked to the United Nations' Iraq oil-for-food scandal and a judge denied him bail, saying there was a risk he would flee the country.  Park, 70, is charged with conspiracy to secretly lobby on behalf of the former government of Saddam Hussein and money laundering.  U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin said he denied Park bail for reasons including that Park has traveled with large sums of cash and that he lied to federal officials about his previously stated intention to testify in the case.  Park was also at the center of the 1970's "Koreagate" bribery scandal in Washington.

WASHINGTON, )Jan 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department has no plans to allow oil companies to keep delaying repayment through the spring driving season of the crude they borrowed last year from the government's emergency oil stockpile, a senior department official said on Thursday.  The Bush administration loaned oil refineries some 9.8 million barrels last year from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after hurricanes disrupted Gulf of Mexico supplies.  To keep more oil on the market and ensure adequate heating oil supplies this winter, the department permitted the companies to skip returning the borrowed crude during December, January and February.  However, the government does not plan to allow further delays in March, April and May, said John Shages, a deputy assistant secretary who oversees the SPR program.

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rose nearly $1 Thursday afternoon as worries about the security of world supplies persisted.  The market also got a lift from gasoline futures, which rebounded from a heavy loss on Wednesday on government data showing a larger-than-expected stock build last week.  Gasoline stocks rose by a larger-than-expected 3.2 million barrels to 214.8 million barrels in the week to Jan. 20, slashing the deficit from a year ago to just 3.6 million barrels, according to Wednesday's inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  With stocks having risen nearly 12 million barrels in the past four weeks, February gasoline's losses since the start of the week deepened to more than 15 cents on Wednesday.

DAVOS (Reuters) - OPEC producer Iran is unlikely to halt oil supplies to world markets in response to mounting Western pressure over its nuclear program, OPEC President Edmund Daukoru told Reuters on Thursday.  "I would not think that production would completely come to a halt in any member country," said Daukoru, also Nigerian oil minister.  Top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it stood ready to pump extra crude to fill any supply gap left by Iran or from Nigeria, where militant attacks have cut production by just over 200,000 barrels per day (bpd). Oil ministers from Saudi Arabia and Libya also support that view.

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose Thursday, recovering from three days of selling, as persistent worries about the fragility of international supplies offset the a short-term surplus of crude.  After U.S. inventory data showed much bigger than expected rises in stocks of refined products, prices on both sides of the Atlantic fell more than a dollar on Wednesday.  Since the start of the year, prices have drawn support from fund buying and worries about the fragility of supplies in key exporters Iran and Nigeria.  More than 220,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude have been shut in following unrest in the nation, which is the world's eighth biggest exporter, and militants have threatened further violence.

N'DJAMENA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Chad has awarded an oil exploration contract to Opic Africa, a subsidiary of Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corporation (CPC), the central African county's oil ministry said on Thursday.  Chad is involved in a public dispute with the World Bank over its existing oil project in the southern Doba basin, which is operated by a private sector consortium led by Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research).  The World Bank froze all loans to Chad in early January after Chad altered a law governing the use of oil revenues in a bid to access a greater proportion for government spending.

Suncor, which runs one of the biggest oil sands mining and synthetic crude operations, had its production halved by a fire in early 2005.  "It's going to be a year that we at Suncor remember for a long period of time, not just because of the fire," Chief Executive Rick George told analysts.  The end of repairs and installation of the new unit at the northern Alberta site, which lifted capacity to 260,000 barrels a day from 225,000, lets Suncor focus on its next expansion amid an oil sands spending boom in the region, George said.  "We look like we're still on time and on budget," he said.

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose Thursday, recovering from three days of selling, as persistent worries about the fragility of international supplies offset a short-term surplus of crude. After U.S. inventory data on Wednesday showed much bigger than expected rises in stocks of refined products, prices on both sides of the Atlantic fell more than a dollar. Since the start of the year, prices have drawn support from fund buying and worries about the fragility of supplies in key exporters Iran and Nigeria. More than 220,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude have been shut in following unrest in the nation, which is the world's eighth biggest exporter, and militants have threatened further violence.

ANKARA, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Turkish firms stopped selling oil products on Saturday to Iraq, which already suffers fuel shortages, due to $1 billion in unpaid debt, CNN Turk channel quoted Foreign Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen as saying.

Iraqi state oil marketer SOMO told Turkey on Thursday that the debt would be paid within 15 days. But 34 Turkish firms exporting oil products such as gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas stopped loading oil for Iraq in the Turkish ports of Mersin and Iskenderun. If Baghdad pays its debt, then the problem will be solved and oil flow into Iraq will resume, he said. In Baghdad the Iraqi Oil Ministry was optimistic the dispute could be settled.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Alaska offers great potential for an extended period of new oil development and exploration, executives from major oil companies said at an industry conference on Friday. "We're not chasing new barrels through wildcatting. But we are chasing more of the discovered barrels," said Marshall, noting the company's success in using technology to improve production at oil fields.

Much of the money will go to technology improvements to tap into the vast reserves of viscous oil and enhancing oil recovery using injections of low-salinity water, BP said.
It also plans to develop its once-languishing offshore Liberty prospect in the Beaufort Sea, a project expected to cost about $1 billion, Marshall said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices surged on Friday to the highest level since September's hurricanes crippled oil output from the Gulf of Mexico, as tensions mounted over OPEC-member Iran's nuclear ambitions.

A senior Iranian official said on Friday that Tehran is transferring its assets from European accounts to other foreign banks in an attempt to preempt possible U.N. sanctions for resuming its nuclear program.

"Severe winter weather in parts of Europe and much of northeast Asia limits import potential going forward, just as U.S. weather should get colder and production plunges as refineries carry out winter maintenance," said Jan Stuart, economist at UBS.

NEW YORK, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks tumbled to their biggest loss in nearly three years on Friday as oil prices surged to four-month highs, and downbeat earnings from Citigroup Inc. (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and General Electric Co. (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) signaled a slowing economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 stock index posted their biggest declines since March 24, 2003, soon after the war in Iraq began.
A surge in oil prices above $68 also battered stocks.

Shares of Google were hurt after competitor Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) released disappointing earnings on Tuesday.

NEW YORK, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt turned positive on Friday afternoon but failed to gain major traction from a rout in the stock market and soaring oil prices.
But a relentless rally in the oil market got investors thinking that U.S. consumers might soon start cutting back on spending, which would slow the economy and allow the Federal Reserve to stop raising interest rates.

"Consumers are so focused on that price at the gasoline pump that a significant rise will dampen expectations," said Don Kowalchik, a debt strategist at A.G. Edwards & Sons.
"I have a hard time seeing the bond market going higher from here," said Kowalchik.
For oil, in contrast, it seemed the sky was the limit.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said Friday he has told OPEC ministers that the cartel needs to pump more oil rather than less.
OPEC has been pumping at a 25-year-high pace in response to high oil prices and calls from consumer nations worried about their economies.

But worries about supply disruptions in Iran and Nigeria sent U.S. crude oil futures to four-month highs above $68 a barrel on Friday.

On Thursday, a senior OPEC delegate told Reuters that the cartel is unlikely to cut production when it meets this month, and is ready to pump more oil to fill any supply gap from Nigeria, where militants have attacked oil production sites.