World oil prices rose in Asia yesterday after militants blew up a Nigerian oil pipeline, intensifying concerns about tight global crude supplies despite Saudi Arabia's output hike, dealers said.
New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, was US$0.94 higher at US$136.30 per barrel. The July contract had leapt US$2.69 to close at US$134.62 before expiring on Friday.
Brent North Sea crude for August was US$0.94 higher at US$135.80 per barrel after rising US$2.86 to settle at US$134.86 on Friday in London.
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah on Sunday condemned oil “speculators” at a summit of leaders that debated the spiraling price of crude, which has doubled over the past year.
The king also announced Saudi output had risen to 9.7 million barrels per day, from 9.45 million barrels earlier, amid growing calls from consumer nations for the feverish rise in crude prices to be brought under more control.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s lynchpin oil producer and the largest in OPEC, which pumps about 40 percent of the world’s crude.
But experts said there were other sources of tension in the oil market counteracting the Saudi output hike.
“It’s really not too significant compared to the disruption in Nigeria,” said Victor Shum of Purvin and Gertz international energy consultancy in Singapore.
Militants in Nigeria blew up a key Chevron oil supply pipeline in the latest attack targeting the country’s oil industry, company and military sources said on Saturday.
The US oil giant was forced to shut down operations after the attack in the volatile Niger Delta, halting output by 120,000 barrels per day, an industry source said.
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell has also said it cannot promise to deliver 225,000 barrels per day for this month and next following an unprecedented raid on its offshore Bonga oilfield.
Unrest in the Niger Delta has cut total oil production in one of Africa’s biggest producers by a quarter over the past two years.
“There were no concrete measures that would change the structural tightness in global oil markets,” Shum said of the summit in Jeddah.
Neither were there measures to address geopolitical factors that have also helped boost prices, Shum said.
Among those factors are worries about a possible Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“With further threat of attack on Iran from Israel and further supply disruptions in Nigeria, the oil price is now destined to rise further,” said John Hall, who runs energy consultancy John Hall Associates.
The summit called for greater transparency in market dealings and for an increase in investment to ensure adequate supplies.
The Saudi king vowed to further increase production if necessary.
The price of oil soared to almost US$140 per barrel this month, sparking angry protests in several countries and fears for global economic growth.
The monarch told the summit that his country was “very concerned” about consumers worldwide in the wake of the sharp rise in crude costs. He blamed increased oil consumption and taxes on fuel, but added: “Among other factors behind this unjust increase in oil prices is the abhorrent act of speculators acting for their own selfish interests.”
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS