New York crude oil prices stretched as high as US$120.50 per barrel on Thursday as traders eyed stormy weather in the Gulf of Mexico, where many US energy facilities are located.
After breaching US$120, prices closed sharply lower as traders discounted the threat of Tropical Storm Gustav.
But they moved higher again on Friday ahead of a three-day holiday weekend in the US. About a quarter of US crude oil installations are located in the Gulf of Mexico.
“The focus is likely to remain on Tropical Storm Gustav and potential supply disruptions during the weekend and earlier next week,” Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said.
As Gustav advanced, oil companies were pulling employees off installations.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC has evacuated nearly 670 workers. The company said production will be affected. BP PLC was also removing personnel from the region, while Exxon Mobil said it was bracing its structures for heavy wind and rain.
Transocean Inc, the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor, said on Thursday it had evacuated about 190 workers from five of its 11 offshore drilling rigs in the Gulf. Transocean has 1,550 workers in the region.
The threat of Gustav raised grim memories of the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita that damaged or destroyed about 165 oil platforms of the some 4,000 located in the Gulf.
Oil markets this week also tracked escalating tensions between Georgia and Russia, the world’s biggest oil producer.
The US, the largest energy consumer, is worried that in the wake of the Russian-Georgian conflict, US strategic interests in Ukraine and Azerbaijan — especially in oil — could be at serious risk.
The clearest sign of US concern is that US Vice President Dick Cheney will travel to Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan next week, analysts said.
Despite climbing above US$120, prices are still well short of record highs above US$147 reached last month.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell US$0.13 to settle at US$115.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.
In London, October Brent crude fell US$0.12 to settle at US$114.05 a barrel.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
RSS