OPEC operating at maximum operating capacity

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Saturday, August 19 2000

-- Cave Man (caves@are.us), August 18, 2000

Answers

Quote from your link : **He said prices were driven by speculation**

But mid-week, Opec's acting secretary-general, Shokri Ghanem, said the recent oil prices spike was not related to a shortage of supply and that Opec states were operating at "maximum production capacity." He said prices were driven by speculation.

-- cpr (buytexas@swbell.net), August 18, 2000.

If OPEC is operating at maximam operating capacity and yet that amount is only enough that it results in U.S. crude inventories being at a 24-year low, then no wonder there's speculation.

It could be quite a awhile before these inventories return anywhere near normal levels if OPEC cannot significantly increase production.

-- (something@to.ponder), August 19, 2000.

SUCKERS:

LINK-TO-LOSSES

http://www.mrci.com/qpday.htm

-- cpr (buytexas@swbell.net), August 22, 2000.

Charlie, not so fast.

API posts big drop in crude stocks

By Myra P. Saefong, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 6:06 PM ET Aug 22, 2000 NewsWatch Latest headlines

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- October crude futures rallied to more than $32 a barrel in overnight Tuesday trading after a key report said crude inventories as of the week ended Aug. 18 plunged 7.8 million barrels -- a dramatic turnabout from the forecast rise of at least 300,000 barrels.

"Forget everything else -- we're back to record-low stocks again," Phil Flynn, a senior energy analyst at Chicago brokerage house Alaron.com, exclaimed just after the data was released. He also said the latest data was a "shocker" and will have "explosive" effects.

In after-hours Access trading, October crude oil added 84 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $32.06 a barrel.

After the markets closed, the American Petroleum Institute said crude stocks, as of the week ended Aug. 18, dropped a whopping 7.8 million barrels to total 279.7 million barrels.

The data defied market expectations for a 300,000-barrel to 700,000-barrel rise, according to a Bridge New survey.

Gasoline inventories fell 1.14 million barrels, the API said, on the high end of expectations for a drop of 800,000 barrels to 1.2 million barrels.

API's measure of distillate supplies, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, unexpectedly declined by 2.9 million barrels, despite expectations for a rise of 2.5 million to 2.9 million barrels.

Meanwhile, refinery production rose to 96.9 percent of capacity from the prior week's revised 95.7 percent of, the API reported.

Ahead of the news on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday, September crude fell $1.25 to close at $31.22 a barrel. October crude, which is now the front-month contract, fell 76 cents to $31.22.

September heating oil declined 1.97 cents to 90.35 cents per gallon, and September unleaded gasoline slipped 2.60 cents to 93.33 cents per gallon. September natural gas fell 22.7 cents to $4.52 per million British thermal units.

Contract expiration, waning hurricane fears pressure oil

Oil shares closed almost flat while prices fell Tuesday, pressured by the expiration of the September contract and waning concerns that a hurricane will affect production in the Virgin Islands or the Gulf of Mexico.

"Forecast models differ on whether the storm (Hurricane Debby) will track into the Gulf of Mexico or will turn north toward the Bahamas," according to a report from New York-based IFR Pegasus.

The market will continue to keep a close watch on the storm's direction. Its effect on production at Hovensa's St. Croix refinery in the Virgin Islands is minimal, according to Bridge News, and it doesn't appear to be headed for the Gulf of Mexico, a major oil- and natural gas-producing region.

However, no one is really sure where Debby will end up, Flynn said. The storm season, coupled with the latest crude supply data, should provide good support for the market on Wednesday, he said.

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/20000822/news/current/crude.htx?sou rce=blq/yhoo&dist=yhoo

-- Cave Man (caves@are.us), August 22, 2000.