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Oil price tests an all-time
high
Ed Crooks and Javier Blas
Financial
Times
Friday September 7, 2007
The price of oil has risen close to a record level, putting more
pressure on Opec to give a positive signal about production levels
at its meeting in Vienna next week.
The price increase was triggered by claims that Israeli warplanes
had penetrated Syrian airspace.
As US crude rose to less than $1.50 short of its record peak,
Christophe de Margerie, chief executive of Total, the French oil
group, told the Financial Times he expected the oil price to stay
high, and suggested the cycle in the market had been broken.
Officials from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
meet in Vienna today to review the outlook for the supply and
demand for oil, ahead of Tuesday’s ministerial meeting.
The price increase puts pressure for Opec to increase its production
levels, but in recent weeks the group’s member countries
have appeared divided about the need to pump more oil.
(Article continues below)
On Thursday, Mohammed al-Hamli, the United Arab Emirates’
oil minister and Opec’s president, said: “I think
the market is very well balanced. There is no shortage whatsoever
of oil supplies.”
However, Opec could signal next week that it is ready to supply
more oil over the winter months.
Mr de Margerie said he expected that those high oil prices would
persist.
Over the summer, as hedge funds unwound their positions in the
oil market in response to the liquidity crisis, the price of oil
slipped, and occasionally went below $70. But every time it did
so, it rebounded, he said.
“Demand is still strong in Asia, [and there is] strong
demand in the Middle East,” Mr de Margerie said. “So
definitely the price will remain high, and we have to build our
strategy on this.”
On Thursday, the government of Kazakhstan said it wanted more
control of the giant Kashagan oil project, led by Eni of Italy.
On Thursday oil prices jumped on renewed geopolitical tension
in the Middle East and a large fall in US crude oil and gasoline
inventories.
West Texas Intermediate surged to $77.43 a barrel, just below
early August’s all-time high of $78.77. Later, it fell to
$76.67. Brent crude rose above $75.
US crude oil inventories fell last week by 3.9m barrels to 329.7m
barrels, down year-on-year.
Gasoline stocks fell by 2.3m barrels to 132.2m barrels, the lowest
level in absolute terms in nearly two years.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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