Commodities » Energy

Oil and natural gas daily review (August 13, 2010)

Contributed by Nirmal Bang

By Nirmal Bang

MARKET ROUNDUP

U.S. crude oil futures prices fell nearly 3 percent on Thursday as concerns about faltering economic growth, tepid oil demand and rising fuel stocks kept pressure on oil and equities prices.

IN FOCUS

- China has completed a crude storage farm of about 26 million barrels in Qinzhou in the southern Guangxi region, near a new refinery that Petro China <0857.HK> has just built, the official Economic Daily reported on Thursday.

- China's crude oil output rose 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 17.22 million tonnes or 4.06 million barrels per day in July, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday.

- Enbridge Inc shut its 190,000 barrel per day Line 6B crude oil pipeline after a leak on July 26 in Marshall, Michigan. The line runs northeast from Indiana to Sarnia, Ontario.

- Iraqi oil began flowing again via Turkey to the Mediterranean coast late Wednesday night. An official with Iraq's North Oil company said volumes were 350,000- 400,000 barrels per day -- the same rate as before an explosion that disrupted transit on the key energy corridor.

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK

Crude oil prices are trading up on NYMEX today. Crude oil is expected to trade up during the day tracking international leads and strong equity markets. Buying at dips should be the investor's strategy today.