| Oil market oversupplied says iran Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D89NMGBG0.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down"I think the market is oversupplied," Bijan Namdar Zangeneh told reporters during a natural gas conference in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. "We have not difficulties on the supply side."
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D89NMGBG0.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down
The Associated Press/BUDAPEST, Hungary By EDITH BALAZS Associated Press Writer
Crude futures slip below $ 54.00 APR. 27 6:23 A.M. ET Crude futures fell for a third consecutive day in Europe on Wednesday, with markets calm ahead of the weekly U.S. petroleum stocks report due out later in the day.
Light, sweet crude for the June contract fell 27 cents to US$53.93 a barrel, in morning electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gas was down a cent to US$1.6160 a gallon (3.8 liters), while heating oil fell slightly US$1.5071 a gallon (3.8 liters).
In London, Brent crude for June delivery was down 19 cents to trade at US$53.95 on the International Petroleum Exchange.
"After the reassuring words of the Saudis, general market sentiment has cooled and markets calmed down a fair bit on the U.S. gasoline situation," said Deborah White, an analyst with SG Securities in Paris. Barring an unforeseen drop in United States gasoline stocks, prices are expected to continue falling over the next couple of weeks, she said.
"We will not see the US$50.00 threshold tested, however," White added.
Prices had been falling since the start of the week after U.S. President George W. Bush called on Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah Monday to expand production, in a bid to ease U.S. gasoline prices that have shot above US$2.20 a gallon.
Analysts say the Bush-Saudi meeting was a signal that both sides recognized that current high prices needed to be addressed, thus sending prices downward.
Saudi Arabia has outlined a plan to increase production capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day by 2009 from the current 11 million limit. Saudi Arabia now pumps about 9.5 million barrels daily. If necessary, Saudi Arabia says it will eventually develop a capacity of 15 million barrels a day.
Global petroleum markets aren't short of crude oil and may even be oversupplied, Iran's oil minister said Tuesday.
"I think the market is oversupplied," Bijan Namdar Zangeneh told reporters during a natural gas conference in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. "We have not difficulties on the supply side."
Iran is one of 11 member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Officials from two other OPEC members, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have said a global lack of refining capacity, not a shortage of crude oil, is to blame for an almost 50 percent surge in world prices over the last year.
OPEC President Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah, however, said last week that the organization would automatically increase its total output by 500,000 barrels a day in May in response to an expected increase in demand.
Traders were beginning to look toward the U.S. Department of Energy petroleum stocks report for clues on inventory levels in the world's largest energy consumer with the summer driving season only weeks away.
Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures, said U.S. crude inventories probably rose last week, while gasoline stockpiles declined slightly.
"Crude will be up because of stable imports from OPEC and producing countries," he said. "The question is by how much."
Emori said he expects crude supplies last week to show an increase of 400,000 barrels.
The Department of Energy said in its previous weekly petroleum supply report that the U.S. supply of crude oil fell last week by 1.8 million barrels to 318.9 million barrels, or 8 percent above year ago levels. Gasoline inventories declined by 1.5 million barrels to 211.6 million barrels, or 5 percent above year ago levels.
Emori said the positive outcome of the Bush meeting with the Saudi prince, and high crude oil inventories has made current market sentiment very bearish.
"If we don't see any supply disruptions, we might even see US$45 in the gasoline season," he said.
------
Associated Press writer Wee Sui Lee in Singapore contributed to this report.
|
|