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ENERGY TECH
Venezuela, Iran mull gasoline deal

Oil prices dip as hurricane worries ease
New York (AFP) Nov 10, 2009 - World oil prices dropped Tuesday as Hurricane Ida fizzled into a tropical depression, easing worries about the potential threat to petroleum installations in the Gulf of Mexico. Traders also digested the latest oil demand and price forecasts from the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), a global energy watchdog that advises industrialized nations. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, eased 38 cents to close at 79.17 dollars a barrel. London's Brent North Sea crude for December delivery declined 27 cents to settle at 77.50 dollars. Crude futures rebounded Monday on dollar weakness and concerns over Hurricane Ida's potential damage.

Ida fizzled into a tropical depression Tuesday as it reached the US Gulf coast. It was a category two hurricane storm when it struck eastern Central America and churned towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Sunday It still dumped heavy rain and triggered some flooding along the coast but without the deadly winds Ida packed over the weekend. The storm however remains dangerous: it is forecast to dump up to eight inches (20 centimeters) of rain across the southeastern United States, and area officials were preparing for floods and damage caused by the ocean surge. "People don't expect hurricanes this late in the season to do much damage," said independent oil analyst Ellis Eckland. "The market was disproportionately weak even considering Ida."

Elsewhere, the IEA predicted Tuesday that the oil prices, without adjustment for inflation, would be 100 dollars a barrel in 2020 and 115 dollars in 2030, and added that demand would increase by one percent per year. Global demand would rise from 85 million barrels per day in 2008 to 105 mbd in 2030, assuming that forthcoming negotiations on global warming in Copenhagen did not result in immediate big changes in energy policies, the IEA forecast. The average oil price this year would be about 60 dollars per barrel against a background of weak economic activity, according to the IEA. The price would then rise with economic recovery to 115 dollars a barrel in 20 years' time in constant dollar valuations, meaning after stripping out the effect of inflation, the International Energy Agency said.
by Staff Writers
 Caracas, Venezuela (UPI) Nov 9, 2009
Venezuela and Iran are considering a wide-ranging energy cooperation deal that will give Iran a sanctions-busting option to import up to 20,000 barrels a day of gasoline from this Latin American country.

The deal has been discussed over several months already and is now slated for final consideration when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits Caracas at the invitation of President Hugo Chavez, officials said. Ahmadinejad, who put off a summer visit because of elections in which he was re-elected, will now visit Caracas before the end of 2009, officials added.

The energy cooperation deal also includes discussion on setting up a joint Venezuelan-Iranian oil company with headquarters in Spain. The projected company, too, has been under consideration by the two sides for some time, but the talks were delayed because of difficulties over registration of a company with Iranian equity in it. The problem was resolved when Spain agreed to host the company's headquarters, officials said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he wanted Ahmadinejad to be beside him when he inaugurates new housing built as part of a bilateral cooperation project.

"I want him (Ahmadinejad) to accompany me to inaugurate some houses," Chavez told the Iranian ambassador to Venezuela, Ahmad Sobhani, during a television and radio show.

Venezuela and Iran have discussed various deals that provide for Iranian investments in Venezuela. The planned gasoline exports to Iran are part of a financial deal in which Iran will repay for its imports from Venezuela by investing an equal amount in the country.

When Chavez visited Iran in September, the two governments signed more than 200 agreements for cooperation in the fields of food and health, housing, trade and uranium prospecting.

The gasoline deal was announced by Chavez during a joint news conference with Ahmadinejad in Tehran. It coincided with Western concerns over Iran's nuclear program and amid speculation that tighter U.N. sanctions on Iran may follow if there is no breakthrough in nuclear talks.

Iran has dismissed suggestions that it is worried about gasoline shortages. Mohammad Ali Katabi, Iran's governor at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, told the Fars News Agency that a number of global gas suppliers were eying the Iranian market.

"The rainy season has ended in most countries of the world and gasoline consumption will (as a result) slide to the minimum level," he said. "Thus, a large number of gasoline suppliers are vying hard with each other in a bid to sell their gasoline to Iran."

U.S. lawmakers sent a measure to President Barack Obama recently that prohibits companies selling fuel to Iran from U.S. government contracts. The measure is part of an effort to persuade Iran to step in line with the international community with its controversial nuclear program.

Iran has some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world, but its refining has not kept pace with demand. Iran imports up to 40 percent of its fuel needs.

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ENERGY TECH
Oil prices up on hurricane threat, dollar weakness
 New York (AFP) Nov 9, 2009
 Oil prices rebounded Monday on dollar weakness and concerns over Hurricane Ida's potential damage to petroleum installations in the Gulf of Mexico despite being downgraded to a tropical storm. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, jumped 2.00 dollars to 79.43 dollars a barrel. In London, Brent North Sea crude for December rose 1.90 dollars to 77.77 dollars ... read more






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