Oil
Prices Hit Record $50
By Aljazeera
28 September, 2004
Aljazeera.net
US
oil prices reached a record $50 a barrel on Monday as Nigeria emerged
as the latest focus for worries about supply in an already tight worldwide
energy market.The US light crude front month contract rose a further
36 cents a barrel in after-hours electronic trading to hit $50, its
highest level in the 21 years of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.London
Brent, the benchmark for European crude imports, settled 60 cents higher
at $45.13, after hitting a new record of $46.28 a barrel.
"We now think
that [US] crude oil could reach $61 before a meaningful sell-off occurs,"
investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a report to its clients.
Growing concerns
over rebels in Nigeria, OPEC's fifth-largest producer, are compounding
worries about supply security in Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
"All these
factors create apprehension in the market and reinforce the view that
we're on a knife's edge in terms of supply and demand," said Daniel
Hynes, industry analyst at ANZ Bank in Melbourne. "The uncertainties
heighten the risk premium applied to this market."
Global supplies
have risen strongly this year but are still straining to meet the fastest
demand growth in 24 years. World crude output is close to its limit
after many years when OPEC producers kept large volumes untapped.
The lack of a supply
cushion has reinforced the view among some investors that oil near $50
is not overpriced, despite a 50% jump in crude prices since the start
of the year.
"The market
faces the prospect of years without sufficient flexibility or insulation
from shocks during a period of extreme geopolitical stress," said
analyst Paul Horsnell of Barclays Capital.
In Nigeria, rebels
seeking political reforms in the impoverished oil-producing Niger Delta
forced the closure by Royal Dutch/Shell of 30,000 barrels per day as
a security precaution.
The rebels, threatening
output from the country that pumps 2.5 million barrels daily, said they
would seek to extend the uprising across the West African producer's
entire southern delta oil region.
Separately, Nigeria
already has been forced to cut back output from surge capacity to prevent
long-term damage to its aging facilities - the first sign that efforts
by OPEC countries to quell prices by squeezing out extra output may
not be sustainable.
Presidential Adviser
on Petroleum Edmund Daukoru said production was reduced 10% to base
capacity of 2.25 million bpd in August. Nigeria had been pumping at
surge capacity of up to 2.55 million bpd.
Uncertainty over
supplies from Yukos, Russia's top exporter, also is supporting prices.
Yukos last week trimmed deliveries to China.
In Saudi Arabia,
clashes between security forces and suspected al-Qaida followers served
as a reminder of the threat to stability in the world's biggest producer.
In Iraq, insurgents
fired mortar bombs at the oil ministry building on Saturday, causing
minor damage but no injuries.
But Iraqi oil exports,
temporarily at least, are as high as they have been since last year's
US-led invasion.
Iraqi pipelines
have been the target of frequent sabotage attacks.
But Monday deliveries
resumed through the main northern line to Turkey after repairs from
a bomb attack on 2 September. Southern exports were near full capacity.
Extra crude from
OPEC, now pumping at a 25-year high, has failed to make any impact.
The group produced 30.5 million bpd in September, the highest since
1979, tanker-tracking consultancy Petrologistics said on Monday.