Investors
New ’super-spike’ might mean $200 per barrel oil
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — With $100-a-barrel here for now, Goldman Sachs says $200 a barrel could be a reality in the not-too-distant future in the case of a “major disruption.”
Goldman on Friday also boosted by $10 the low end of its 2008-2012 projected range for crude to $60 a barrel — significantly lower than current [...]
Oil prices gush to new highs
NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices struck double-barreled highs on Monday on concerns about dollar weakness and tight supplies as speculators bet on the market rally to go higher, traders said.
Both the New York and London benchmark contracts smashed intraday and closing records as US President George W. Bush’s administration signaled that Vice President Dick [...]
Partnership will bid for U.S. oil refineries
Petroplus Holdings, Europe’s largest refiner, said Wednesday that it had entered into a $2-billion deal with private equity firms Blackstone Group and First Reserve to buy crude oil refineries in the United States.
Each partner has committed $667 million to form an investment company to be led by Petroplus Chairman Thomas D. O’Malley.
Petroplus is interested in [...]
Exxon Valdez Award Questioned at U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court justices questioned the $2.5 billion punitive damage award assessed against Exxon Mobil Corp. for the 1989 Valdez oil spill, the largest in American history.
Hearing arguments today in Washington, some justices suggested that federal law bars Exxon Mobil from being punished for the conduct of the tanker’s captain, Joseph Hazelwood. The 83-day trial [...]
The Squeeze on PetroChina
With domestic production falling, it must buy costly oil abroad to sell at subsidized prices at home
PetroChina (PTR) has been the sweetest of China plays for global investors in recent years. Warren Buffett started investing in the mainland’s biggest oil producer back in 2003, and the company’s shares appreciated more than sevenfold from that point [...]
Oil surpasses $103 for first time
SINGAPORE - Oil prices surpassed $103 a barrel for the first time Friday as persistent weakness in the U.S. dollar and the prospect of lower interest rates attracted fresh money to the oil market.
Prices were supported by comments Thursday from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the American economy is not immediately threatened with [...]
Oil passes $101 on weaker dollar
SINGAPORE - Oil prices rose above $101 a barrel Wednesday as a slide in the U.S. dollar prompted investors to pump more money into energy futures as a hedge against inflation.
The greenback sank to a record low against the euro after the release of three disheartening U.S. economic reports Tuesday that show that the economy [...]
Oil Jumps Above $100 on Refinery Outage, OPEC cuts.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil futures shot to a new record above $100 Tuesday for the first time since Jan. 3 as investors bet that crude prices will keep climbing despite evidence of plentiful supplies and falling demand. At the pump, gas prices rose further above $3 a gallon.
There was no single driver behind oil’s [...]
Oil giant Total reports profits slip on weak dollar
PARIS (AFP) — French oil group Total reported on Wednesday a 3.0-percent fall in underlying profit to 12.203 billion euros (14.57 billion dollars), blaming weakness of the dollar.
The net adjusted figure excludes exceptional items. The full net figure rose by 12.0 percent to 13.181 billion euros.
Total, the fourth-biggest oil group in the world alongside US [...]
Exxon wins freeze on $12 billion worth of Venezuelan assets
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) has won court orders freezing up to $12 billion in Venezuelan assets around the world as it fights for compensation for operations lost to President Hugo Chavez’s nationalization drive.
The largest U.S. company sought the asset freeze to guarantee repayment should it win arbitration over the Cerro Negro [...]
