Simon Falush News

Oil prices rose above $48 a barrel on Thursday, propelled by technical buying and as investors re-evaluated U.S. data that showed falling stockpiles of fuel as well as higher crude inventories. Brent for December delivery rose 51 cents to $48.36 a barrel by 1056 GMT. The global crude benchmark finished down 86 cents, or 1.8 percent, on Wednesday, after hitting $47.50, its lowest since early October. U.S. crude for December delivery climbed 55 cents to $45.75 a barrel, having settled down $1.09, or 2.4 percent, in the previous session. It hit a three-week low of $44.86 on Wednesday. Oil prices came under renewed pressure this week from worries about a global glut, after U.S. crude inventories rose more than twice the figure analysts had expected. U.S.

Royal Dutch Shell has asked ship owners exporting its Nigerian oil to sign a "letter of comfort" (LoC) to guarantee it is not stolen, according to an email from the company seen by Reuters. In July, state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) banned more than 100 tankers from Nigeria's waters, citing a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari, who wants to trace and recover what he calls "mind-boggling" sums stolen from the oil sector. Last month, the NNPC lifted the ban but asked ship owners to sign a letter of comfort to "guarantee to indemnify" it against any illicit use of their vessel. This led some owners to reject pending bookings.

Tender deals helped to liven up a lacklustre West African crude oil market on Thursday, though overall demand remained weak. Indian Oil Corporation bought four cargoes of West African oil, traders said, nibbling at an overhang of unsold September cargoes just a few days before Angola's October loading programme comes to market. Traders were watching to see whether there could be an impact on Chinese imports of West African oil after two huge explosions in the northeast Chinese port city of Tianjin killed at least 50 people, including at least a dozen fire fighters. One trader said there was no immediate impact for oil cargoes already in the area.

Brent on track for biggest annual drop since 2008; stimulus measures from Japan, China lend some support. Brent crude oil rose to $60 per barrel on Monday, supported by concerns about disruption to exports from Libya, but a global supply glut kept prices nearly 50 percent off their peak for the year. A fire at one of Libya's main export terminals has destroyed 800,000 barrels of crude - more than two days of the country's output - officials said, as clashes escalated between factions battling for control of the nation.. Libya currently produces around 385,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil - down from peak production of over 1 million bpd - but this is a small fraction of the global supply glut, analysts said.

Angola is set to export 1.77 million barrels per day of crude oil in January, up from 1.60 mln bpd in December, a provisional shipping list showed on Tuesday. The oil from the OPEC member, and Africa's second largest exporter, will be shipped on 57 vessels, the shipping list showed. Exports of Cabinda, Girassol, Palanca, Saturno, Hungo, and Plutonio were set to be higher in January than December, while Dalia exports were lower. Stronger supply of West African crude oil will put further pressure on crude oil futures prices at a time of ample global supply and fragile demand growth. Traders are awaiting Nigerian crude oil exports lists for January, expected to start emerging this week.

Traders in the Brent oil market have started to use a word that was almost forgotten in the last four years - "contango" in industry jargon, which could also be described as "music to the ears of sellers". The market has not seen a prolonged contango time structure - with front prices lower than future prices - since at least 2010. Back then, oil traders racked up hundreds of millions of dollars by storing fully loaded cargoes at sea. With each week and month that the oil was in storage, it gained in price. The opposite time structure - backwardation - then prevailed, up until this week when it reversed back to contango. This led some analysts to predict a repeat of the 2008-2009 bonanza. Bank of America Merrill Lynch said it even saw a "super-contango" returning.

Oil fell towards $111 a barrel on Wednesday, its lowest in almost three weeks, on a possible substantial recovery in Libyan exports after rebels said they would reopen two oil terminals. Libyan rebels blockading eastern oil ports have agreed to reopen the remaining two terminals at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf. The port seizures have crippled the OPEC producer's oil industry since last summer. If fulfilled, the deal would bring back around 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil export capacity, although production would remain well below the total of around 1.4 million bpd. There have been repeated reports in the past that ports would reopen and production increase, but analysts said the latest developments were likely to have more impact.

West African oil differentials were unchanged on Friday, with traders on the sidelines as they assessed the impact of lower North Sea supply and awaited a clearer outlook for Libyan exports. The supply of North Sea crude that underpins the Brent benchmark will average 774,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May, according to loading schedules provided by trade sources on Friday, down from April. This was seen putting upward pressure on Nigerian differentials because oil from the two regions competes for customers. "We're waiting to see what the offers on the North Sea are like," a trader said. Crude oil futures prices fell earlier this week on hopes that Libyan supply would return. This would pressure West African grades because they are of a similar light, low-sulphur composition.

Putin orders troops in military exercise back to base. U.S., EU warn Russia could face sanctions over Crimea; U.S. crude inventory likely rose 1 mln bbls last week. Oil fell more than $1 on Tuesday to below $110 a barrel after President Vladimir Putin recalled troops to base from military exercises in western Russia near its borders with Ukraine. April Brent crude was down $1.47 at $109.73 a barrel by 0900 GMT. It closed the previous session at its highest since Dec. 27. U.S. crude for April delivery fell as low as $103.60, after reaching a 5-1/2-month high at $105.22 on Monday. The contract was currently down $1.11 at $103.81. Russia invaded Ukraine's autonomous Crimea region at the weekend…

Reuters - Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday that it had closed Nigeria's Nembe Creek Trunk oil pipeline on Saturday to stop leakage caused by theft. The pipeline pumps the Bonny Light grade of crude oil. Bonny Light exports for April are at about 95,000 barrels per day according to shipping lists compared to 155,000 for March. (Reporting by Simon Falush; editing by Jason Neely)