Barrel prices nosed upward of $115 on Monday, largely due to a sagging US dollar. Analyzing this in reference to last week’s barrel and dollar prices shows the extent to which crude is tied to currency differentials. The relationship is not one sided, either. For us Canadians, high oil prices are keeping our dollar near parity with that of our neighbours.
Barrel prices were pushed gently northward in early trading on Monday, as a confluence of factors threatened supply and made it an attractive alternative investment. The dollar’s decline relative to the euro increased anti-inflation hedging activities in commodities.
The BP led Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline will restart tanker loadings next week following fire damage earlier this month. Murat Lecompte, external affairs director for BTC, said: The shipping schedule can be updated today for loadings to begin next week. For more information, click here
This column will not be trying to determine who started the war or who is in the right, but how the war might affect the future of Caspian oil extraction and Caucasian transhipment. Aside from the direct damage of the war, ripples will be felt throughout the Black Sea, Caucasian and Caspian regions, with somewhat paradoxical effects on who benefits and who is placed at a disadvantage.
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. established a JV with Teppco Partners and Oiltanking Holding Americas Inc. to build and operate a crude oil port offshore Texas and an associated 160-mile pipeline system. For more information, click here For Enterprise’s website, click here
At this point, there are much more pressing threats to the pipeline’s continued functioning. A long simmering dispute between Georgia and Russia over the disputed South Ossetia region erupted into war. Reports on Monday morning confirmed that Russian forces had pressed along the Greater Liakhvi River, beginning to enter the city of Gori.
After four weeks of refreshing slippage, NYMEX oil futures began to edge upward into the $120 per barrel range. It appears the rise was largely predicated on two factors.
Trans-Niger crude oil pipeline in the restive Niger Delta of Nigeria was damaged due to millitant attack. For full news, click here
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