Oil prices swung higher Friday, bouncing back from losses the day before as nerves set in about cool weather, the level of US crude oil inventories, and terrorism.
New York's benchmark light sweet crude contract for delivery in December surged US$0.59 to US$30.85 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for December gained US$0.50 to US$28.91.
A forecast of a return of cold weather to the northeastern US after an unseasonably warm spell "did not hurt" prices, said AG Edwards market analyst Bill O'Grady.
Renewed terrorism fears based on rumors also unnerved oil market traders, he said.
The price rise reversed a sell-off on Thursday, which was itself a reaction to dollar-plus per barrel prices increases Wednesday when data showed relatively low US commercial crude oil inventories.
"Brent is a little bit stronger again as it got oversold on the close yesterday, exactly the opposite of what happened the day before," said GNI trader Lee Elliott in London.
"The market is very volatile and it is extremely difficult to trade at the moment. The market is very nervous and is looking for a new trend."
Meanwhile, attacks on Iraq's oil pipelines and installations are on the increase, the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reports in its Monday edition, blaming a reorganized Baath party.
"MEES learns from industry sources in Baghdad that the attacks on oil piplines and other installations show no signs of stopping -- and are even on the increase. Not only are the acts of sabotage targeting Iraq's main export pipeline to Turkey and preventing the resumption of exports through it, but they are also interrupting the supply of crude to the Dora and Baiji refineries," the specialist weekly says.
It adds that Iraq is being forced to import more and more petroleum products to meet the shortfall.
The industry newsletter gives credibility to a a statement purportedly issued by the Baath party and published in the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar on Nov. 2 outlining a strategy of resistance.
Besides trying to force the withdrawal of foreign troops, the document says "the resistance will work to prevent the exploitation of Iraq's natural resources, especially oil, on the part of the occupiers," the Cyprus-based weekly notes.
An explosion caused a large fire on a pipeline near Iraq's northern oil center of Kirkuk Friday, an oil company official told reporters.
The blast ripped through a pipeline linking Kirkuk with the al-Debs oilfields, further north, at 7pm, sources said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last