Crude oil prices rose in Asia yesterday -- spiking above US$92 a barrel at one point -- on a rumbling of tensions in the Middle East and renewed concerns about oil supplies.
Lebanese troops fired on Israeli warplanes on Thursday, and while a conflict between Israel and Lebanon would not directly affect oil supplies, traders worry any hostilities in the Middle East would draw in oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Also, the US announced on Thursday new sanctions against Iran, targeting the elite Revolutionary Guards, which Washington accuses of supporting terrorism by backing Shiite militants in Iraq. Any confrontation between the world's largest oil consumer and its fourth-largest oil producer has the potential to roil markets.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose US$1.47 to US$91.93 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. It briefly rose to a new trading record of US$92.22 during Asian trading.
The Nymex crude contract jumped US$3.36 to settle at US$90.46 a barrel on Thursday in the US, closing above US$90 a barrel for the first time.
Amid the tensions, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General Abdalla el-Badri told the Wall Street Journal Asia on Thursday that the cartel was not in discussions to boost production by 500,000 barrels.
The comments counter rumors that Saudi Arabia is pushing for another production increase after pressuring the group into one of similar size that goes into effect next Thursday.
And while US crude stocks fell to a nine-month low last week, Dow Jones Newswires reported that Oil Movements, a company that tracks oil tanker traffic, said extra crude shipments from OPEC members next month would grow more slowly than anticipated.
Energy traders also remain concerned that a threatened incursion by Turkish armed forces into Iraq in search of Kurdish rebels would cut oil supplies.
The combination of supply worries and geopolitical concerns has pushed crude oil prices up more than 6 percent since Tuesday.
Prices first jumped sharply on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration reported that oil inventories fell 5.3 million barrels last week when analysts had expected them to grow 300,000 barrels. That report reversed a three-day downward price trend and put energy traders back in a bullish mood, analysts said.
December Brent crude rose US$1.27 to US$88.75 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London. Nymex heating oil futures rose US$0.0242 to US$2.4326 a gallon (3.8 liters), while gasoline prices advanced US$0.0289 to US$2.2647 a gallon. November natural gas futures fell US$0.042 to US$7.146 per 1,000 cubic feet (28.3 cubic meters).
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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