Crude oil rose for a fourth day yesterday on speculation that demand for oil-based fuels will gain in Europe after a one-day disruption to Russian natural gas deliveries raised concern about the security of energy supplies.
Gas shipments to Poland, Hungary and Austria are returning to normal after Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom said it would restore supplies that had been reduced in a dispute over prices with Ukraine. Exports to France, Italy and Germany yesterday fell by as much as 40 percent in the dispute, increasing concern that long-term gas supplies in Europe will be threatened.
"Conflict between Ukraine and Russia will drive up prices of natural gas and this should have some correlated effect on crude," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior investment strategist at CFC Seymour Ltd. in Hong Kong. "The only leverage that Ukraine has is that the pipeline to Europe goes through its territory."
Crude oil for delivery next month rose as much as US$0.56, or 0.9 percent, to US$61.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil was up US$0.06 to US$61.10 at 9:14am London time.
Brent crude-oil traded in London gained US$0.14 to US$59.12. Prices rose 40 percent last year, more than the 34 percent gain in 2004.
Natural gas accounts for about 23 percent of Western Europe's energy requirements, according to Fortis Bank. Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev late yesterday promised to resume shipments. The Russian state-run company supplies about 75 percent of European deliveries through Ukrainian pipelines.
Natural gas prices for next day delivery in the UK rose 19 percent yesterday on the APX Gas Exchange. Power prices in Germany, Europe's largest energy user, gained 6 percent, according to Spectron Plc prices on Bloomberg.
European utilities, which are building gas-fired plants to replace ageing coal units, may have to increase output at more expensive oil-fed plants to make up for gas shortages. Natural gas accounts for about a fifth of the power production in the EU, according to the International Energy Agency.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
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