- Title: GERMANY/ UNITED KINGDOM: OIL PRICES REACH NEW RECORD
- Date: 3rd August 2004
- Summary: (W5) LEUNA, GERMANY (FILE) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF ELF OIL REFINERY IN EASTERN GERMAN TOWN OF LEUNA 0.27 (W5) GRAPHICS (AUGUST 4, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 2. GRAPH OF LONDON BRENT OIL PRICE HITTING RECORD 0.34 (W5) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 4, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 3. WIDE OF INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM EXCHANGE OF LONDON WITH TRADERS ON THE FLOOR 0.40 4. CLOSE OF ELECTRONIC BOARD WITH OIL PRICE PER BARREL OF BRENT CRUDE OIL AT RECORD 40 DOLLARS 0.51 5. CLOSE OF TRADER WEARING COLOURFUL JACKET ON MOBILE PHONE 0.56 6. VARIOUS OF TRADERS DEALING 1.13 7. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) CONRAD ELDRIDGE, TRADER, AMEREX, SAYING: "Confusion. Nobody knows. The market goes up, up and up. Indicators at the market are showing bearish sentiment, what we class as spreads. But beyond that, with the market keep going up we just had a bounce of all the spreads, which have been unprecedented, really. We don't see a bounce quite as high as that." 1.32 (W5) GRAPHICS (AUGUST 4, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8. GRAPH WITH U.S. LIGHT OIL PRICE GOING UP 1.38 (W5) FRANKFURT, GERMANY (AUGUST 4, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 9. WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF FRANKFURT STOCK EXCHANGE 1.42 10. WIDE OF TRADERS ON FLOOR AT TERMINALS 1.47 11. CLOSE OF FDAX ON MONITOR/ SCU TRADER 1.57 12. CLOSE OF AUTOMOBILE STOCKS PRICES ON ELECTRONIC BOARD 2.04 13. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (German) JOACHIM LLAMBI, MANAGER "CONCORD" STOCKBROKERS SAYING: "The renewed terror threats on the one hand and (oil) production which is not really going up on the other hand leads to a shortage. Oil prices are therefore very, very high and they are expected to rise more. But this was already said three or four months ago. The market is therefore very unstable." 2.25 14. CLOSE OF CHEMICAL COMPANIES SHARES ON BOARD 2.40 15. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (German) JOACHIM LLAMBI, MANAGER "CONCORD" STOCKBROKERS SAYING: "A lot of companies such as Lufthansa buy fuel on a contractual basis and therefore they know already what they will have to pay in six months from now but there is a point when those contracts run out and new negotiations are necessary. Higher prices mean higher costs." 2.59 (W5) FRANKFURT, GERMANY (FILE) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 16. VARIOUS OF LUFTHANSA PLANE TAXIING ON RUNWAY 3.14 17. TOPSHOT OF LUFTHANSA AIRCRAFT ON TARMAC WITH PEOPLE GETTING ONTO PLANE 3.19 (W5) HAMBURG, GERMANY (AUGUST 4, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 18. WIDE OF ARAL PETRO GARAGE 3.23 19. CLOSE OF LITRE PRICES OF OIL IN EUROS 3.32 20. WIDE OF TOTAL PETROL GARAGE 3..35 21. CLOSE OF PETROL PRICES 3.38 22. WIDE OF TOTAL OIL COMPANY FLAG 3.41 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 18th August 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: FRANKFURT, LEUNA, BERLIN, GERMANY; LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
- City:
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVA5YD8R4OWKXUWR7643SZL9SMNP
- Story Text: Oil prices set new record.
Oil prices surged to yet another record high on
Wednesday (August 4), battering stock markets and helping
keep up demand for government bonds as investors pondered
pricey crude's impact on world economic growth.
Oil dominated investor sentiment again as U.S. light
sweet crude touched $44.28 a barrel -- the highest price
since oil futures were launched on the New York Mercantile
Exchange in 1983. IPE Brent in London also reached a new all time high
at $40.98 a barrel.
"Confusion. Nobody knows. The market goes up and up and
up", said Conrad Eldridge, oil trader at the International
petroleum exchange in London. "Indicators at the market
are showing bearish sentiment, what we class as spreads.
But beyond that, with the market keep going up we just had
a bounce of all the spreads, which have been unprecedented,
really. We don't see a bounce quite as high as that," he
added.
The latest spikes were aggravated by comments from OPEC
President Purnomo Yusgiantoro who said the cartel had no
immediate spare capacity.
The relentless rise in oil prices has raised concerns
about economic growth. The U.S. government said on Tuesday
that high energy prices helped push consumer spending to
its biggest fall in nearly three years in June as shoppers
cut back sharply on car purchases. The data triggered a
slide on Wall Street.
Most Asian stock markets also fell on Wednesday,
weighed down by fears that high oil will dent corporate
profits.
Oil prices have risen by more than one-third since the
end of 2003 on worries that accelerating global demand has
left supplies tightly stretched with little leeway for
disruption.
Allowing for inflation, prices are near the level hit
during the 1973 oil embargo and just over half those during
the oil price shock that followed the 1979 Iranian
revolution.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries,
excluding Iraq, lifted output in July to near the highest
level in 25 years at 27.57 million bpd as record-high
prices enabled members to pump close to full tilt, a
Reuters survey showed.
Saudi Arabia, which made up most of the July increase,
has said it would produce 9.5 million bpd in August, just
one million bpd below the country's full capacity.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) will
release its weekly oil stocks report on Wednesday, which is
expected to show declines in national crude and gasoline
inventories although distillate stocks are forecast to rise.
The weekly report is closely monitored as a barometer
for demand in the world's biggest oil consumer.
Eight analysts surveyed by Reuters predicted the EIA
would show a 300,000 barrel dip in crude stocks in the week
to July 30 and a 600,000 barrel fall in gasoline
inventories.
Distillate stocks, including key winter heating oil,
were seen rising by 1.4 million barrels.
Oil traders are also nervous that strong demand is
preventing global stocks from building ahead of peak winter
demand.
"The renewed terror threats on the one hand and (oil)
production which is not really going up on the other hand
leads to a shortage. Oil prices are therefore very, very
high and they are expected to rise more. But this was
already said three or four months ago. The market is
therefore very unstable," said Joachim Llambi, manager of
Concord stockbrokers in Frankfurt.
"A lot of companies such as Lufthansa buy fuel on a
contractual basis and therefore they know already what they
will have to pay in six months from now but there is a
point when those contracts run out and new negotiations are
necessary. Higher prices mean higher costs," he added.
The current surge in oil prices has catapulted the cost
of diesel fuel at German gas stations to a record high this
year. After an average increase of 5 euro cents per litre
on Tuesday (August 3) diesel stood at 98 euro cents per
litre, just one cent less than the previous record of march
2003. Petrol prices too rose to an average of 1.19 euros
per Super litre, little less than the May 2004 record high
of 1.21 euros.
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