IPE Brent falls as Katrina fails to disrupt US Gulf oil output

London (Platts)--26Aug2005

Brent crude on London's International Petroleum Exchange fell Friday in
line with the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures as Hurricane
Katrina failed to disrupt oil and gas activities in the US Gulf of Mexico.
     At 1010 GMT the front-month October Brent contract was trading 26cts down
at $66.01/bbl in relatively quiet trade, traders said.
     The fall in prices came as Hurricane Katrina, despite making landfall in
Florida, has not affected US Gulf oil production as much as had been feared.
     Shell and BP Thursday both said they would evacuate some non-essential
personnel from their eastern Gulf of Mexico operations over the next two days
ahead of the possible arrival of Katrina, but output has so far remained
unaffected.
     "It seems a bit of profit-taking was done this morning as the threat of
the storm subsided," said one Brent player said.
     Additionally, protesters disrupting oil production in Ecuador's Amazon
region signed an agreement with the government to officially end all protests.
Ecuador's total crude production, slashed last week by the protests, had
recovered to 463,548 b/d Thursday, up from 452,016 b/d Wednesday. The
country's normal crude output averages 530,000 b/d.
     Front-month Brent crude is expected to settle up on Thursday's close of
$66.27/bbl by the end of trade Friday, traders said. "When NYMEX opens at 1400
GMT we will probably see a typical Friday rally, as people secure their
positions ahead of the weekend," a Brent player said.

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