IPE Brent extends losses after Hurricane Emily eases in Gulf

IPE Brent extends losses after Hurricane Emily eases in Gulf

London (Platts)--19Jul2005

Brent crude futures on London's International Petroleum Exchange extended
losses Tuesday after falling Monday as Hurricane Emily missed US production
facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. 

At 0942 GMT, the front-month September IPE futures contract had traded 9 cts
below Monday's settlement at $56.90/bbl, but had been as low as $56.60/bbl.
The early Tuesday recovery was due to "a bad Hurricane season being a
possibility, but mainly because of bargain hunters believing the market is
simply too cheap," one trader said. 

Hurricane Emily remained a category one storm Tuesday and strengthened
modestly as it passed over the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico. The market also
reacted after OPEC revised downward estimates for crude demand in 2005. Global
2005 demand will grow by 1.62-mil b/d, 150,000 b/d less than expected last
month, OPEC said in July Oil Market Report. "There is no fear of the market
collapsing with lower demand expected to have no effect in the short-term," a
trader said adding the market has a floor at the $55.50/bbl mark.

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