IPE Brent futures break $77/barrel on short covering, North Sea

London (Platts)--4Aug2006

IPE Brent crude futures in London firmed Friday to above the $77/barrel range
as traders looked to cover short positions ahead of the weekend at the end
of a volatile week that has seen strong North Sea demand support Brent,
brokers said.
"Even though we are trading higher it's been a relatively quiet morning
and Brent really needs to break out of the range it's in which is anywhere
between $74 to $77.50/barrel," said one London-based broker.
At 1120 London time (1020 GMT) September Brent was trading 45 cents
higher changing hands at $77.01/barrel having earlier hit an inter-day high of
$77.17/barrel. The spread between September Brent and September WTI widened 32
cents to $1.42. The backwardated structure deepend with the September/November
spread widening to 16 cents with. September Brent is also closing in on the
November contract trading at just a 9 cents discount.
Threats to foreign oil workers in Nigeria has been pushed back in the
spotlight on Friday after three Filipino oil workers were abducted when gunmen
attacked the Nigerian LNG plant on Bonny Island, southern Nigeria, a day after
a German was kidnapped from Port Harcourt.
On Friday, a senior Iranian official Friday said global crude prices
could jump to $100/bbl. The prices could move up due to the expected rise in
winter demand and geopolitical problems, Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad
Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian told reporters.
--Jonathan Davies, jonathan_davies@platts.com

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