IPE Brent higher amid slow progress in US GoM recovery

London (Platts)--3Oct2005

Brent crude futures on London's International Petroleum Exchange eased to
a gentle premium Monday as recovery efforts in the US Gulf over the past week
have been relatively slow and products values are being pushed up an ongoing
strike at France's southern oil ports, traders said. 
     At 1028 GMT November IPE Brent crude futures were pegged at $63.69/bbl,
up 21cts from Friday's settle.
     "It will take some time for them to sort all the problems out in the US
Gulf of Mexico," a London based broker said, adding, "we do not expect much of
the production to be coming back on-line straight away." A senior Minerals
Management Service official said on Friday that oil and natural gas production
could be "in fairly good shape" within a month.
     In the Mediterranean region, strikes by French port workers have been
attributed to the rise in product prices, a broker said. In Marseille, the
strike has halted tanker deliveries of both crude and products both into and
out of the four refineries in the area operated by BP, Shell, Total and
ExxonMobil. Marseille is France's biggest oil, gas and chemical port. 
     In the latest Commitment of Traders report (CFTC), published Friday, the
non-commercials, mainly comprising of hedge funds, liquidated, 7,991 contracts
of crude oil futures and options taking the total net-long position to
26,932 contracts. as of Sep 27.
     Meanwhile, IPE Gasoil futures were up $12.50 to $639.25/mt at 1028 GMT
and a trader does not expect there to be much more activity as Germany is
currently on a public holiday.

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