Tag: Oil

BAGHDAD - Iraq's government submitted a revised draft budget to MPs for approval on Sunday, raising projected public spending as oil prices have increased, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. The new spending programme estimates overall expenditure at $81.86 billion, or 96.6 trillion Iraqi dinars, while income will be $68.56 billion, leaving a shortfall of $13.3 billion- about a 16 percent budget deficit.
Sunday's submission is based on average oil prices of $76.5 per

TEHRAN - Iran now possesses the largest oil refinery in the Middle East after the inauguration of an expansion to an existing facility by Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi, media reports said.
The Imam Khomeini refinery in Shazand near the central city of Arak will have a refining capacity of 250,000 barrels per day by September, up from 170,000 bpd, making it the largest in the region, Mehr news agency said. It said the refinery when fully operational will also have a petrol

HONG KONG - Oil stayed above $100 a barrel Tuesday on lingering concerns over the political unrest in Egypt. The price of Brent North Sea crude broke the $100 mark in New York on Monday to hit its highest level in more than two years as protesters demanded Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak step down.
Traders sent crude prices higher on supply fears because while Egypt is not a major producer, it is home to the Suez Canal, which carries around 2.4 million barrels of oil a day -

KARACHI - Attock Refinery has jacked up prices of lube base oil by Rs 6.50 per litre. Refineries have inflated prices of lube base oil by 15 percent in the past four months, All Pakistan Lubricants Manufacturers Association (APLMA) Chairman Mian Zahid Husain said in an issued statement.
He stressed the new increase would result in price rises in the case of all lubricants, ranging from Rs 8.0 to Rs 10 per litre. It was noted that since December, this was the third time that base

KARACHI - The Sindh government wants to collect royalty on the production of oil and gas, but a "19th Amendment" would be needed to the Constitution to ensure this "right" of the provinces, said Sindh Finance Minister during the Sindh Assembly session on Tuesday.
Replying to different supplementary questions furnished by National People's Paty's (NPP) Arif Mustafa Jatoi during the question hour, Shah complained that the Federal government passed on incomplete information on

KARACHI - Drilling by the oil and gas exploration companies in Pakistan has slowed by 32 percent in the first half of the financial year 2011, despite government's focus to tap more indigenous energy resources.
A meagre 19 wells have been drilled as compared to 28 in the last corresponding period and the number is inclusive of both exploratory and development wells. This hampered drilling activity could reduce the much needed future of oil and gas production.
According to

KARACHI - Industries and Production Federal Minister Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani has indicated that Pakistan has started experimental extraction of palm oil at the first 'palm oil extraction plant' constructed in Thatta district's coastal belt to increase the production of the oil which is presently largely imported.
With high demand for palm oil across the country, local production in the coastal regions of Sindh and Balochistan will significantly reduce the import bill for this

LAHORE - Which is the healthiest cooking oil? The common reply to this question will be olive oil. Most people believe that the best quality olive oil available in the market is virgin or extra virgin olive oil, but scientific research belies this myth.
According to the latest research, when virgin olive oil is heated above 177 degrees centigrade, it produces toxic byproducts in the form of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which worsen both taste and the nutritive value.

LONDON - Oil is fast approaching $100 for the first time in two years, at the end of a momentous week which saw the market driven by the Brent contract's looming expiry, supply-side worries and the US's dwindling reserves.
Other major global commodity markets were also pushed higher by supply concerns. Coffee, maize, platinum, palladium and soya all forged multi-year peaks, while rubber stretched to a new record high.
London Brent oil surged to $99.20 a barrel late on

KARACHI - The Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has announced the restoration of oil supply to Pakistan Railways (PR) which, on Thursday, had only one day's oil reserve to operate the passenger trains service.
Sources said PSO stopped oil supply to PR, which owes the oil marketing company almost Rs 750 million, due to non-payment of the dues. The cash-strapped railways started crying for shortage of fuel after the stoppage of supply from PSO which, after the intervention of senior

KARACHI - Based on provisional data, the country's refinery production in the first six months of the Financial Year (FY) 2011 (July-December) stood at 3.79 million tonnes, down nine percent annually. Moreover, GRM, a key determinant of profitability, in the second quarter of FY 2011 remained weak in quarterly terms, reflecting a poor outlook for the sector earnings in the second quarter.
Product wise analysis reveals that the decline is mainly attributed to a seven percent fall

JUBA - Clashes between renegade militiamen and south Sudanese troops disrupted voting in a landmark independence referendum in part of a key oil state on Sunday, the organising commission number two said.
"There has been some fighting because of certain militiamen but I am assured that the situation has been contained," Chan Reec told a news conference. "I am optimistic that this will not impact the voting process," he added. Reec said he had no details on any casualties from the

JUBA - An attack on south Sudanese soldiers in a key oil-producing district left four people dead on Saturday overshadowing celebrations on the eve of a landmark vote on independence for the region.
It was not immediately clear how many of the dead were soldiers and how many attackers but the shooting revived fears of renewed violence around the week-long referendum, centre piece of the 2005 peace deal between north and south that ended Africa's longest-running civil war. In the

KARACHI - The bourse continued to surprise local investors as the benchmark index soared, climbing by 240 points during the day. However a slight correction in the closing hours brought the index down to 12,323 level. The KSE-100 index gained 183 points at the close of the day, with volumes of 144 million shares.
Energy companies led the charge with POL emerging the star performer in response to reported prospect of a discovery in the Tal block. The KSE 100 index closed at

KARACHI - Over the last decade the world economy has experienced an unprecedented boom-bust cycle with extreme fluctuations in commodity prices. The dynamics of commodity price cycles are of lasting interest to policymakers and market participants, given their significant impact on economic and financial developments.
Commodity prices have long exhibited boom-and-bust patterns with high and varying volatility in nominal and real terms. Over the past ten years, commodity prices

ISLAMABAD - An Australian oil and gas company operating in Pakistan has handed over 49 houses, built at a cost of Rs 6.0 million, to the flood victims' homeless families in Isakhel district of Mianwali, to mitigate their sufferings in the severe winters.
The houses have been constructed at one of the worst hit villages at Sharifabad in Isakhel, located along the Kunhar river and have been provided to the widows and the elderly on priority. The Combined Engineering and Integrated

MUMBAI - Rising oil prices present a new inflationary headache for Asia and further complicate the task of policymakers grappling with broader price pressures, an uneven growth outlook and surging dollar inflows.
Central bankers in Asia are reluctant to stifle growth by raising rates and are wary of exacerbating yield differentials with western economies and Japan that would further attract potentially destabilising capital flows. At the same time, rising prices are politically