: oil&energy

||| ENERGY PRICES. Ahead of today’s OPEC meeting

Oil ends week on a flat note

||| Crude futures barely budged in New York as oil group OPEC gets ready for an informal meeting today
in Cairo, Egypt. ||| With a one-day breather due to Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., prices had risen 9 percent on Monday, dropped 7 percent Tuesday, and jumped more than 7 percent on Wednesday.

John Porretto | AP Energy Writer
 

HOUSTON – Oil prices ended flat on Friday with OPEC officials sending mixed messages about a production cut before a regularly scheduled meeting in December.
After tumbling earlier in the day during an abbreviated session on the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude for January delivery settled down a penny at $54.43. In London, January Brent crude rose 36 cents to settle at $53.49 on the ICE Futures exchange. Yet for most of the day, trading at NYMEX was as volatile as it had been for the entire week, save for Thursday when the market was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Crude jumped 9 percent Monday, fell 7 percent Tuesday, and rose more than 7 percent Wednesday. The week has been marked by light trading, which tends to be more volatile.
For the week, crude was up about 9 percent from the settlement price last Friday.
"We were a little overcooked earlier this week, so it looks like we're going to give some of it back today," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch&Associates. Oil prices fluctuated between $50 and $55 this week, pausing after a fall of more than 60 percent since reaching a record $147.27 in mid-July.
Investors will be watching whether the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reduces output quotas at an informal meeting Saturday in Cairo, Egypt.
OPEC oil ministers on Friday downplayed expectations of, but didn't dismiss outright, an immediate output cut. In other NYMEX trading, gasoline futures for January rose less than a penny to settle at $1.2096. Heating oil dropped 3.335 cents to $1.7271 a gallon while natural gas for January delivery fell 36.8 cents to settle at $6.51 per 1,000 cubic feet. |||

||| VENEZUELA. For two refineries in Ecuador, Nicaragua

Gov’t reevaluates funding

The Associated Press

Venezuela is reevaluating how to pay for planned new refineries in Ecuador and Nicaragua, a top official in the state oil company said, because slumping oil prices have put a pinch on spending plans. Under President Hugo Chávez, state-run Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA, has agreed to help build refineries in political allies Ecuador and Nicaragua, which together could cost $7.5 billion or more.
Elogio Del Pino, a PDVSA vice president, told the Venezuelan El Nacional in comments published on Friday that "international investments like the refineries in Ecuador and Nicaragua are under evaluation." "We're asking to look for financing" to help pay for the refineries, he was quoted as saying.
The review is a sign that the global economic downturn – and depressed crude prices – could be starting to restrict Chávez' international aid and oil investments. Borrowing, however, could help Venezuela meet some pledges if necessary. Chávez has made plans to build various refineries in Venezuela and other LatAm countries as he looks to reduce reliance on U.S. refineries and the U.S. market – still Venezuela's No. 1 client.
Chávez has said his government may adjust some of its plans if oil prices remain low. Del Pino said as he left a congressional meeting on Thursday that PDVSA will reevaluate funding only for some international projects, and that domestic investment in the oil industry will be unchanged. "The idea is to maintain investment in the country, because our idea is to have between 300,000 and 400,000 barrels (of oil) per day of potential – so that when the rebound in oil prices comes ... we can then open up that production," Del Pino was quoted as saying.
The planned refinery in Ecuador would refine about 300,000 barrels of crude per day, while the Nicaraguan refinery would handle some 150,000 barrels. Venezuela is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the world's 10th largest producer. Venezuela is backing a proposed 1 million barrel per day cut at today's OPEC meeting in Cairo in an attempt to boost prices. |||