USA TODAY: Oil nears $50 as storms, global tension drive prices
“In Nigeria, rebels seeking political reforms in the impoverished oil-producing Niger delta scored a success with the closure by Royal Dutch/Shell of a small 30,000 barrels a day. Shell evacuated some staff as a security precaution as government troops battle militia, threatening deliveries from the country that pumps 2.5 million barrels daily.”
27 Sept 04
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil prices approached $50 a barrel Monday as domestic and foreign supply concerns persist amid strong global demand.
Crude oil for November delivery was up 52 cents, or 1.1%, at $49.40 in late afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices reached $49.74, the highest since futures began trading in 1983. Oil futures were up 75% from a year earlier.
Crude futures settled Friday at a record $48.88 a barrel. Adjusting for inflation, today’s prices are still more than $30 below the level reached in 1981 after the Iranian revolution.
“A lot of what you’re seeing is a response to Hurricane Ivan,” said John Vautrain, a Singapore-based vice president for Houston-based energy consultant Purvin and Gertz.
Over the past two weeks the nation’s supply of crude has fallen 16.1 million barrels because of Ivan-related disruptions to oil production and shipping, according to the Energy Department. This comes at a time of year when oil supplies typically grow as gasoline demand tapers off and refiners briefly shut down to perform maintenance.
When the government’s weekly petroleum supply report comes out Wednesday, analysts expect to see sharp declines in the nation’s inventory of oil for the third straight week due to the lingering impact of Hurricane Ivan.
The federal Minerals Management Service reported Friday that daily oil production in the Gulf of Mexico is 27% below normal at 1.2 million barrels a day. Ten million barrels of oil have been lost since Sept. 13, when offshore producers began evacuating crews ahead of Ivan’s arrival.
Prices were strengthened Monday by reports of clashes in Saudi Arabia between government forces and suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants and mortar attacks on the Iraqi Oil Ministry in Baghdad.
In addition, concerns over Nigeria, OPEC’s No. 5 producer, compounded worries about supplies.
In Nigeria, rebels seeking political reforms in the impoverished oil-producing Niger delta scored a success with the closure by Royal Dutch/Shell of a small 30,000 barrels a day. Shell evacuated some staff as a security precaution as government troops battle militia, threatening deliveries from the country that pumps 2.5 million barrels daily.
Also Monday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, admitted that its decision to boost production by a million barrels a day from November has failed to calm the market.
Underpinning today’s higher prices is the increasing sense of supply tightness in global oil markets.
With global oil demand roughly 82 million barrels a day, the amount of excess oil production available is only about 1%, according to many analysts, leaving the industry a slim margin for error in the event of a prolonged supply interruption.
The Energy Department said Friday it would lend 1.7 million barrels of oil to refiners whose operations have been strained by Ivan, though analysts expect these fuel loans to have limited impact on prices.
Contributing: Bloomberg News, Reuters
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
