Russian Oil Production Drops
April 16th, 2008Via: AP / CNN:
Russian oil production has dropped this year for the first time in a decade.
The Prirazlomnoye oil well of Yuganskneftegaz, Yukos’ main production unit in western Siberia.
The news is adding to market jitters with oil prices headed for new highs Tuesday. Analysts played down the significance of Russia’s first drop in oil production since 1998.
A recent report by the International Energy Agency says Russia saw a 1 percent drop from January through March compared with the same period last year.
IEA oil analyst David Fife said Tuesday the agency is not yet changing its forecast on Russia’s oil output this year because the results may be anomalous.
Artyom Konchin is an analyst with Aton Capital in Moscow. He puts Russia’s oil supply lull down to high taxes and insufficient reinvestment, not a shortage of oil.
Energy traders rewrote the record books again Tuesday, pushing oil futures past $114 a barrel as gasoline and diesel prices struck new highs of their own at the pump.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery jumped as high as $114.08 a barrel shortly after regular trading ended on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is nearly $2 above an intraday high set last week.
