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Oil strikes 76 on BP field shutdown { July 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=businessNews&storyid=2006-08-07T045221Z_01_SP991_RTRUKOC_0_US-MARKETS-OIL.xml&src=rss&rpc=23 http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=businessNews&storyid=2006-08-07T045221Z_01_SP991_RTRUKOC_0_US-MARKETS-OIL.xml&src=rss&rpc=23 Oil strikes $76 on BP field shutdown Mon Aug 7, 2006 12:52 AM ET By Maryelle Demongeot SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil touched $76 a barrel on Monday after producer BP shut down the biggest oilfield in the United States indefinitely, while anxiety about Middle East supply continued to run high. U.S. light, sweet crude oil was up $1.24 at $76.00 a barrel by 0447 GMT, after an earlier high of $76.02, or a 1.65 percent jump, on news of the field's closure. London's Brent was up 98 cents at $77.15 a barrel. "The BP field is a sizable stream and this is just another thing. The world is already concerned about supplies and this is just adding to concerns," said Tony Nunan, a risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp. in Tokyo. "BP is the main thing and Iran is in the background. It's a good thing Chris did not become a hurricane." Oil producer BP Plc said on Sunday it was shutting down indefinitely the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska, cutting production by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 8 percent of U.S. domestic oil output. The closure was due to the discovery of severe corrosion and a tiny spill from a Prudhoe Bay oil transit line, BP said "It will provide a lift to the market but I think the move has probably already been priced in tonight," said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena Illinois. "Ït would have to be shut down for an extended period of time before much of an effect would be felt because we can still import that amount of (oil)." Tropical Storm Chris, which at one point appeared set to become the season's first hurricane, has failed to regain strength after being downgraded to a tropical depression late last week. MIDDLE EAST BOILS Tensions in the Middle East rose after Iran again invoked its oil exports for political leverage and Lebanon rejected a draft U.N. resolution meant to end the war between Israel and Hizbollah. A further spike in oil prices resulting from a broader Middle East conflict would drag an already slowing U.S. economy into recession more easily now than a year ago, Standard & Poor's said on Monday. The credit ratings agency forecast three scenarios -- with a $250 oil barrel sparking global recession in the worst of them, should Iran close the Strait of Hormuz, a bottleneck in the Gulf region between Iran and Oman by which tankers from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates transit. But the most likely scenario, based on a limited conflict, has prices falling from current $75 levels to below $70 by year-end and to $60 by end-2008, which would allow the world economy to keep expanding, with U.S. growth slowing to 2.5 percent in 2007, S&P said. Iran, the fourth-largest oil exporter, vowed on Sunday to expand its atomic fuel work and warned of a harsh response if the United Nations imposed sanctions aimed at halting enrichment. "If they do (impose sanctions), we will react in a way that would be painful for them," said Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. "We do not want to use the oil weapon, it is they who would impose it upon us," he told a news conference, adding Iran would expand the number of atomic centrifuges it was running. Hopes to move forward on Monday with a draft U.N. resolution to end the war were dashed after Lebanon asked the Security Council to call for a quick withdrawal of Israeli troops, dividing council members and pushing a likely vote back until Tuesday. Israel views the U.N. draft favorably as it allows Israel to respond to Hizbollah attacks and did not order it to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, a senior government official said. (Additional reporting by Robert Campbell in New York) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © Reuters 2006.

BP facing oil and gas probe { July 2006 } BP prices manipulation probed { August 29 2006 } BP purposely allowed pipeline to shutdown { August 10 2006 } British petroleum tried to manipulate gasoline futures { December 14 2006 } Oil strikes 76 on BP field shutdown { July 2006 } Files Listed: 5

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