GLOBAL MARKETS: Euro, stocks up on Greece news; sentiment wary
HONG KONG, June 24 (Reuters) - The euro advanced from early lows and stocks inched higher in early Asian trade on Friday as Greece's deal with international lenders for a new austerity plan offered investors a rare piece of good news in a week filled with gloomy economic data.
Crude oil, which had plunged to a four-month low after the world's top consumers unexpectedly released emergency oil reserves for the third time ever, rebounded on news from Greece.
OIL: Oil rebounds after slide on IEA emergency stocks release
SINGAPORE, June 24 (Reuters) - Oil bounced back more than a dollar on Friday after slumping in the previous session on news the world's top consumers released emergency oil reserves for only the third time ever.
The International Energy Agency announced on Thursday it would inject 60 million barrels of government-held stocks into the global market, immediately increasing world supply by some 2.5 percent for the next month and sending prices spiralling down, with U.S. crude prices erasing all of the year's gains.
NATURAL GAS: Natural gas ends down 3 pct, front tests key support
NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures ended sharply lower on Thursday, with the front-month contract diving to a five-week low and testing key support after a government report showed a weekly inventory build well above market expectations.
"It was a surprisingly bearish (EIA build) number and shows how loose the fundamentals are beneath it all. The economy still looks weak, and the weather looks warm but nothing extreme," a Massachusetts-based trader said.
EURO COAL: Prices dip 50c to $1/T with oil steep fall
LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - Prompt physical coal values softened by around 50 cents to $1.00 a tonne on Thursday in a limited reaction to oil's $8 a barrel price dive, traders and utilities said.
"Coal swaps for both API2 and API4 did fall but it was a marginal reaction considering the extent oil dropped," one European trader said.
Australia not participating in IEA oil reserve release
CANBERRA, June 24 (Reuters) - Australia is not participating in the coordinated release of 60 million barrels of oil by developed countries announced by the International Energy Agency, the government said on Friday.
"Australia is not participating and not all IEA countries are," Australia's Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said.
Japan says to relax oil reserve requirements from June 27
TOKYO, June 24 (Reuters) - Japan will tap its emergency petroleum stockpile as part of global efforts to bolster tightening oil supplies, trade minister Banri Kaieda said on Friday.
Kaieda said the trade ministry has decided to relax refiners' oil reserve requirements by three days to 67 days' worth and that the lower requirements will take effect for one month from June 27.
JP Morgan, Goldman, cut oil price forecasts after IEA
SINGAPORE, June 24 (Reuters) - Bankers J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs slashed forecasts for crude prices in the third quarter after the International Energy Agency announced the release of 60 million barrels of oil next month to shore up the economic recovery.
J.P. Morgan cut its average forecast for Brent crude to $100 a barrel in the third quarter, down from its previous projection of $130. Goldman Sachs , one of the most influential banks in commodities, expects Brent prices to fall to $105-$107 a barrel by the end of July.
S.Korea to offer 3.46 mln bbls oil as part of IEA stock release
SEOUL, June 24 (Reuters) - South Korea will offer 3.46 million barrels of crude and oil products from strategic stocks as part of a coordinated release of fuel by developed countries, a spokesman for state-run Korean National Oil Corp (KNOC) said on Friday.
"As a member of the IEA, we were given our quota," KNOC spokesman Han Kwang-Yeol told Reuters. "It's about 5.8 percent of the total IEA release."
Obama's oil reserves plan took shape in May-official
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The plan to tap U.S. emergency oil reserves had been under way for nearly two months, but President Barack Obama held off in order to consult with other consuming nations and key OPEC producers, an administration official told Reuters on Thursday.
A pivotal point in the plan that culminated with a global stock release on Thursday occurred on May 2, the same day that U.S. oil prices peaked at nearly $115 a barrel. Obama's top advisors laid out an option for tapping the reserves, which had been discussed in more general terms for several months.
Bids for 30 mln barrels of SPR oil due by June 29
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department said on Thursday that companies must submit their bids by June 29 for purchasing 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The United States said it would supply half of a planned 60 million-barrel emergency release of crude oil from members of the International Energy Agency, in a bid to cover supplies lost from Libya during the peak demand summer driving season.
Argentine oil output hit by storage plant blockade
BUENOS AIRES, June 23 (Reuters) - A blockade by oil workers at a crude storage plant in southern Argentina is preventing the normalization of output despite teachers' decision to lift weeks-old roadblocks, industry sources said on Thursday.
The striking teachers have lifted their pickets over the last week, but energy sector workers are still blocking access to a key storage facility in the Las Heras district.
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