Crude edges up after hitting a 10-wk low on Friday
SINGAPORE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures traded higher after falling to a 10-week low in the previous session as tensions in the Middle East cooled following the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March crude rose to $85.67, up 9 cents by 0009 GMT, after settling more than $1 lower at $85.58 in the previous session.
Malaysia's Petronas finds new energy fields offshore Sarawak
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas said on Monday it has discovered new oil and gas fields through the drilling of NC3 and Spaoh-1 wells in Blocks SK316 and SK306 in offshore Sarawak state.
It said drilling of the NC3 wildcat well and a subsequent appraisal well brought significant discovery in Block SK316 with early estimation of 2.6 trillion standard cubic feet of net gas in place.
U.S. wheat jumps 1.7 pct, corn makes new contract highs
SINGAPORE, Feb 14(Reuters) - U.S. wheat futures rose 1.7 percent, starting the week on bullish note as dry weather in crop areas of China and the United States raised concerns over supplies amid strong buying, led by Egypt, the world's top importer.
"Weather issues are continuing to persist in China, not much change to that situation is expected for a while and similar is the case for the U.S. winter wheat belt," said Luke Matthews, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
OIL:Crude edges up after hitting a 10-wk low on Friday
SINGAPORE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures traded higher on Monday after falling to a 10-week low in the previous session as tensions in the Middle East cooled following the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak's departure eased worries about potential oil supply disruptions along the Suez Canal and a strategic pipeline.
The anti-government demonstrations in Egypt, which is not a major oil producer, began in late January, raising fears that the unrest could spread to other producer nations in the region.
COMMODITIES:First broad fall in 5 weeks; oil at 10-week low
NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Commodities fell broadly on Friday for the first time in five weeks after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation pushed U.S. oil prices down, although metals and grains ended mixed on varying fundamentals.
"Lower prices may be temporary here as traders will again look broadly and see if protests in Egypt, which apparently are now about to end, may spark other similar movements across the Middle East," said Mark Waggoner at Excel Futures in Bend, Oregon.
GLOBAL Asian stocks rise as Egypt worries fade
SYDNEY, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Monday as investors greeted news of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation with relief, while U.S. crude steadied near $85.50 after falling to 10-week lows as geopolitical tensions eased for now.
"What with good corporate earnings, the resignation of Mubarak and other helpful factors, the investment environment is good," said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities.
Obama budget cuts $3.6 bln in oil, gas subsidies
WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The White House will ask Congress to repeal $3.6 billion in oil, natural gas and coal industry subsidies as part of its proposed government budget for the 2012 spending year that will be released on Monday.
Phasing out the fossil fuel subsidies, which would total $46.2 billion over a decade, will help the U.S. "transition to a 21st century energy economy," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a posting on his blog at the department's website on Friday. The White House sought similar deep cuts in fossil fuel tax breaks and spending last year, but Congress voted against it.
US icebreakers can't handle Alaska oil spills-official
WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard does not have enough working icebreakers to respond to a major oil spill in Alaskan waters, the top official who oversaw the containment of the BP oil spill warned Congress on Friday.
"The current condition of the Coast Guard icebreaker fleet should be of great concern to the senior leaders of this nation," General Thad Allen testified at a House Transportation subcommittee hearing on last summer's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
US govt finds major safety issues on Alaska oil line
NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. government's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has begun a thorough investigation of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, following a Jan. 8 leak that required the line to shut down temporarily.
The division of the U.S. Department of Transport found that the line appears to have "multiple conditions" that "pose a pipeline integrity risk to public safety, property or the environment," according to a Feb. 1 letter sent by regulators to the pipeline operator and viewed by Reuters.
S.Korea skips rate rise, seen tightening in March
SEOUL, Feb 11 (Reuters) - South Korea's central bank surprised markets on Friday by keeping interest rates on hold at 2.75 percent, indicating it wanted more time to assess the impact of a rate rise in January before moving again to tackle inflation.
Most analysts had expected a rare back-to-back rate increase after inflation rose more than expected in January to stand above the central bank's target. A Reuters poll shows they now expect the authority to raise rates in March.
India's lack of industrial capacity addition worrisome
NEW DELHI, Feb 11 (Reuters) - India is concerned about the lack of capacity addition in its industrial sector, the trade and industries minister said on Friday, after data showed factory output in December grew at the weakest pace in 20 months.
But, Anand Sharma was optimistic factory output growth would break out of the low single-digit zone it has occupied for two months.
Beijing moves to tighten rare earth production
BEIJING, Feb 11 (Reuters) - China has created a "state planning" zone covering the country's biggest rare earth mines in a move to cut production of the vital rare mineral elements used for numerous high-tech goods, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday night.
Exploration and mining of rare earth resources in the zone, an area of 2,500 square kilometres of Jiangxi province in southern China that contains 760,000 tonnes of rare earth mineral deposits, will be subject to stricter state scrutiny and regulatory checks, Xinhua said, citing the Ministry of Land and
Resources in Beijing.
PRECIOUS-Gold pares gains, physical buyers scarce
SINGAPORE, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Gold erased some of early gains in directionless trade on Friday, under pressure from a drop in ETF holdings to their lowest since late January, a firm U.S. dollar and a lacklustre physical market.
Premiums for gold bars were steady in Hong Kong and Singapore, with no signs of buying interest from China after the Lunar New Year celebration. Unrest in Egypt could underpin sentiment, but there was hardly any physical buying in Asia related to the deadly turmoil.
FOREX-Euro falls as debt nerves return, dollar gains
LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The euro fell on Friday following a new bout of market jitters over the euro zone's sovereign debt problems, while the dollar struck a one-month high against the yen after data underscored recovery in the U.S. jobs market.
U.S.Treasury yields have spiked this month, shoring up the dollar while improving data has supported the view that economic recovery in the United States is on more durable ground.
U.S. wheat up after sharp decline; soy, corn steady
SINGAPORE, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures rose around half a percent, while soybeans were little changed after sliding from 2-1/2 year highs in the previous session on disappointing U.S. weekly export sales.
"For corn, there is more strength coming in as there was impressive exports report from USDA yesterday and buyers are worried about lower stocks," said Ker Chung Yang, commodities analyst at Singapore-based Phillip Futures.
US govt hands may be tied on ethanol-USDA official
PALM BEACH, Florida, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has few options to slow down the ethanol boom that has played a big role in drawing down corn supplies to their lowest level in 15 years, a top U.S. Agriculture Department official said on Thursday.
"The fact is the industry has pretty much been built," USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber told reporters on the sidelines of a Commodity Markets Council conference. "This isn't a question of just saying 'cut it off.' It's much more complicated than that."
