Archive for July, 2011

HOUSTON, July 31 (Reuters) – U.S. offshore oil and natural

gas producers are restarting production operations with

Tropical Storm Don long over, data from Gulf of Mexico energy

regulators showed on Sunday.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said 6 percent,

or 84,072 barrels per day, of oil output remained offline, down

4.9 percentage points from Saturday.

BOEM also said 3.5 percent of daily natural gas output, or

186 million cubic feet of natgas, remained shut in, down 3.1

percentage points from Saturday.

Among those that had restarted all shut production was

Anadarko Petroleum Corp, which had closed and fully

evacuated six Gulf platforms.

‘All back up and running,’ Anadarko spokesman John

Christiansen said.

BOEM’s statistics were based on reports from 17 companies

on Sunday, the agency said.

Several producers, including Shell Oil Co, had yet

to report publicly whether they had restarted shut production.

Exxon Mobil Corp said it was returning evacuated

workers to Gulf operations, but about 8,000 barrels per day of

oil and 50 million cubic feet per day of natural gas output

remained shut in.

Don was the first threat to Gulf energy infrastructure in

the 2011 hurricane season, but the storm’s path came nowhere

close to the basin’s major concentrations of oil and natural

gas platforms.

A westward-moving weather system about 575 miles (925 km)

east of the northern Windward Islands had a ‘near 100 percent’

chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next two days, the

National Hurricane Center said on Sunday. That system will be

named Emily if it strengthens into a storm or hurricane.

The Gulf’s daily output is about 1.4 million barrels of oil

and 5.2 billion cubic feet of natgas, according to BOEM data.

Don hit shore late on Friday 40 miles south of Corpus

Christi and quickly dissipated.

The three major refiners with plants in Corpus Christi —

Valero Energy Corp, Flint Hills Resources and Citgo

Petroleum Corp — reported no Don-related disruptions.

Overall, the Gulf accounts for 30 percent of U.S. oil

production and 12 percent of natural gas output, according to

BOEM. The Gulf Coast also is home to 40 percent of U.S.

refining capacity, and 30 percent of natural gas processing

plant capacity.

(Reporting by Kristen Hays; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Keywords: STORM DON/OIL

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WELLINGTON Aug 1 (Reuters) – The euro was flat against the U.S. dollar in early Asia-Pacific on Monday as U.S. lawmakers were close to a last-gasp $3 trillion deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default which would throw global markets into turmoil.

The euro traded at $1.4389 in Wellington from $1.4395 in late New York trade on Friday.

The dollar pushed higher against the Japanese yen, after falling to a four month low of 76.72 yen on Friday. It last traded at 77.29.

U.S. Politicans were seen in broad agreement about the shape of the plan to cut the U.S. deficit, although analysts have warned a deal may not be enough to avert a ratings downgrade. For a full range of U.S. debt stories see

(Australia/New Zealand bureaux) Keywords: MARKETS AUSTRALIA NEWZEALAND FOREX/BONDS

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HOUSTON, July 31 (Reuters) – Chevron Corp has restarted oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico that was shut in for Tropical Storm Don, a spokesman said on Sunday.

Spokesman Russell Johnson also said Chevron was restaffing Gulf operations that had been evacuated for the storm. Chevron did not specify how much output had been shut in or how many workers had been evacuated.

(Reporting by Kristen Hays, editing by Maureen Bavdek) Keywords: STORM DON/CHEVRON

(kristen.hays@thomsonreuters.com +1 713-210-8538; Reuters Messaging: kristen.hays.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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By Richard Cowan and Rachelle Younglai

WASHINGTON, July 31 (Reuters) – American lawmakers raced against the clock on Sunday to forge a last-minute deal that could raise the U.S. debt ceiling by $2.8 trillion and provide assurance to financial markets that the United States will avoid default.

Prospects that a significant package was within grasp brightened after Republican and Democratic leaders reopened stalled talks with the White House, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was confident and optimistic.

‘I think we’ve got a chance of getting there,’ McConnell. a Republican, said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, pushed back a key procedural vote on a debt limit plan by 12 hours to 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GM) on Sunday, buying additional time for both sides to hammer out details before Asia markets open.

‘There are negotiations going on at the White House now on a solution that will avert a catastrophic default on the nation’s debt,’ Reid said on the Senate floor late on Saturday.

‘There is still a distance to go,’ he said.

A White House official said that no deal had yet been reached, and cautioned that details being circulated were ‘inaccurate.’

Time is running out for the U.S. government to raise its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit before the Tuesday deadline when the Treasury says it will run out of money to pay its bills and could no longer service the national debt. But a cautious optimism had begun emerging on Capitol Hill.

‘We’re a long way from any kind of a negotiated agreement, but there is certainly a more positive feeling about reaching an agreement this evening than I’ve felt in a long time,’ Senator Richard Durbin, the No.2 Democrat in the Senate, told reporters late on Saturday.

TIGHT TIMEFRAME

If a credible bipartisan deal is tantalizingly close, the White House has said it would accept a very short-term extension of the debt limit to allow lawmakers time to nail down the compromise.

Given talks are heading down to the wire, Washington is chafing against the deadline to get a deal agreed, legislation drafted, voted upon and signed into law.

The elements of the package under consideration would raise the debt ceiling through 2012 and cut spending by an amount equal to the increase in the debt limit over a 10-year period.

The first $1 trillion in cuts have been largely agreed by lawmakers. A further $1.8 trillion would be recommended by a special committee appointed by Congress and automatic measures would implement the planned cuts if Congress failed to vote on them, an aide familiar with the talks said.

It was unclear whether increases would be part of the deal, an issue Democrats have pressed hard for.

The political gridlock over how to reduce the U.S. deficit and raise the debt ceiling has put the United States at risk of losing its top-notch Triple A credit rating.

A downgrade could prompt global investor flight from U.S. bonds and the dollar, raising borrowing costs for Americans for years to come and threatening an already fragile economy that could easily fall back into recession.

A U.S. default would plunge financial markets and economies around the globe into turmoil. U.S. stocks markets last week posted their worst losses in a year, the dollar slumped and nervous investors pulled up cash into insured bank accounts.

Top Wall Street banks warned Washington last week not to risk defaulting on the U.S. debt.

‘Our country is not going to default for the first time in its history — that’s not going to happen,’ McConnell said, holding out hope for a compromise deal.

The procedural Senate vote on Sunday requires a minimum of 60 ‘yea’ votes to close debate and move a debt plan to a vote on passage. It would be a barometer of whether bipartisan support could be mustered for a compromise that could pass both houses by Tuesday.

The partisan squabbling and brinkmanship has dented the U.S. image as the world’s capitalist superpower, causing alarm among foreign governments, some of whom have expressed incredulity that American politicians would risk a national default by clinging to hardline, intransigent positions.

(Additional reporting by Dave Clarke, Alister Bull, Lily Kuo and Laura MacInnis in Washington and Michael Erman and David Gaffen in New York; Writing by Stella Dawson and Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Sandra Maler) Keywords: USA DEBT/

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Inverse:
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1.43968

1.00000

0.87669
Inverse:
0.69460
1.00000
1.14065

1 GBP =

1.64217

1.14065

1.00000
Inverse:
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0.87669
1.00000

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0.01303

0.00905

0.00793
Inverse:
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110.50245
126.04483

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1 AUD =

1.09840

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1.31070
1.49506

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1.27226

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0.77475
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1.29075

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0.09460
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0.14988

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0.09127
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10.95656

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0.08514

0.05914

0.05185
Inverse:
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16.90901
19.28730

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TEL AVIV, July 31 (Reuters) – Strauss Coffee agreed on Sunday with Sucafina Group to acquire the Ambassador brand of freeze-dried instant coffee and roast and ground coffee products sold in Russia, Ukraine and Moldavia.

The brand had net revenue of $10 million in 2010.

Strauss Coffee, which is 74.9 percent owned by Israeli food company Strauss Group and 25.1 percent by TPG Capital , will pay $8 million for the brands and another $2.4 million for non-competition undertaking by the sellers.

‘Our acquisition of the Ambassador brand further enhances our competitive position in the Russian and CIS markets, and is another phase in developing our instant coffee bushiness on top of the Le Cafe transaction in the fourth quarter last year,’ Todd Morgan, chief executive of Strauss Coffee, said.

Strauss CIS intends to further develop Ambassador as a premium brand in the area. The transaction will be funded independently by Strauss Coffee.

The deal is conditional on receipt of the approvals by authorities in Russia.

Ambassador, which specialises in premium instant and RG coffee brands, operates mainly in Russia, Ukraine and CIS, and employs 70 people.

Strauss Coffee is the fifth-largest coffee company in the world in terms of green coffee procurement volumes. It operates in central and Eastern Europe, Brazil and Israel, employs 6,000 people and had revenue of over 675 million euros in 2010.

(Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Alex Richardson) Keywords: STRAUSS COFFEE/

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By Caren Bohan and Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) – A bitter mood prevailed on Capitol Hill as U.S. lawmakers struggled on Saturday to find a compromise measure to lift the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit three days before a deadline to avert a ruinous default.

A day after the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a bill to cut the deficit and raise the cap on government borrowing, the debt saga shifted to the Democratic-led Senate.

Democrats there pushed ahead with their own plan and sought to attract bipartisan support by adding some elements of a plan offered by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

But 43 Senate Republicans signed a letter rejecting the plan, a sign the measure does not have the support it needs to advance in Congress.

‘What will they vote for? Do they have any ideas? Let me know,’ Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor.

Back-channel talks held the best hope for a compromise. Unless Congress raises the debt ceiling, the government would be barred from further borrowing after Tuesday, according to the U.S. Treasury, and could quickly run out of money to pay all its bills.

The world has watched with growing alarm as political gridlock in Washington has brought the world’s largest economy close to an unprecedented default, threatening to plunge financial markets and economies around the globe into turmoil.

McConnell called on Reid to move up a vote that had been set for 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT) on Sunday so the two sides could begin talks with the White House.

‘We can’t do it by ourselves, it has to have the only person in America who can sign something into law,’ McConnell said.

President Barack Obama urged lawmakers to strike a deal and head off what he has said would be an ‘inexcusable’ default.

‘There are multiple ways to resolve this problem,’ Obama, a Democrat, said in his weekly radio address. ‘Congress must find common ground on a plan that can get support from both parties in the House. And it’s got to be a plan that I can sign by Tuesday.’

The House was set to vote at around 2:30 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on the plan crafted by Reid, and Republicans said they expected to defeat that bill because it did not contain enough spending cuts.

‘The Senate is burning up precious time by working all weekend on a doomed Reid bill that can’t pass the House,’ a House Republican leadership aide said. ‘Congressional talks are essentially motionless until Senator Reid provides specifics to the Hill on what the president will sign.’

Democratic Representative Sander Levin said it was ‘disgraceful’ that Republicans had scheduled their vote on the Reid plan before the Senate even had a chance to take it up.

CRUCIAL WEEKEND

With its back against the wall, the U.S. Treasury could be forced to detail plans on Sunday before Asian markets open on which bills it would pay if a compromise does not appear to be in the works. Analysts believe it will stop other government spending to ensure bondholders are paid to avert a wide-scale financial crisis.

The drawn-out standoff has put the United States at risk of losing its top-notch AAA credit rating. A ratings downgrade could prompt global investor flight from U.S. bonds and the dollar, raising borrowing costs for Americans when the economy is already frail, growing at an anemic rate of 1.3 percent in second quarter, according to government data.

U.S. stocks endured their worst week in a year as the uncertainty made investors shy away from riskier assets and the dollar slumped to a record low against the safe-haven Swiss franc. Much worse could be in store if a U.S. debt deal doesn’t appear to be on track by the time markets open on Monday.

Senate Democrats’ debt-limit proposal, which would cut deficits by $2.2 trillion over 10 years, was revised by Reid to incorporate parts of a ‘backup plan’ first proposed by McConnell. Under that version, Obama would be given the authority to raise the debt ceiling in three stages to cover U.S. borrowing needs through the 2012 elections when he is running for a second term. For details, see

The biggest sticking point in the effort to get a deal is House Republicans’ insistence on a two-stage strategy for raising the debt limit that could set up another showdown over the issue within a few months. Obama says that would be unacceptable because it would lead to economic uncertainty, putting a damper on jobs and growth.

With Republicans pushing to have the White House join the talks, Vice President Joe Biden, who has a rapport with McConnell from his years in the Senate, could emerge as a key player in final negotiations.

(Additional reporting by Dave Clarke, Alister Bull and Laura MacInnis in Washington and Michael Erman and David Gaffen in New York; Writing by Caren Bohan; Editing by Vicki Allen) Keywords: USA DEBT/

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CALGARY, Alberta, July 30 (Reuters) – Imperial Oil Ltd said on Saturday that it had advanced scheduled maintenance at its 82,000 barrel per day refinery at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and expects the facility will remain closed until mid-August.

Pius Rolheiser, a spokesman for the company, said the refinery was shut down on July 21 after a power outage.

Imperial, 69.6 percent owned by Exxon Mobil Corp, then decided to advance planned work originally scheduled for early August rather than restart operations, he added.

Rolheiser said the company had arranged for alternate supplies during the shutdown. But the earlier than expected start of the work ‘may put some pressure on inventories and supplies.’

He said Imperial expects to have adequate stocks to meet usual demand in the Atlantic provinces and eastern Quebec.

Asked about media reports that some of Imperial’s Esso stations were running low on fuel at the start of a holiday weekend, Rolheiser said they would soon be resupplied.

(Reporting by Scott Haggett; Editing by Janet Guttsman) Keywords: CANADA DARTMOUTH/

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WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) – The White House said on Saturday it ‘strongly supports’ a bill being considered in the House of Representatives that incorporates both Democratic and Republican ideas and would raise the debt limit to early 2013.

‘It is imperative that the United States not default on the nation’s obligations,’ the Obama administration said in a policy statement. ‘If the bill were presented to the president, his senior advisors would recommend that he sign it.’

The bill would require two-thirds approval in the Republican-controlled House to pass.

(Reporting by Alister Bull and Laura MacInnis) Keywords: USA DEBT/WHITEHOUSE BILL

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