【HENGYUAN 4324 交流专区】 （前名 SHELL）

small_lightning

最近很多回教徒在抵制荷兰产品，SHELL 会不会受影响呢？

33333

大会日期出来了，这里会有人出席吗？
去年缺席了，今年考虑考虑。

tan81

我会去。劳烦版主把这个合拼。
http://chinese3.cari.com.my/myfo ... p;extra=&page=1

tan81

我已经完成了对于SHELL的研究。其中最有争议性的，就是国际原油价格到底对它的盈利有什么影响。Shell的ＥＰＳ不是真正的盈利，　因为包含了Ｓｔｏｃｋｈｏｌｄｉｎｇ　Ｇａｉｎｓ。　投资Ｓｈｅｌｌ的回报要怎么算，等等。
由于有许多图表。要劳烦各位移到我的部落格看。　可以继续在这里发问和讨论。

http://tan81.blogspot.com/

迟来的朋友，可以到
http://tan81.blogspot.com/search/label/share%20research

tan81

可以劳烦版主合并和改标题吗？ 我想，已经证明了SHELL和油价的关系。
谢谢。

Mr.Business

我比较希望维持原装，不于合并。大家就继续在这里讨论吧。请问你可以建议新标题吗？

tan81

谢谢。 我建议：SHELL是现金牛。或投资原油的另类选择。

Mr.Business

转帖：

Shell Refining
发表时间: 2006-1-17 18:30   
作者: sorooter   

借个地方开贴收集Shell的资料

Shell Refining Company (Federation of Malaya) Berhad was formed in 1960 as a public listed company. It currently has 49% public participation and 51% held by Shell Overseas Holding Limited. The Company operates with state-of-the-art technology and is the key petroleum products supplier to Shell's Oil Products businesses in Malaysia. The oil refinery at Port Dickson has a licensed production capacity of 156,000 barrels per day and produces a comprehensive range of petroleum products, some 90% of which are consumed within Malaysia.

关于Shell Overseas Holdings Limited减持股权
http://www.shell.com/static/src- ... chairman_speech.pdf

In July 2004, your Company’s major shareholder, Shell Overseas Holdings Limited, completed the sale of 72 million ordinary shares or a 24% shareholding in our Company, to institutional and private investors.
While the decision was part of Shell's active portfolio management strategy, I believe the retention of its 51% stake reflects its firm commitment to the objectives of your Company. It is pleasing that your Company’s share price continued to rise markedly after the sale. I also note liquidity in the shares of your Company is markedly higher – ten times higher – following Shell Overseas Holding’s divestment.

Royal Dutch Petroleum Company Strategy
http://www.shell.com/static/inve ... _summary_report.pdf

Our strategy is clear: more upstream, profitable downstream. We intend to focus on areas with high growth potential and where we can capture value from a higher oil and gas price environment.

In line with our strategy of reshaping our portfolio and focusing our activity in selected markets, a number of divestments were made including assets in Portugal and Spain and a portion of the Group’s ownership of Showa Shell in Japan which was sold to Saudi Aramco. The sale of the Group’s interest in the Rayong refinery in Thailand was completed. The Delaware City refinery and the Great Plains and Midwest product pipelines in the USA were sold. We also announced that we were considering options for the LPG business including the possibility of a sale.

SHELL REFINING 是属于 downstream businesses
Shell’s downstream businesses engage in refining crude oil into a range of products including fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals. The Group operates the largest single brand retail network, with over 46,000 service stations.

XXXXX

债务

You may have read in the newspapers last week, that your Company signed a financial agreement with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi to secure a syndicated term loan facility of US$ 140 Million (or RM 532 Million) to prepay in full the outstanding balance of an existing syndicated term loan facility of US$ 360 Million (or RM 1,368 Million) and this at much better interest rate terms than we paid on the previous loan.
We are very pleased with the excellent terms we agreed with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, which include competitive pricing while other favourable terms and conditions remain virtually unchanged from those applicable to the previous facility.
The Board of Directors and the Management Team of your Company are committed to continuously enhance shareholder value and this new term loan facility, which brings materially reduced financing costs and increased profitability to your Company and to you, the shareholders, is testimony to our resolve and focus in achieving an optimal capital and financing structure for the Company.

XXXXX

在马来西亚独有的LRCC

The Long Residue Catalytic Cracker (or LRCC as we often call it) unit proved its value by giving us the opportunity to produce higher margin products; the LRCC is the only facility of its kind in any refinery in Malaysia.

The LRCC:
• Enabled premium products to be produced – V-Power, Propylene
• Quadrupled LPG production
• Doubled motor gasoline output

http://www.shell.com/home/Framew ... rchistory_0901.html

The Company's oil refinery at Port Dickson produces a comprehensive range of petroleum products, most of which are consumed within Malaysia. In 1999 the Company completed its RM 1.4 billion investment in Malaysia's first Long Residue Catalytic Cracking (LRCC), thereby transforming what was a medium-sized simple refinery into a modern complex refinery capable of processing 125 kbpd (thousand barrels per day). The LRCC has quadrupled the refinery's LPG production and doubled its motor gasoline. It has also enabled the refinery to manufacture propylene for the first time - a highly valued feedstock for the petrochemical industry.

XXXXX

原料货源

Malaysian crude and condensate continued to remain the primary intake into the refinery and it formed 46% of the refinery intake diet, with the remainder of the feedstock coming from the Far East and the Middle East.

XXXXX

效率

In 2004, your Company’s Port Dickson refinery recorded an operational availability of 94.7% maintaining the excellent uptime performance recorded in the previous year.
Your Company successfully completed two planned shutdowns during the year to facilitate statutory inspection and maintenance of our Complex 1 unit in March 2004 for 16 days, and of the Platformer-2 unit in September 2004 for 14 days. With the strong commitment of the refinery staff at Port Dickson to maximise plant uptime, we managed to process a total of 40.5 million barrels of crude oil and condensate during the year. Ladies and gentlemen – I must concede that our refinery is not the biggest in the world but I challenge any other refinery to beat our recent efficiency track record.

XXXXX

油价和成绩

Our 2004 net profit after tax amounted to a record RM 670 million, representing an increase of RM 488 million or 268% above the previous record of RM 182 million achieved in the previous year, 2003. The combined strengths of robust refining margins, which your Company’s management maximised whenever it could, and outstanding operational performance contributed to your Company’s commendable financial performance in 2004.
During the year we also benefited from a pre-tax stockholding gain of RM 112 million due to an overall increase in oil prices during the year (compared to a gain of RM 17 million in 2003);
however this stockholding effect accounted for only 15% of the Company’s total 2004 pre-tax net income. I hope this convinces you that only a small proportion of your Company’s profitability last year was due to oil price increases.

XXXXX

股息
http://www.shell.com/home/Framew ... _q3result_1128.html

The Company is currently in a cash surplus position and wishes to prudently return this cash to its shareholders. It is the Board’s intention that this cash be paid out in the form of a 20 sen per share special interim dividend each quarter until the surplus cash has been utilised. On the basis of current planning assumptions, these special interim dividends would be paid out over the next 4 to 8 quarters; these special interim dividends will be in addition to the interim and final dividends.

It is expected that refining margins will ease in the current quarter. Any weakening in oil prices may also negatively impact the Company’s financial results, given the stock accounting practices adopted by the Company.

XXXXX

General Introduction
http://www.shell.com/home/Framew ... g_process_1212.html

Refining is the manufacture of petroleum products from crude oil. Refining involves two major branches; separation processes and conversion processes.
There are many processes available to the refiner and the final processes chosen is determined by the products required (both quantity and quality) and the crude oil available. Over time changes to either product requirements or available crude oil can result in changes to the refining processes necessary in the refinery.

Refinery Products
Shell Refining Company (SRC) produces the following petroleum products:
Liquefied Petroleum Gas, or "LPG"
Propylene
Gasoline, or Petrol
Jet Fuel, or Avtur
Gasoil, or Diesel
Sulphur

SRC also produces a number of petroleum components which can either be sold or processed in the refinery.

Crude Oil
Petroleum products are made from Crude Oil. There are many types of crude oil which come from many different sources around the world.
Selection of the right crude oil is a key part of the refining process. The decision as to what crude oil, or combination of crude oil, to process depends on many factors including; quality, availability, volume, and price.
Shipping costs (or "Freight") are another important element in crude oil selection and are determined by the size of the cargo and the distance from the supplier to the refinery.

Distillation
The first stage of crude processing is known as distillation, or fractionation, and occurs in a column known as a Distillation Column.
In this process, the crude oil, which is a mixture of many types of hydrocarbons, is boiled and recondensed to separate the crude oil into components based on ranges of boiling points.
Components which are heavier are harder to boil and will collect in the lower part of the column. Lighter components are easier to boil and will be collected in the upper part of the column.
Very heavy components which are unable to boil will leave from the bottom of the column, in a stream known as residue, while very light components will leave from the top of the column. This stream is known as Liquefied Petroleum Gas, or LPG.

Hydroprocessing
To meet environmental specifications or to assist is further processing, some components then undergo a process known as hydroprocessing. The objective of this process is to remove sulphur from the component stream.
This process will consume hydrogen to assist in the sulphur removal. The sulphur removed from this process is converted into pure liquid sulphur and is sold to local industry for the production or acid and fertiliser.

Reforming/Platforming
This process converts a low value component called 'naphtha' into a product known as reformate or platformate. This reformate has a much higher octane number and is used for gasoline blending.
This is achieved using a catalyst that contains platinum.

Catalytic Cracking
This conversion process involves the breaking up of large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller molecules using a combination of heat and catalytic action.
The unit at SRC is a Long Residue Catalytic Cracking (LRCC) unit and takes a heavy hydrocarbon stream called Long Residue and converts it into a number of more valuable components and products, including LPG, Propylene and some Fuel Oil components. However, the main product form the SRC LRCC is a gasoline blending component known as Cat Cracked Gasoline (CCG).
A by-product of this process is Coke (or carbon), which is burnt to generate steam and electricity.

Secondary Treating
The refinery also has a number of smaller, so-called "secondary" processes. These are mainly involved with further polishing of components and products to remove sulphur and other impurities.

Blending
The final stage of the refining process is called blending. This is a crucial step where the various hydrocarbon components manufactured in the refinery are mixed together to make the final products sold by the refinery. The final blend recipes will depend on the quality of the available components and on the customer's requirements, called specifications.
All blended products are tested before they are sold to ensure that they meet the customer's specifications.

Product Distribution
Once the petroleum products are blended and tested they can then be delivered to our customers.
In the case of SRC, the main distribution channels are ship, pipeline, road tanker, and rail car.

XXXXX

SRC Dimensions

RATED CAPACITY 125,000 Barrels/day
LICENSED CAPACITY 156,000 Barrels/day
CAPEX 20 - 30 RM million
OPEX 120 RM million
STOCKS 3.5/ 30 mil bbl/days
STAFF 280 Shell
Up to 150 Contractor
CRUDE TANKS 11
PRODUCT TANKS 78
POWER CONSUMPTION 28 MW
SINGLE BUOY MOORING 1
JETTY 3 Berths

PROCESSING UNITS
1 Long Residue Catalytic Cracker
2 Crude Distillers
Semi and Continuous Reformers
sorooter (2006-1-17 20:42:11)
SRC Profit before Taxation

2001: Drop in crude and product prices resulted in stockholding losses for the Company.
2002-2005: Increase in profits due to strengthening of refining margins, rising crude and product prices and improvement in operating performance
sorooter (2006-1-17 20:46:46)
SRC Capital Expenditure

1999: Final year of LRCC construction
2002: First LRRC planned shutdown
2005: RM 28 mln of capex in Q2’05 relates to the planned shutdown of the LRCC/Complex 2
capex.GIF

XXXXX

SRC Effective Tax Rate

2001:Very low Profit Before Tax, therefore a small permanent difference in tax computation has big impact on ETR.
2004 to Q1 2005:Low ETR due to utilization of Reinvestment Allowance.
Q2 2005:Higher ETR as the Reinvestment Allowance was fully utilized in Q1 2005

XXXXX

为什么2004年会赚多？

Your Company’s financial performance in
2004 was by far its best ever. Our 2004 net
profit after tax amounted to a record RM 670
million, representing an increase of RM 488
million or 268% above the RM 182 million
achieved in 2003. The combined strengths of
robust regional refining margins, which your
Company’s management maximised whenever
it could, and excellent operational performance
contributed to your Company’s commendable
financial performance in 2004.

During the year we also benefited from a pretax
stockholding gain of RM 112 million due
to overall increase in oil prices during the year
(vs. gain of RM 17 million in 2003); however
this stockholding effect accounted for only 15%
of the Company’s total 2004 pre-tax net income.

XXXXX

sorooter (2006-1-18 14:34:23)
2000 - 2004 成绩单
result.GIF

XXXXX

red.sun (2006-4-12 16:59:48)
作为Shell的支持者，应该要更新下资料，最新的成绩单：

http://announcements.bursamalays ... ainpage.nsf/lca.htm

成绩下跌只因突来的tax所影响，不过令我兴奋的是RM0.58超高股息。

XXXXX

kinwing (2006-4-12 17:41:32)
I just like to share with my point of view regarding shell.

I don't totally agree Shell to pay high dividend due to tax issue.

For example, Shell's market price is RM9 in year 2005 and the company was making net profit of RM1 in 2005 as well, then the market would reflect the RM1 profit and the share price will be adjusted to RM10 at year 2006.

If Shell declare to fully pay the net profit RM1 as dividend, then the market price will be adjusted back to RM9.00, and this dividend is subject to personal tax for individual shareholder.

I think it's unfair to shareholder as this is double taxation as the dividend we received is after 28% company tax and now we have to another personal tax for our dividend received.!!!

If Shell does not declare dividend, the market price would still be at RM10. By selling the share in the market for RM10 and then deduct the year 2005's share price at RM9, so the shareholder could make RM1 profit for share appreciation. Please bear in mind that in Malaysia, there is no tax for gain on share appreciation whereas there is tax burden for dividend!!!

Thus I would prefer the company not to declare any dividend at all. I'd rather to have my own-made dividend from the market.

XXXXX

kinwing (2006-4-12 17:47:25)
所以我的结论是超高的股息有损股东利益，因为股息要交税而卖股所赚到的盈利则不必缴税。

XXXXX

uncleho24 (2006-4-12 18:05:51)
股息的税收只是被抽一次。
如果你的收入不在28%的收税率，那么你可以向IRB拿回已被抽的股息。
投资在外国公司，要避免股息是非常难的。因为这个是唯一比较容易的方法，把钱运回总公司。

http://www.lcmart.com/viewthread_3964.html

[ 本帖最后由 Mr.Business 于 13-4-2008 05:18 PM 编辑 ]

Mr.Business

公司的网站：

http://www.shell.com/home/conten ... s/zzz_lhn1_0_0.html

Mr.Business

从tan81兄的blog拿出来的一些comments。

value-investor 说...
I think you didn't get what I mean.

my point is, during the last five years, shell's capacity and sales (in terms of volume barrels) is quite stable and not increasing. While increasing the selling price of its product, the cost of raw material (crude oil) also increase. Then, how its profit rise? actually, an significant portion of the higher profit comes from inventories gain, this will reflected on the income-statement as higher profit margin, and reflected on the balance-sheet as increased value of inventories.

Take an example... in previous quarter (3 months ago) crude oil price is about USD70 per barrel, shell bought some crude oil and put them into its inventories. Then, in this quarter, crude oil price is about USD90. the refined products' prices should be increasing with synchrony of crude oil, so shell can sell its products at higher price. It its income statement, shell will record that: it make use of the USD70 inventories as feedstock, than selling the product at current high price. The result will be a higher profit margin, thus higher earning. And the inventories value in its Balance-sheet also increase (from USD70 to USD90 per barrel).

so, shell's profit margin is higher when oil price is in an upstrend. The margin will be lower if oil price is stable and flat. the margin will become worse if oil price is in a downtrend.

of course, the profit margin will be affected by others factors like demand-supply condition.

2007年12月26日 上午11:52  

XXXXX

Grey 说...

Take note of the accounting standard adopted by SHELL in inventory costing, FIFO (First In First Out). This will affect the profit in P&L when calculating the cost of the inventory.
Another notes for consideration is, Shell listed on Bursa is a REFINERING company. The profit relates to the refinering margin.

2008年1月17日 下午1:05   

XXXXX

Grey 说...

Is NTA really important?
NTA is a valuation on equity, which is derived from valuation of Assets.
Question: Do you know how asset is being valued, and what method the accounting is used in such valuation?
NTA has no meaning until the company is liquidify.
What an investor should look for is the cash earning capabilities from a company, neither EPS earning per share nor NTA.

2008年2月14日 下午7:43


http://tan81.blogspot.com/2007/11/shell-refining-4324.html

[ 本帖最后由 Mr.Business 于 13-4-2008 05:27 PM 编辑 ]

33333

不是多用华文吗？怎么这样？

Mr.Business

我转帖别人的文章，可是文章是英文书写的。

33333

为什么我是用IE的，我却不能COPY & PASTE

tan81

March consumer prices up, reflecting higher energy prices
Wednesday April 16, 5:49 pm ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer
Higher energy and food prices boost March consumer inflation; bigger increases expected

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Inflation rose again last month, reflecting big jumps in the cost of energy and airline tickets. And the forecast is for even bigger energy-related increases to come, including the possibility of $4 per gallon gasoline by Memorial Day.

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Those inflation pressures are occurring just as the economy seems to be sinking into a recession, with consumers cutting back on spending and the housing industry, where all the troubles started, sinking further.

That was the somber news from a batch of economic reports released Wednesday that depicted an economy still struggling with multiple problems from a prolonged slump in housing, soaring energy prices, a severe credit crisis and rising unemployment.

The Labor Department said consumer prices rose by 0.3 percent in March, after being unchanged in February, as energy prices jumped by 1.9 percent and airline fares, reflecting higher fuel costs, increased 3 percent, the biggest one-month gain in six years.

Food prices, which have been steadily rising for more than a year, were up by 0.2 percent in March and 4.4 percent over the past 12 months. The price of some food staples showed even bigger increases over the past year, including a 14.7 percent rise in the price of bread and a 13.3 percent increase in milk prices over the past year.

With crude oil prices briefly touching a new record near $115 per barrel this week, and food prices remaining under pressure because of global shortages, analysts predicted consumers will feel more inflation pressures in the months ahead.

Gasoline pump prices hit a new nationwide record of $3.40 per gallon on Wednesday, up 53 cents from a year ago, according to the Oil Price Information Service and AAA, and many economists believe that price will hit $4 per gallon by Memorial Day.

"People are going to be paying a lot more for gasoline and groceries in the months ahead," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "Nothing is going right at the moment. That is why consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest point since the early 1980s."

Wall Street ignored all the bad economic data and instead focused on better-than-expected quarterly results from JPMorgan Chase and two other companies to send stocks higher. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 256.80 points Wednesday to close at 12,619.27.

Zandi said the rise in food and fuel prices has been a significant drain on consumers' purchasing power, another reason he and other analysts believe the country has fallen into a recession. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of economic activity.

While the Bush administration is hoping that economic stimulus checks being mailed to households starting next month will make any slump short and mild, Zandi said the $100 billion in payments consumers will get this year will be just enough to offset their higher gasoline bills, leaving nothing left to boost consumer spending in other areas.

In its latest look at business activity around the country, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday that "economic conditions have weakened," citing sluggish consumer spending and rising costs to businesses for raw materials.

Many analysts expect the Fed, which has been aggressively cutting interest rates and shoveling money into the banking system to combat the credit squeeze, will cut rates again when officials next meet on April 29-30.

The Fed also reported Wednesday that industrial output managed a 0.3 percent rise in March but the gain in manufacturing was a weak 0.1 percent as auto production continued to fall.

And the housing industry, where the troubles began two years ago, remained under severe strain with construction of new homes and apartments plunging by 11.9 percent in March, the Commerce Department reported, double what had been expected, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 947,000 units, the slowest pace in 17 years.

Many analysts said construction is likely to fall more in coming months, reflecting a huge overhang of unsold homes that includes not only new homes but also houses being dumped on the market as foreclosures rise to record levels.

David Seiders, chief economist at the National Association Home Builders, said he believed construction activity would fall to just 948,000 units this year, the third straight decline and the lowest level of activity in the post World War II period.

For March, construction fell in all parts of the country, led by a 21.4 percent drop in the Midwest and declines of 12.6 percent in the South, 8.5 percent in the Northeast and 5.7 percent in the West.

The Consumer Price Index showed that overall prices are up 4 percent over the past 12 months while core inflation, which excludes energy and food, has risen by 2.4 percent in the past year, including a 0.2 percent March increase. Clothing costs fell by 1.3 percent, the biggest drop in nearly a decade.

In another reflection of the squeeze on ordinary Americans, the Labor Department said that average weekly earnings for nonsupervisory workers dropped by 1 percent last month, compared with a year ago, the sixth straight month that inflation-adjusted wages have fallen.

tan81

Oil futures jump to record over $115 on supply concerns
Wednesday April 16, 4:35 pm ET
By John Wilen, AP Business Writer
Oil futures pass $115 for the first time on supply concerns; investors shrug off tepid demand

NEW YORK (AP) -- Crude futures made their first foray past $115 Wednesday, propelled to a new record by concerns about how much gas will be available during the peak summer months.

Inventories of gas fell by 5.5 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration, a much bigger decline than forecast by analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. Light, sweet crude for May delivery responded by rising as high as $115.07 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and later settled up $1.14 at a record $114.93 a barrel.

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The report said crude inventories fell by 2.3 million barrels last week, compared to the gain analysts expected.

Oil prices were also boosted by the falling dollar, which declined to a new low against the euro on Wednesday. Many investors buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation and a falling greenback. A weaker dollar also makes oil cheaper to investors overseas.

But the market was torn and traded sharply lower at times due to data deeper in the report showing that the country's appetite for increasingly expensive gas is declining.

"Demand for gasoline is terrible," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. Gas demand has fallen an average of 1 percent each of the last four weeks compared to the same period last year. "Demand should be rising this time of year."

Still, May gasoline futures rose 5.8 cents to settle at a record $2.939 a gallon on the Nymex after earlier rising to a trading record of $2.9427.

The EIA report also said inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, unexpectedly rose last week by about 100,000 barrels. Analysts had expected a sharp decline. May heating oil futures rose 0.91 cent to settle at $3.283 a gallon.

Demand for gasoline has been falling for months as consumers reacted to a series of price records by driving less. The national average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas rose 1.3 cents Wednesday to a record $3.399 a gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That's 53 cents higher than a year ago, and is expected to keep climbing along with futures prices and as the summer driving season draws near.

The average national price of a gallon of diesel, meanwhile, rose a cent to a record $4.129 a gallon, the survey showed. High prices for diesel -- used to fuel most trucks, trains and ships -- is a large part of the reason food prices are rising.

Gas and diesel prices are following crude futures, which have risen from about $64 a barrel last spring, mostly because of the falling dollar. Prices also have been supported in recent months by a view that demand for oil remains strong globally, although it may be falling in the United States. But that could change, if U.S. demand continues to weaken, analysts say.

"We're seeing a major slowdown in U.S. demand growth," Flynn said.

Still, analysts expect gas prices to rise higher before they fall. Many see retail prices peaking around $3.65 a gallon next month. The Energy Department, in a recent forecast, said prices could average as high as $3.60 a gallon this summer on a monthly basis, but could spike to $4 on a national average basis at times.

In other Nymex trading, May natural gas futures rose 22.8 cents to settle at $10.433 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, June Brent crude futures rose $1.08 to settle at $112.66 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

tan81

因为粮食价格和美元的走势，油价应该还有上涨的空间。
看了最新的年报，才发现SHELL的Refining Margin没有我预测的高。
它的Refining Margin 开始追不上油价的上涨了。
还是要继续观察它下个月的最新业绩。

tan81

不懂那个基金那么笨，买在RM11.80 ，早知道就一早丢给它了。。

tan81

Oil prices spike to record above $117
Monday April 21, 11:03 am ET
By Adam Schreck, Associated Press Writer
Oil prices climb to record above $117 a barrel after Mideast attack on Japanese oil tanker

NEW YORK (AP) -- Retail gas prices reached another new milestone Monday, jumping to an average $3.50 a gallon at filling stations across the country. Crude oil prices, meanwhile, kept setting records of their own, spiking to a record above $117 a barrel Monday after a Japanese oil tanker was attacked in the Middle East.

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Diesel prices at the pump also struck a record high of $4.20 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Gas and diesel are expected to keep climing -- gas because of the rise in oil and because the summer driving season, when demand is at its greatest, has yet to begin. And diesel, in demand throughout the world because it is used to haul goods of all kinds, shows no signs of halting its own advance.

The attack on the 150,000-ton tanker Takayama came about 270 miles off the Yemen coast in the Gulf of Aden while it was heading for Saudi Arabia, its Japanese operator, Nippon Yusen K.K., said in a statement posted on its Web site.

None of the ship's 23 crew members was injured, but several hundreds of gallons of fuel leaked before a 1-inch hole in the tanker's stern was repaired, the company said.

Kyodo News agency reported that the Japanese tanker was fired on by a rocket launcher from a small boat.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose to a record $117.40 a barrel but fell back to $116.63, down 6 cents from Friday's close. Oil prices had touched $117 on Friday before slipping.

"There's clearly some geopolitical tension in the market," said Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist at the ANZ Bank in Melbourne, Australia. "This will die down, but the market is pretty jittery at the moment.

Adding to the worries were claims Monday from the main militant group in Nigeria's restive south that it had launched two more attacks on oil pipelines in the region. There was no immediate confirmation.

On Friday, oil prices rose to touch $117 for the first time after an attack on a Royal Dutch Shell PLC pipeline by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

Shell confirmed a pipeline leak that it said appeared to have been caused by explosives. It said it had isolated the line for repairs and that a small quantity of production had been shut.

Attacks since early 2006 on Nigerian oil infrastructure by the militant group have cut nearly one-quarter of the country's normal petroleum output, boosting oil prices. Nigeria is a major supplier of oil to the U.S.

Pervan said incidents such as the pipeline and tanker attacks were "one-off" issues that didn't really change the market. "They're not fundamental, they're not going to be sustainable," he said.

Comments over the weekend by an OPEC official that the group was not likely to increase production also supported prices Monday.

Abdalla Salem el-Badri, secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said Sunday that oil prices would likely go higher and that the group was ready to raise production if the price pressure was due to a shortage of supply -- something he doubted.

"Oil prices, there is a common understanding that has nothing to do with supply and demand," el-Badri said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Rome.

Also over the weekend, Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted Saturday as saying crude oil prices at $115 a barrel are too low, and that oil must "discover its real value."

The Iranian president made the remarks during a visit to an oil and gas exhibition in Tehran late Friday.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 2.87 cents to $3.210 a gallon while gasoline prices rose 0.07 cents to $2.99 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 9.7 cents to $10.684 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude futures for June were up 13 cents to $114.50 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

AP Business Writers Pablo Gorondi in Budapest and Thomas Hogue in Bangkok, Thailand, contributed to this report.

tan81

实在很好奇油价可以去到那里。SHELL的refining Margin 肯定创新高了。而大马政府持续津贴我们，等于是保证SRC的营业额不会下降。
这绝对利于SRC的股东。

期待今年更多的股息。

tan81

Gas prices rise further above $3.50, while oil nears $120
Tuesday April 22, 12:21 pm ET
By John Wilen, AP Business Writer
Gas prices push further above $3.50 a gallon, while oil nears $120 on weaker dollar

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gas and oil prices moved further into record high territory Tuesday, with retail gas reaching a national average of $3.51 for the first time and crude nearing $120 as the dollar fell to a new low against the euro.

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At the pump, the national average price of a gallon of regular gas rose 0.8 cent Tuesday to $3.511, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices for diesel -- the fuel used for the transport of most food, industrial and commercial goods -- also rose overnight to a new record of $4.204 a gallon.

Gas prices are nearly 66 cents higher than last year, when prices peaked at a then-record of $3.23 in late May, and have prompted many analysts to raise their estimates of where gas is going to go.

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility that we could get to $4," said Antoine Halff, an analyst at Newedge USA LLC.

Other analysts are less certain. Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at the Oil Price Information Service, thinks gas prices will rise only another 10 cents to 20 cents nationally. That would mean they would peak near $4.15 a gallon in California, where prices are typically highest, and around $3.50 in New Jersey, where they're typically lowest.

Gas prices are rising for many reasons, including oil's record run. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose to a new trading record of $119.74 before retreating slightly to trade up $2.06 at $119.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Many investors see commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation and a falling dollar. Also, a weaker greenback makes oil cheaper for investors overseas.

The dollar fell Tuesday after the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes fell in March while the median home price declined, raising prospects that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further this year to try to shore up the ailing economy. Fed interest rate cuts tend to further weaken the dollar.

Oil also rose on concerns about supply constraints overseas. A Royal Dutch Shell PLC joint venture declared force majeure on April and May oil delivery contracts from a 400,000-barrel-a-day Nigerian oil field due to a pipeline attack last week. The move protects the company from litigation if it fails to deliver on contractual obligations to buyers.

While gas prices are following oil futures higher, they're also rising because supplies are falling. Refiners are in the process of switching over from making winter grade gasoline to the more-expensive, less-polluting, form of the fuel they're required to sell in summer. That's pushing supplies down as producers try to sell off all of their winter gas.

Gasoline supplies are also being hurt by low profit margins on the fuel. Refiners have to buy the crude they turn into fuel, but falling demand for gasoline has hurt their ability to raise gas prices as much as they would like. While the average profit margin on gasoline hovers above $10, analysts say margins have gone negative in some parts of the country in recent weeks. In those cases, refiners were actually losing money on every gallon of gas they made. Many refiners have reacting by producing less gas.

"Very high crude prices can constrain gasoline supplies as it hurts the margins," Halff said.

In other Nymex trading Tuesday, May gasoline futures rose 3.16 cents to $3.0107 a gallon after earlier rising to a trading record of $3.02, while May heating oil futures rose 3.2 to $3.3434 a gallon after earlier rising to their own trading record of $3.35. May natural gas futures fell 3.3 cents to $10.70 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, June Brent crude rose $1.88 to $116.31 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.