Crude Oil Trades Near an 11-Month High After North Sea Production Declines

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil traded near an 11-month
high in New York after rising last week as a pipeline shutdown in
the North Sea cut oil output and pushed Brent futures higher.

New York futures jumped 2 percent on July 13, their first
gain in three days, after Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips said
the closure of a BP Plc gas pipeline in the North Sea will limit
their oil output. World oil demand will rise 2.5 percent next
year to average 88.2 million barrels a day, the International
Energy Agency said in a report the same day.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Oil Climbs Above $73 as U.S. Inventories Decline, North Sea Output Drops

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose above $73 a barrel to
a 10-month high in New York after a government report showed
that U.S. inventories dropped last week and Chevron Corp. said
it cut North Sea output.

Crude-oil stockpiles dropped 1.5 million barrels to 352.6
million barrels last week, according to the Energy Department.
In the North Sea, Chevron cut oil output at its Erskine field
because the Central Area Transmission System natural-gas
pipeline was forced to close, a company spokesman said today.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

WRAPUP 1-Chavez drives Exxon, ConocoPhillips from Venezuela

(Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips decided
to quit their oil operations in the OPEC nation after they
failed to strike a deal with the government to stay in
multibillion-dollar projects that the anti-U.S. leader decreed
should be taken over.




Four other oil majors -- Chevron Corp. , Norway's
Statoil , Britain's BP Plc and France's Total
-- signed pacts that allow Venezuela to increase its
stake to at least 60 percent in projects worth $30 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Indexes dip as energy stocks fall on crude

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 20 - U.S. stocks were trading
lower on Wednesday, nudged downward by heavily-weighted energy
shares which fell in-line with crude oil futures.




Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. were
the biggest drags on the S&P500 after weekly government data
showed a larger-than-expected build in crude supplies, which
sent crude futures down over 2 percent to $67.60 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News