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Oil

London (Platts)--21May2012/627 am EDT/1027 GMT
French oil major Total said Monday it expects to take a further "several weeks" to finish plugging the high-profile gas blowout at its Elgin field in the UK North Sea and will continue drilling a relief well until a permanent cement fix is completed.
Tehran (Platts)--21May2012/553 am EDT/953 GMT
Iran's OPEC Governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi has criticized the statement by the G8 Saturday that it stood ready to act to ensure oil markets are fully supplied, calling it "inappropriate" and designed to push down crude prices to serve US President Barack Obama in his presidential race, the Sharq newspaper reported Monday.
Singapore (Platts)--21May2012/1225 am EDT/425 GMT
China's apparent oil demand in April edged up just 0.3% year on year to 38.32 million mt or an average 9.36 million b/d, according to Platts' analysis of recent data released by the government.
Tokyo (Platts)--21May2012/1222 am EDT/422 GMT
The Japanese government and private-sector bank officials are considering asking the Bank of Japan for help in settling Iranian oil transactions, the Nikkei newspaper reported Saturday.
London (Platts)--18May2012/320 pm EDT/1920 GMT
The boom in production of super-light liquids from US shale oil projects and the loss of traditional light crudes from Africa is creating a global mismatch of refining capacity which could further exacerbate the impact of overcapacity in the industry, Barclays Capital analyst Amrita Sen said Friday.
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Natural Gas

Madrid (Platts)--21May2012/707 am EDT/1107 GMT
Spanish oil company Repsol has canceled an LNG supply contract to Argentina's state-owned Enarsa covering 10 cargoes in 2012 and may hold the company liable for breach of contract, a Repsol spokesman told Platts Monday.
Tokyo (Platts)--21May2012/225 am EDT/625 GMT
Kansai Electric received Monday its maiden LNG cargo from Australia's Pluto project at its Himeji import terminal in western Japan, the utility said.
New York (Platts)--18May2012/1241 pm EDT/1641 GMT
El Paso Pipeline Partners said Friday it will acquire gas storage and pipeline assets in the western US from El Paso Corp.
London (Platts)--18May2012/751 am EDT/1151 GMT
Gas prices at the Continental European markets continued to fall Friday, on weak oil and a warmer weather outlook, with Dutch TTF day-ahead contracts shedding 70 euro cent from the close of Thursday to trade at Eur23.85/MWh.
Moscow (Platts)--18May2012/701 am EDT/1101 GMT
Bulgaria and Russian gas giant Gazprom are preparing to sign an agreement to cut the price of Russian gas, with Sofia seeking a 11.1% discount, according to market sources Friday.
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Electric Power

London (Platts)--21May2012/834 am EDT/1234 GMT
German OTC prompt power prices inched lower Monday as the return of a nuclear reactor boosted nuclear output amid rising solar power output, but the spot exchange settled higher on falling wind power output and still relatively high demand in France, a trader said.
Washington (Platts)--18May2012/259 pm EDT/1859 GMT
IntercontinentalExchange on Friday said it will launch 33 cleared, over-the-counter contracts for power, oil, refined petroleum and natural gas liquids.
London (Platts)--18May2012/828 am EDT/1228 GMT
Prompt power prices plunged further Friday following 5% losses on the UK's NBP gas market due to an oversupply of Norwegian gas imports, traders said.
London (Platts)--18May2012/815 am EDT/1215 GMT
Electrabel is not planning to invest in new large-scale power plants in Belgium due to current market conditions, the GDF Suez subsidiary said Friday.
Tokyo (Platts)--18May2012/443 am EDT/843 GMT
Japan's largest power utility Tokyo Electric Power Company said Friday that it will be able to meet electricity demand in the peak July and August summer months, even though all of its 13 nuclear power plants are shut.
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Coal

Melbourne (Platts)--21May2012/214 am EDT/614 GMT
The planned A$9 billion ($8.8 billion) expansion of Australia's Abbot Point coal terminal has been scrapped by the Queensland government after being labeled "unrealistic" and "undeliverable," Queensland deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said in a statement Monday.
Galax, Virginia (Platts)--18May2012/540 pm EDT/2140 GMT
American Electric Power is taking offers through May 31 for up to five years' supply of barge-delivered eastern US coal, the utility company said Friday.
London (Platts)--18May2012/813 am EDT/1213 GMT
The European-delivered CIF ARA physical thermal coal market traded at a two-year low Friday morning, when a 50,000 mt generic origin cargo for July Amsterdam-delivery went through the globalCOAL trading platform at $85.60/mt with exchange of futures for physical terms attached.
London (Platts)--18May2012/739 am EDT/1139 GMT
A supply-driven fall in the international seaborne thermal coal market has pushed prices down to a level which should induce supply discipline, analysts at investment bank Macquarie said in a research note Friday.
Huaihua, Hunan (Platts)--18May2012/608 am EDT/1008 GMT
China's three largest coal-mining areas Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Shaanxi mined 760.97 million mt of coal over January-April, up 15% year on year, and comprising 65% of China's total coal output for the period, data released Friday by Beijing-based Dexin Yongming Consultation Co.
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Shipping

Singapore (Platts)--21May2012/638 am EDT/1038 GMT
Panamax freight rates to move coal on established routes from South Africa's Richards Bay to India fell Monday, with sources saying Indian charterers are keen on lower prices as a weak rupee weighs.
Singapore (Platts)--21May2012/538 am EDT/938 GMT
Various shipowners' associations in Asia late last week issued a statement protesting the proposed increase in the Panama Canal toll charges, slated to come into effect from July, for various segments such as container, reefer, dry bulk, passenger, vehicle carrier, Ro-Ro, tanker, chemical tanker, LPG, general cargo and others.
Singapore (Platts)--21May2012/522 am EDT/922 GMT
Various shipowners' associations in Asia late last week issued a statement protesting the proposed increase in the Panama Canal toll charges, slated to come into effect from July, for various segments such as container, reefer, dry bulk, passenger, vehicle carrier, Ro-Ro, tanker, chemical tanker, LPG, general cargo and others.
Kuala Lumpur (Platts)--18May2012/632 am EDT/1032 GMT
At least one oil tanker is two to three months from being fully converted into a chemical tanker in Iran, said an Iranian trader with knowledge of the matter on the sidelines of APIC, the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference, in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
Singapore (Platts)--18May2012/453 am EDT/853 GMT
Ningbo Shihua Crude Oil Terminal Co Ltd has opened a crude oil shipping terminal on Daxie Island in east China's Zhejiang province -- Asia's largest -- joint venture partner Sinopec said in a statement on its website Thursday.
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Petrochemicals

Houston (Platts)--21May2012/745 am EDT/1145 GMT
Asian benzene rose $5/mt or 0.5% May 21 from May 18 to $1,074/mt FOB Korea, as crude oil prices rebounded.
Singapore (Platts)--21May2012/1227 am EDT/427 GMT
The spread between the price of isomer-grade mixed xylenes and solvent-MX in Asia narrowed to a 23-week low of $47.70/mt Friday, compared with $75.20/mt a week earlier, due to a glut in isomer-MX supply, Platts data showed.
New York (Platts)--18May2012/306 pm EDT/1906 GMT
Some US monoethylene glycol contracts are set to increase in June, while others may not increase depending how the Asian spot market goes, industry sources said Friday.
Houston (Platts)--18May2012/858 am EDT/1258 GMT
Day on day, the FOB Korea benzene marker was down $12/mt or 1.1% to, $1,069/mt.
London (Platts)--18May2012/738 am EDT/1138 GMT
Dutch chemicals company DSM said Friday it is to acquire Ocean Nutrition Canada in an all-cash deal worth C$540 million ($530 million).
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Metals

London (Platts)--21May2012/657 am EDT/1057 GMT
World primary aluminium output averaged 68,100 mt/day in April, down from a revised 68,300 mt/day in March and 70,400 mt/day in April 2011, according to figures released Monday by the International Aluminium Institute.
Singapore (Platts)--21May2012/634 am EDT/1034 GMT
China domestic coking coal miner Wintime Energy Monday plans to acquire a 65% stake in domestic coking coal mining company Kangwei Group, which owns 2.7 million mt/year of coking coal production capacity, for a total of Yuan 1.7 billion ($268 million), the company said Monday.
Tokyo (Platts)--21May2012/554 am EDT/954 GMT
Negotiations for premiums for primary aluminum ingot to be exported to Japan in the third quarter have started, with Rio Tinto Alcan offering a premium of $200/mt plus London Metal Exchange cash CIF Japan, sources said Monday.
Rio de Janeiro (Platts)--18May2012/627 pm EDT/2227 GMT
Vale is building a second floating iron ore transfer station, set to begin operations in Subic Bay, Philippines, in 2013, the company said Friday.
Washington (Platts)--18May2012/300 pm EDT/1900 GMT
With the US zinc market still steady, zinc sellers are pinning their hopes on 2013, with some saying they've already closed next-year deals at more than 8 cents plus LME cash.
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