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| FIIs net sales of Rs 2,066.2 crore in equities MUMBAI, May 16: The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have recorded massive net sales of Rs 2,066.2 crore (US...........more Rupee seen
sinking MUMBAI, May 16: The rupee is seen falling further towards the 46-level during the week with the fears of slowing down......more "Natural
gas deficit MUMBAI, May 16: The phenomenal increase in gas supplies expected over the next 4 years will lay the foundation for a.......more IIMs pin
hope on NEW DELHI, May 16: Expressing "relief" at the defeat of the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre, Indian Institutes........more |
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Inflation dips marginally to 4.20 pc NEW DELHI, May 16: The annual rate of inflation for the week ended May 1, 2004 declined marginally to 4.20 per cent...more Study
indicates MUMBAI, May 16: Though the cost of borrowing under the Small Borrowal Accounts (SBAs) declined over the years, the.....more Datamatics’
net up NEW DELHI, May 16: The country’s largest third party non-voice BPO Datamatics Technologies Ltd (DTL) has said its....more Welspun to
issue NEW DELHI, May 16: Welspun India Ltd has decided to issue equity shares to promoters — Welspun Wintex Ltd and.........more |
FIIs net sales of Rs 2,066.2 crore in equities MUMBAI, May 16: The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have recorded massive net sales of Rs 2,066.2 crore (US dollar 469.4 million) in equities during the trading week ended May 14, which saw the BSE sensex plunge by a record 600 points wiping out over Rs 1,72,800 crore of shareholder wealth in wake of the political developments at the Centre. The Mutual Funds (MFs), however, behaved exactly in contrast to register net purchases of Rs 594.1 crore in the equity market, according to the data available with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) here. In the first fortnight of May, FIIs have netted outflows of Rs 2,123 crore (USD 482 mn) in equities and were net sellers on all trading days in the second week of the month. Referring to debt market, FIIs showed net outflows of Rs 55.5 crore (USD 12.6 mn) while MFs were net buyers at Rs 92.73 crore during the period under review. Fiis were net sellers to the tune of Rs 604.4 crore (USD 137.6 mn) in equities on May 14, the day BSE sensex dipped by 329.6 points. They also recorded net outflows of Rs 595.2 crore (USD 135.5 mn) and Rs 403.4 crore (USD 91.8 mn) on May 11 and 12 respectively. The foreign funds, in the debt market, were net sellers at Rs 5.5 crore (USD 1.2 mn) on the first day of the trading week followed by Rs 50 crore (USD 11.4 mn) on May 12. MFs were net buyers on four trading days in equities and netted their highest inflow of the week at Rs 223.89 crore on May 12. They were also net purchasers at Rs 137.21 crore, Rs 130.59 crore and Rs 102.41 crore on May 10, 13 and 11 respectively. In the debt market, the MFs were net buyers at Rs 65.88 crore (May 11), Rs 53.89 crore (May 12) and Rs 1.32 crore (May 10) while netting outflows of Rs 28.36 crore on May 13. The BSE benchmark 30-share index, which witnessed the fifth largest intra-day swing of 372 points on Friday, crashed by 599.71 points or 10.58 per cent to finish the week at the six-month low at 5069.87 from last weekend’s close of 5669.58. This makes the largest ever weekly fall in terms of points in the BSE history. (PTI) |
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Rupee seen sinking towards
46-level on reform MUMBAI, May 16: The rupee is seen falling further towards the 46-level during the week with the fears of slowing down the economic reforms after the left-supported new alliance Government came to power, the rising oil prices and the heavy foreign fund outflows dragging the domestic currency southwards, forex experts said. The rupee which fell by a whopping 92 paise in the previous week and extended its losses in five straight weeks, on political uncertainty after the defeat of NDA Government and worries that a new Government could scrap the ongoing privitisation progress as well as heavy sell-off by foreign funds in the sagging stock markets, could continue its free fall till a clear picture over the government and its policies are announced, Dev Das, treasury head at a private brokerage firm said. FIIs, the major source of dollar inflows that helped the rupee’s recent rally, pulled out of the stock markets due to the political uncertainty and sold out equities and debts worth 469.4-million in the last week, taking their total net sales in the last 8 sessions to 515-million. Besides the politial blues and net sales by FIIs, the surging oil prices wlhich hit its all-time high at 41.30 on Friday on fears that disruption to west Asian oil flows may strain world fuel supplies, the dollar rise in global market on strong US economic data, also continued to pressure the rupee, even as the Central Bank try to cushion the negative impact by occasional dollar selling, he added. In the bygone week, the rupee ended with huge loss of 92 paise to end at 45.58, after moving in a wide range of 44.75-45.75. While the rupee fell by a whopping 40 paise on Monday after the dollar surged afer a strong US job data and heavy pull out by foreign funds in stock markets, the unit lost another 35 paise on Tuesday on fears of a hung Parliament after the defeat of nda-alliance Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh Assembly Election. The rupee, shrugged of early election jitters and staged a relief rally on Thursday on hopes of a stable Congress-led Government, once again lost ground on Friday after Left parties, who will hold the key in the Congress-led alliance at the Centre, made their economic priorities clear stating the new Government would not pursue ‘indiscriminate’ globalisation and stop sale of profit-making public sector units. Discount on forward dollar widenened as the weakening spot dollar encouraged sell-buy swaps. The annualised discount of the six-month dollar ended the week at 1.10 per cent as against 0.85 per cent in the previous week. In cross currency deals, the rupee ended 68 paise higher against yen at 39.78 (40.46) and 11 paise stronger against pound sterling at 79.90 (80.01), while it finished six paise weaker against euro at 53.86 (53.86). (UNI) |
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| "Natural gas deficit to
continue, despite surge in supplies’’ MUMBAI, May 16: The phenomenal increase in gas supplies expected over the next 4 years will lay the foundation for a boom in the domestic natural gas sector, India will continue to face deficit given the large latent demand for gas in the country, reports Cris Infac. Giving a long-term outlook for the hydrocarbon feedstocks industry, Cris Infac forecasts that the domestic deficit, estimated at 14.4-million cubic metres per day in 2003-04, will expand to over 27-million cubic metres per day by 2007-08. Cris Infac is a subsidiary of the rating agency crisil and its comprehensive offering includes research for better credit and investment decisions on over 40 industries and 300 companies. Demand is projected to grow at a CAGR of 16.3 per cent, while India’s gas supplies are expected to grow at 14.8 per cent (CAGR) between 2003-04 and 2007-08, on the back of LNG imports by petronet LNG and shell, as well as supplies from new gas finds, according to Cris Infac. The power sector will be a key driving force, as regulations such as the electricity bill and the availability based tariff system encourage new investments and lay emphasis on efficiency, a factor favouring gas use over coal, says Nagarajan Narasimhan, Cris Infac’s head-research. "Power generation will account for more than 37 per cent of gas demand by 2007-08, even if projects that are at a preliminary stage at present are not considered," according to Mr Nagarajan. While the fertiliser sector will continue to play a major role in the gas sector, accounting for around 26 per cent of gas deamnd by 2007-08, regulatory issues as well as the financial status of players are hurdles that the gas marketers will have to contend with, says he. Even though the ‘long term urea policy’ and the new group concession scheme will promote the use of gas as a feedstock in the sector, the lack of clarity over certain regulatory issues and the levy of a ‘price cap’ on gas, particularly LNG at 3.5 per MMBTU will prevent an early conversion in the sector. Cris Infac opines that greenfield capacity additions based on gas are unlikely in the medium term, with the exception of Kribhco. Also, a conversion from fuel oil to gas in the sector is considered economically feasible. It also points out that petronet LNG’s success in tying up customers from other sectors has demonstrated that a large market exists for gas at the petronet lng price of 4.2 per MMBTU (outside Gujarat). While Reliance industries may be able to price its gas below 3.5 per MMBTU, it is unlikely to do so. However, given the Government’s desire to reduce the subsidy outgo to the fertilisers sector, and the financial condition of fertiliser players, there is a possibility that differential pricing will emerge in India, wherein fertiliser players will be supplied gas at a lower price. This move, however, is likely to be strongly opposed by players in the power sector and will not be easy to implement. Further, Cris Infac points out that with the power and fertiliser industries switching over to gas, a naphtha surplus of around 2.88-million tonne will emerge in the domestic market by 2007-08. Even in such a scenario, it believes that naphtha prices will not become competitive with LNG. As a result, domestic naphtha producers are likely to scale up their exports in the medium term. In the short term, the high crude oil prices and the resulting high naphtha prices are likely to reduce producer margins. This will be despite the expected increase in polymer prices in the month of June. Typically in March-April, processors have a marginally higher level of inventories hence the producers are not likely to push for price increase in May. However, with the increase in demand in June, polymer prices are likely to increase. However, on account of the tight long-term demand-supply dynamics in the domestic market and the expected peaking of the petrochemical prices in the medium term, Cris Infac expects the pe-naphtha spreads to increase in 2004-05. The average pe-naphtha spread in 2003-04 was Rs 2,400 per tonne, which is expected to increase to Rs 9,300 per tonne in the current fiscal. Cris Infac estimates that with crude averaging 29-30 per barrel, the Indian refining companies are likely to earn healthy refining margins for the year 2004-05, of around 5.5 per barrel, against average margins of 5 per barrel in 2003-04, taking into account the past trend in product prices. However on the marketing front, the PSU marketing companies are currently taking a hit on auto fuel margins. The under-recovery of subsidy on LPG and SKO prices has increased on account of high international prices. Cris Infac estimates that the marketing companies are incurring an average loss of about Rs 1,400 per kilo litre on auto fuels as the players have not been allowed to increase prices since January 1, 2004. The under-recovery of subsidies is estimated at Rs 120 per cylinder of LPG and Rs 7 per litre of kerosene. At forecast crude oil prices of 29 per barrel, assuming that the players are not allowed to make any change in prices, the players are likely to under-recover subsidy to the extent of Rs 110 per cylinder of LPG and Rs 4.70 per litre of kerosene. According to Cris Infac forecasts, total subsidies on LPG and kerosene will amount to over Rs 10,000-crore in 2004-05. "Hence, an increase in auto fuel prices is imperative." (UNI) |
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IIMs pin hope on new Government NEW DELHI, May 16: Expressing "relief" at the defeat of the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre, Indian Institutes of Management, which were locked in a tussle with Union HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi over the fee-cut issue, now hope that the new Government would "give back" their autonomy. "We are naturally feeling relieved," dean of IIM-Calcutta Faculty Council Ashish Bhattacharya told PTI in Kolkata when asked to comment on the change in Government at the Centre. He said the IIM-C faculty hopes that the new Government would not follow the earlier policy. "I hope new Government will give back autonomy the IIMs enjoyed till fee issue cropped up and the institute’s status as a top business management school is retained," IIM -Ahmedabad Director Bakul Dholakia told PTI in Ahmedabad. He said the "poor communication" with Joshi was the reason behind the ongoing controversy over the fee-cut issue. "There was hardly any interaction directly with the minister. All six IIM Directors got a chance to meet the minister only once during the entire episode," Dholakia said. "Hopefully, things will be different now," he said. Dholakia said the ministry did not analyse the hard data it had about the institute’s past performance and "that is what created the confusions." However, the IIM-A Director, who opposed the ministry’s decision to slash IIM fees from Rs 1.5 lakh per annum to Rs 30,000 PA., backed Joshi’s "objective" of providing good education to the poorest of the poor. "But the methodology of implementing it was wrong," he said. On quality education to poor, Dholakia said "between 1961 and 1991 the IIMs enjoyed absolute autonomy and still ensured that the needy students always got admission. It is only in the last two years that its functioning was questioned and we hope these doubts about its working are cleared." Asked if the institute’s problems would be solved if Congress president Sonia Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister, Dholakia said "the initiatives of opening up the market in all sectors in India and liberalisation of trade was made by Congress and specially by late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. "I feel that despite who the Prime Minister will be, it is Congress as a party that will follow what its leaders started years ago." Bhattacharya said said the faculty council, which had opposed the decision of the chairman of the Board of Governors (BoG) to accept the Centre’s fee-cut proposal, would wait till the new Government takes over before arriving at a decision to withdraw cases from the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court. Serious differences had cropped up at the bog at its March 26 meeting where the faculty members had strongly opposed the Centre’s proposal to slash IIM fees. Later Chairman of IIM-C Board of Governors Y C Deveshwar announced the acceptance of the fee-cut prompting the faculty to move the Supreme Court. It had also challenged the legality of the March 26 BoG meeting in the High Court. (PTI) |
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Inflation dips marginally to 4.20 pc NEW DELHI, May 16: The annual rate of inflation for the week ended May 1, 2004 declined marginally to 4.20 per cent from 4.26 per cent in the previous week due to lower prices of milk, fruits and vegetables and groundnut oil. The point-to-point wholesale price index-based rate of inflation was 6.89 per cent in the year-ago period. Inflation for the week ended March 6, 2004 was revised downwards at 4.79 per cent against the provisional figure of 4.91 per cent. The final WPI for this period was corrected to 179.4 from 179.6. The index for primary articles fell by 0.2 per cent to 183.9 from 184.3. The index for food articles group declined by 0.3 per cent to 182.6 from 183.2 during the previous week due to lower prices of jowar (2 per cent) and milk and fruits and vegetables (1 per cent each). However, the prices of tea (13 per cent), poultry chicken (7 per cent), barley (6per cent), maize (2 per cent) and egs, ragi and moong (1 per cent each) moved up. The index for non-food articles group rose by 0.1 per cent to 190.2 from 190.0 during the earlier week due to an increase in the prices raw rubber (6 per cent) and raw wool and gingelly seed (1 per cent each). The prices of fodder, however, declined by 8 per cent, raw silk by 2 per cent and castor seed and cotton by one per cent each. The index for the major group of fuel, power, light and lubricants inched up to 264.2 from 263.6 in the previous week, an increase of 0.2 per cent. For the manufactured products, the index remained stable at the previous week’s level of 161.6. The index for food products group declined by 0.2 per cent to 174.3 from 174.7 during the previous week due to lower prices of oil cakes (3 per cent), maida and sooji (2 per cent each) and atta and groundnut oil (1 per cent each). However, the prices of solvent extracted groundnut oil, rice bran and gur (3 per cent each), sugar (2 per cent) and khandsari, sunflower oil, coconut oil and imported edible oil (1 per cent each) increased. The index for textiles group moved up by 0.4 per cent to 137.6 from 137.1 due to 3 per cent increase in the prices of polyester yarn, 2 per cent increase in prices of texturised yarn and 1 per cent increase for cotton yarn-hanks. For the paper and paper products group, the index rose marginally by 0.1 per cent to 172.8 from 172.7 dut to a slight incrase in the prices of kraft paper and pulp board. The chemicals and chemical products index also moved up by 0.1 per cent from 178.2 to 178.0 due to higher prices of benzene (10 per cent) and purified terephthalic acid (4 per cent). Basic metals alloys and metal products group saw the index rising by 0.1 per cent due to increase in prices of bolts and nuts (6 per cent each). For the machinery and machine tools, the index declined by 0.1 per cent to 133.7 from 133.8 due to lower prices of batteries (3 per cent) and electric motors:phase three (1 per cent). However, the prices of electrical relays increased by 4 per cent. (UNI) |
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| Study indicates decline in SBA lending to
agriculture, trade MUMBAI, May 16: Though the cost of borrowing under the Small Borrowal Accounts (SBAs) declined over the years, the share of agriculture and trade lending under the SBAs fell considerably at the cost of increasing credit portfolio of personal and professional accounts under the scheme. A recent survey conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to identify the profile of SBAs with credit limits up to Rs 2-lakh, observed that the increasing role of banks in lending for personal and professional needs of finance was noticeable as reflected in the share of SBAs under personal loans and professional services rising considerably from 24.5 per cent in March 1997 to 34.2 per cent in March 2001 and claimed a larger share in outstanding credit at 39.8 per cent as compared with 32.3 per cent by end-March 1997. On the other hand, the share of number of agriculture and trade accounts declined by 2.2 per cent and 6 per cent respectively to 38.8 per cent and 10 per cent in march 2001. Their respective share in amount of outstanding was also lower at 32 per cent and 8.4 per cent. The RBI survey on SBAs assumed importance in recent days particularly when increasing attention is given on micro financing to the weaker sections of the society. The survey is aimed at obtaining useful insights into the broad structure and profile of the SBAs as also their distribution according to rate of interest charged and type of borrowers. Though rural SBAs were predominant in number (44 per cent), they were considerably smaller in amount outstanding per account as compared with those in other areas and accounted for about one-third (33.9 per cent) of the amount outstanding. Small borrowal accounts against individuals constituted the bulk, forming nearly 92 per cent of all accounts and the lion’s share of 88.5 per cent in the amount outstanding. The accounts of female borrowers formed around 16 per cent in number and 12.8 per cent in outstanding amount. In terms of quality of assets under SBAs, about 73.8 per cent of the accounts were reported as standard assets while nearly 26 per cent of the accounts were under the category of sub-standard, doubtful and loss assets. The standard assets accounted for about 82.8 per cent of the outstanding amount. The survey also revealed that a sizeable number of borrowal accounts (38 per cent) belonged to the modal interest rate range of 12 to 13 per cent and claimed 39.6 per cent shares in outstanding amount. Other important range of interest rate were 11 to 12 per cent and 13 to 14 per cent which accounted for 10 to 12 per cent in terms of both the number of accounts and the amount outstanding. Average amount outstanding per account in the interest rate range of 13 to 14 per cent was the highest at Rs 21,908. While the majority of SBAs are being covered under various loan schemes of the Government, the Integrated Rural Development Programmes (IRDPs) was the largest loan scheme forming about 17 per cent of the total accounts and accounting for 7 per cent of the outstanding amount. Andhra pradesh reported the largest number of small borrowal accounts with a share of 12.2 per cent followed by Uttar Pradesh at 11.6 per cent, Tamil Nadu at 10 per cent and Maharashtra. The share of sbas in all accounts in respect of amount outstanding in Bihar was as high as 63.6 per cent followed by Orissa at 50.4 per cent. Nationalised banks accounted for over 42 per cent and about 50 per cent of the amount outstanding under the SBAs. State Bank of India (SBI) and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) each accounted for about one-fourth of the total accounts while in amount outstanding, SBI group was much higher at 27.3 per cent as compared with the RRBs at 13.5 per cent. A large segment of women borrowal accounts belonged to the nationalised banks, accounting for over one-half of the amount outstanding. As much as 82.2 per cent of the accounts of women borrowers were much smaller in size (less than Rs25,000) and accounted for 45.4 per cent of the outstanding credit. While term loans continued to dominate the SBAs at 56.5 per cent in number, the demand loans and cash credit account for 21.5 per cent and 12.5 per cent. The share of proprietary and partnership account was small at 3.6 per cent in number of accounts but their share in amount outstanding was relatively higher at 7.7 per cent. (UNI) |
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Datamatics’ net up 80 pc declares 20 pc dividend NEW DELHI, May 16: The country’s largest third party non-voice BPO Datamatics Technologies Ltd (DTL) has said its net profit for the last fiscal jumped 80 per cent to Rs 28.05 crore over Rs 15.53 in the previous fiscal and declared a dividend of 20 per cent. The company’s income for 2003-04 stood at Rs 107.69 crore, an increase of 78 per cent compared to Rs 60.45 crore in FY03. The Earnings Per Share (EPS) for the fiscal stood at Rs 8.98. DRL’s Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of 20 per cent for the shareholders that works out to Re one on a face value of Rs five per share, managing director and CEO manish H Modi said in a statement here. The company recently went public with an IPO of 10.3 million equity shares at Rs 110 each. The IPO was subscribed over 20 times and the stock on May 14 traded at Rs 166.75 on BSE. (UNI) |
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Welspun to issue shares to promoters NEW DELHI, May 16: Welspun India Ltd has decided to issue equity shares to promoters — Welspun Wintex Ltd and Welspun Mercantile Ltd — who have agreed to subscribe to 25,98,930 equity shares and warrants carrying option to the holders to subscribe to 27,03,004 equity shares at Rs 95 per share. Welspun India has also decided to issue 78,57,974 equity shares and warrants carrying option to the holders to subscribe to 8,73,108 equity shares at Rs 85.90 per share to western India Trustee and Executor Company Ltd (India advantage fund II managed by ICICI venture funds management company ltd). A subscription agreement for the same was approved and executed, the company said in a statement here. The option attached to these warrants would be exercisable within 18 months from the date of allotment. (UNI) |
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Maruti to replace L T in sensex NEW DELHI, May 16: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has decided to include country’s largest auto maker Maruti Udyog Ltd into BSE-30 index in place of Larsen and Toubro Ltd’s stock from May. This replacement is being made due to the demerger of the cement business of Larsen and Toubro Ltd into a new company Ultratech Cemco Ltd and the capital restructuring being undertaken subsequent to the Demerger, the bse said in a statement. The free-float adjustment factor for Maruti would be 0.30, it added. The long-awaited Demerger of Larsen and Toubro’s cement business to the A V Birla Group flagship Grasim industries came into effect from Friday last. As per the proposal, L and T would spin off its 16.5mn tonnes cement division into a separate company called Ultratech cemco. L and T would then sell a 8.5 per cent stake to Grasim. Grasim, which owns a minority stake in the demerged entity, has said it would make an open offer to the shareholders of ultra tech Cemco at Rs 342.6 per share. As per the deal sanctioned by the Bombay High Court, Grasim would purchase up to 37,320,539 shares of Rs 10 each aggregating 30 per cent of the total share capital of ultra tech Cemco. (UNI) |
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On-line tax accounting system to come alive on July 1 MUMBAI, May 16: The current Tax Accounting System (TAS) for reporting of taxes is being modified to introduce On Line Tax Accounting System (OLTAS) with effect from July 1. The main changes being introduced through OLTAS include introduction of three challans which will replace seven different type of challans used for depositing direct taxes in Government account. According to officials of the income-tax department, these new challans are a common single copy challan (itns 280) for payment of personal I-T, corporation tax and wealth tax (other than TDS). Another single copy challan (itns 281) will be used for depositing tax deducted at source from corporates and non-corporates, while the third one (itns 282) will be used to deposit gift tax, estate duty, expenditure tax and expenditure tax and other direct taxes. The single copy challan will have a main portion on the top and a ‘taxpayer’s counterfoil’ at the bottom. The officials said that the bank will retain the main portion of the challan and return the ‘taxpayer’s counterfoil’ to the taxpayer after stamping it with a unique seven digit BSR code of the bank branch, the date of deposit (DD/MM/YY), six digits, and the challan serial number in five digit. This number would be unique for each challan throughout the country. The challan would be identifiable in the system by Challan Identification Number (CIN), that is, BSR code, followed by the date, and the serial number. The collecting branch would capture the entire data of the challan and will electronically transmit it online to the Tax Information Network (TIN) presently hosted by NSDL in Mumbai. The tin will in turn transmit it to the Regional Computer Centres (RCCs) through the National Computer Centre (NCC) at Delhi. The information thus received from the banks through TIN will be used by the department to give credit for the tax paid on the basis of CIN. Information regarding refund data will also follow the same route. The two banks handling I-T refunds, that is RBI and SBI, will electronically report refund data to TIN from whre it will flow to RCCs through NCC as described. (UNI) |
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Israel’s scitex offers to buy 5.64 mln of its shares TEL AVIV, May 16: Israeli digital printing company Scitex corp said on Sunday it would buy back 5.64 million of its own shares at 5.67 per share in cash. Scitex’s Nasdaq-traded shares closed at 5.70 on Friday, up 0.5 percent. Shares on Tel Aviv opened on Sunday down 1.5 percent to 26.5 Shekels ( 5.74). The company has 43.02 million ordinary shares outstanding. The offer, which expires on June 14, would only be triggered if at least 3.23 million ordinary shares are tendered, Scitex said in a statement. In April, Scitex shareholders approved a cash distribution of up to 2.00 per share as well as the repurchase of up to 32 million worth of the company’s outstanding shares. This followed the 250 million sale of its digital printing unit Scitex digital printing to Eastman Kodak Co. (AGENCIES) OPEC could show goodwill by raising output: Report TEHRAN, May 16: OPEC could show goodwill to oil consumers by raising production by 1.5 million Barrels Per Day (BPD), Iran’s OPEC Governor was quoted as saying on Sunday. "A possible increase of OPEC production by 1.5 million barrels per day would display the organisation’s co-operation and understanding with consumers even though OPEC is not responsible for the situation," Hossein Kazempour Ardebili was quoted as saying on the state oil company web site. Kazempour said oil prices had been ignited by regional instability in the middle east and refinery bottlenecks in the United States. June crude on the New York mercantile exchange settled at 41.38 a barrel on Friday, after peaking during the day at 41.56, the highest level in the 21-year history of Nymex. Iran’s OPEC Governor also said he was concerned by stockpiling of crude oil in consumer countries that could weigh on prices towards autumn. (AGENCIES) |
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