Persian Gulf Crude Oil Tanker Rates May Decline for Sixth Day on Ship Glut

(Bloomberg) -- The cost of hiring supertankers to
transport Middle East crude oil on the busiest shipping route to
Asia, which fell every day last week, may extend its decline as
demand for July cargoes fails to cut an oversupply of vessels.

Refineries still need to hire about 60 percent of the
vessels they need to ship cargoes from Persian Gulf ports next
month. A glut of carriers ``appears to be keeping a cap on
things at the moment,'' said Simon Chattrabhuti, an analyst at
London-based shipbroker Galbraith's Ltd., in an e-mailed note.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

OPEC's El-Badri Rejects European Union Demand to Increase Oil Production

(Bloomberg) -- OPEC, the producer of about 40 percent
of the world's crude oil, rejected a European Union call to pump
more oil so consuming nations can replenish stockpiles and ease the
impact of supply disruptions from the Middle East and Africa.

``There is no shortage of oil, there is plenty of oil in the
market, the stocks are very high, they are above the five-year
average,'' Abdalla el-Badri, the secretary general of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said during a
meeting with EU officials at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna today.
``If we add more oil, it will not go to the refineries.''


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Persian Gulf Crude Oil Tanker Rates May Rise as Producers Reveal Programs

(Bloomberg) -- The cost of shipping Middle East
crude to Asia on supertankers may extend four days of gains as
oil-producing nations tell companies when to have vessels in
place to load at Persian Gulf ports.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer, Iran, and
the United Arab Emirates this week may release port-loading
schedules for July crude shipments, stoking demand for tankers,
said Per Mansson, a tanker broker for Nor Ocean Stockholm AB, in
an e-mailed note today.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Oil Rises on U.S. Refining Slowdown, Iran's Refusal to Defer Nuclear Plans

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose above $67 a barrel in
New York and gasoline jumped after a government report showed
that U.S. refineries unexpectedly cut operating rates and Iran
said it isn't willing to suspend its nuclear program.

Refineries operated at 89.2 percent of capacity last week,
the lowest since May 4 and the lowest utilization rate in 15
years for the second week in June, an Energy Department report
showed yesterday. Iran, the Middle East's second-largest producer
of crude oil, said its nuclear research is advancing. The U.S.
and its allies accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Crude Oil Falls on Speculation U.S. Refineries Bolstered Fuel Production

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell on speculation that a
government report will show that U.S. refineries increased fuel
production.

Gasoline stockpiles increased 1.55 million barrels last
week, according to the median of responses by 12 analysts in a
Bloomberg News survey. Supplies of distillate fuel, a category
that includes heating oil and diesel, rose 800,000 barrels, the
survey showed. Prices also fell on reduced concern that Tropical
Cyclone Gonu will curb oil shipments from the Middle East.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

China's Investment in Africa to Boost Shilling, Cedi, Standard Bank Says

(Bloomberg) -- Kenya's shilling and Ghana's cedi
will rise as China increases spending on oil fields, roads and
telephone networks in Africa to secure raw material supplies,
Standard Bank Group Ltd. said.

The shilling may appreciate 3 percent against the dollar by
year-end, said Francis Beddington, the London-based head of
Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa research at Standard
Bank, Africa's largest by assets. He attended the Tunis-based
African Development Bank's annual meeting, held in China for the
first time last month to help attract funds to the continent.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Key Egyptian stock index inches up to 16-month high

(Reuters) - The Case 30 index,, a benchmark for major firms listed in Egypt, hit a 16-month closing high on Sunday, powered by El-Sewedy Cables which raced to an all-time closing high on strong growth and outlook.

Shares in El-Sewedy Cables, one of the biggest cable manufacturers in the Middle East, rose 6.6 percent to last trade at 59.95 Egyptian pounds.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Middle East Money Managers to Triple Assets to $200 Billion, Algebra Says

(Bloomberg) -- Middle Eastern and North African
money managers' assets will almost triple to $200 billion by
2012 as regional stocks attract investors, Dubai, United Arab
Emirates-based Algebra Capital Ltd. forecast.

``Gulf markets present better value than other emerging
markets, which have been more on the radar screens of
international investors and are trading at higher multiples,''
Ziad Makkawi, chief executive officer of Algebra, the asset
management firm he started in November, said in an interview in
Dubai today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News