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Oil
futures end the week lower
San Francisco: Though crude-oil futures rose by
more than 3% Friday, the benchmark futures contract still
ended over 2% below the week-ago close with traders wary
of an 50% run up in prices year to date.
In
Ecuador Friday, protests by striking workers and the local
population, hoping to secure a bigger share of the South
American country's oil revenue, forced the suspension
of crude exports, according to AFP. Analysts say that
such reasons would ensure that crude oil would keep climbing
to US$70 and eventually US$100 and higher.
Crude
for September delivery climbed to a high of US$65.50 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It closed
at US$65.35, up $2.08 for the session and stands well
above its close around US$43 at the end of last year.
However, the price on the benchmark contract was down
US$1.51 from week-ago close of US$66.86.
Friday,
Merrill Lynch raised its 2005 forecast for Brent oil by
10% to US$55 a barrel and for light sweet crude by 10%
to US$56 a barrel. Merrill also lifted its 2006 forecast
for Brent by 25% to US$51 and for light sweet crude by
25% to US$52 a barrel.
Merrill's
forecast for 2005 global demand growth remains 1.6 million
barrels, up 1.9% on 2004.
Goldman
Sachs on Thursday said oil prices should remain above
$60 a barrel for the rest of the decade.
Elsewhere
in the energy futures sector, September natural gas closed
at US$9.111 per million British thermal units, up 18.3
cents, or 2.1%. It was down 5% from last week's ending
level.
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TUI
buy out of CP Ships to create fifth largest container
shipper in the world
Toronto:
The US$2bn sale of CP Ships Ltd. to a German transport
giant that runs the Hapag-Lloyd AG shipping line will
create the world's fifth-largest container shipper.
The
board of directors at CP Ships met in Toronto on Saturday
and unanimously recommended acceptance of the friendly
offer from the Germans. CP Ships and TUI AG of Hanover,
Germany, jointly made the announcement over the weekend.
Hapag-Lloyd
is much stronger on transpacific routes than its rival.
Amid the China trade boom, CP Ships has been criticized
for missing the boat on the huge volume of consumer goods
shipped to North America from China, and also shipments
of Canadian resources to hungry Chinese markets. While
Hapag-Lloyd's strength lies in trade with China, CP Ships'
transatlantic lanes provide it with strength. CP Ships
officials said that the trade lanes of the two companies
were complementary and didn't have a heavy degree of overlap.
CP
Ships, registered in New Brunswick, belonged to Canadian
Pacific Ltd. until the conglomerate dissolved in 2001.
CP Ships, which has roots in Canada dating back to 1886,
runs key operations at the Port of Montreal and has traditionally
relied on transatlantic shipping lanes for its growth.
CP Ships directors met Aug. 11 in Montreal to approve
second-quarter financial results, which showed a $33-million
profit.
Hapag-Lloyd
is the 13th-largest container shipper in the world, as
measured by shipping capacity. After the acquisition of
CP Ships, which ranks No. 16, the combined entity will
catapult to the fifth spot. In total, the combined entity
will have 139 container ships, with another 17 on order.
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