Israeli group demands that Twitter shuts down Hezbollah account - BlogPost - The Washington Post

Israeli group demands that Twitter shuts down Hezbollah account - BlogPost - The Washington Post: "The Hezbollah Twitter account with which Shurat HaDin has a problem, @almanarnews, represents a Lebanese satellite television station affiliated with Hezbollah, and shares a variety of links with its nearly 8,000 followers.

Its most recent tweets in English spoke about Iran’s plan to test long-range missiles, a bomb attack in Afghanistan on civilians, and Russia’s declaration that the Arab League’s visit to Syria was “reassuring.”

The Middle East Forum describes Al-Manar News this way: “Calling itself the ‘station of resistance,’ al-Manar has become an integral part of Hezbollah's plan to reach the entire Arab and Muslim worlds.”"

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Obama to ask for debt limit hike: Treasury official | Reuters

Obama to ask for debt limit hike: Treasury official | Reuters: "(Reuters) - The White House plans to ask Congress by the end of the week for an increase in the government's debt ceiling to allow the United States to pay its bills on time, according to a senior Treasury Department official on Tuesday.

The approval is expected to go through without a challenge, given that Congress is in recess until later in January and the request is in line with an agreement to keep the U.S. government funded into 2013."

The debt is projected to fall within $100 billion of the current cap by December 30, when the United States has $82 billion in interest on its debt and payments such as Social Security coming due. President Barack Obama is expected to ask for authority to increase the borrowing limit by $1.2 trillion, part of the spending authority that was negotiated between Congress and the White House this summer.

Under the agreement struck in August during the showdown over the government's debt limit, the cap is automatically raised unless Congress votes to block the debt-ceiling extension. Lawmakers have 15 days within receiving the request to vote, which is largely symbolic because the president can veto it and Congress would be unlikely to muster the two-thirds majority to override it. Moreover, the U.S. House of Representatives also is in recess until January 17.

The deal called for raising the debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion to serve the nation's borrowing needs into 2013 and also included mandatory cuts to the federal budget deficit. Since then, the extension has been increased twice by a total of $900 billion.

The debt limit currently stands at $15.194 trillion and would increase to $16.394 trillion with the request.

(Reporting By Margaret Chadbourn; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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Gold near 6-month low after Italy auction | Reuters

Gold near 6-month low after Italy auction | Reuters: "(Reuters) - Gold extended losses and fell to its lowest in almost 6-months on Thursday as the euro fell against the dollar after an Italian bond auction saw yields at an unsustainable level and renewed euro zone fears and credit tightness worries.

Echoing the weakness in gold, spot platinum fell more than 3 percent to its lowest since November 2009 and silver fell more than 3 percent to a 3-month low."

The euro hit its lowest level versus the dollar in nearly a year on Thursday, after high 10-year bond yields at an Italian auction prompted investors to sell the single currency, with moves exacerbated by thin year-end trade.

Investors still demanded a near 7 percent yield to buy 10-year paper, a level seen unsustainable over time for the euro zone third-largest economy. A stronger U.S. unit makes dollar-priced commodities such as precious metals costlier for holders of other currencies.

"Peripheral yields are still on the rise; the 6-month Italian debt auction wasn't that bad but the long-term auction is still lacking trust," said VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.

"Sentiment is still down since it's the year-end and really you have larger problems at hand: the markets are still disappointed with the ECB reluctance to become the lender of last resort and changing fiscal discipline will take time."

Spot gold fell 1.77 percent to $1,527.79 an ounce by 1214 GMT, from $1,555.19 late in New York on Wednesday.

Earlier it hit a near six-month low of $1,521.94.

U.S. gold February futures lost more 2 percent to $1,529.70.

LIQUIDITY SQUEEZE

A spiraling euro debt crisis and increased need for liquidity in the last few months have pushed banks and other financial participants to sell assets including gold, generally deemed to be a safe haven during economic woes.

Gold was on course for a 12 percent fall this month, its biggest drop since October 2008 when the credit crunch hit most financial markets.

"The stress in the banking sector has increases as indicators such as the euro/dollar basis swaps show... There is a shortage of liquidity and, if you have to refinance, you have to sell your assets, including gold," said Credit Suisse analyst Tobias Merath.

"Gold is not a safe haven assets against a liquidity crisis. Banks need to sell assets to raise cash and avoid bankruptcy."

A rebound for gold is possible if policymakers take measures such as liquidity injection or interest rates cuts, which could help alleviate the credit crunch and would lessen the necessity to sell assets such as commodities, analysts said.

Silver was down 2.63 percent at $26.33 an ounce while palladium was down 1.07 percent at $627.72 an ounce. Platinum was last down 2.85 percent at $1,345.20 an ounce.

It earlier hit its lowest in more than 2 years at $1,338.20.

Platinum was hit harder than other precious metals due to growth fears in the Eurozone for 2012, Kryuchenkov said.

As in Europe buyers prefer diesel engines with a higher platinum content poor growth in this area dampens platinum demand prospects.

(Editing by William Hardy)

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Oil above $107, U.S. stocks and Iran in focus | Reuters

Oil above $107, U.S. stocks and Iran in focus | Reuters: "(Reuters) - Oil held above $107 a barrel on Thursday as investors looked ahead to a U.S. report that is expected to show falling crude and fuel stockpiles and as Iranian threats to halt a vital oil trade lent support.

A report from the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) at 1600 GMT was forecast to show crude stocks fell by 1.7 million barrels. That was before Wednesday's report from industry group the American Petroleum Institute said they rose by 9.6 million barrels, which weighed on prices overnight."

Brent crude rose 9 cents to $107.65 a barrel by 1227 GMT after falling nearly $2 the day before. Wednesday's decline snapped a string of six straight sessions of gains. U.S. crude climbed 37 cents to $99.73.

"Worries over Iran are supportive. The market is up even though the API stats were bearish, so people may be waiting for the EIA," said Christopher Bellew, an oil broker at Jefferies Bache.

Low trading volume due to the holiday season was expected to exaggerate price moves. Brent faces resistance at $109.40, the level of the 100-day moving average, and at $109.50, the intra-day highs of the two previous sessions.

A weaker euro limited the rise in oil prices. The euro fell to its lowest since September 2010 versus the dollar on Thursday as yields at an auction of Italian debt remained at levels seen as unsustainable.

Gains in the dollar can pressure dollar-denominated commodities by making them more expensive to consumers using other currencies. Gold fell to its lowest in almost six months and copper retreated for a second day.

"A big increase in U.S. crude oil stocks and the falling euro against the dollar are the main pressure points for the market at the moment," said Ken Hasegawa, a derivatives manager with brokerage Newedge in Tokyo.

Brent is still on track to post a 13 percent gain in 2011, supported by the virtual shutdown of Libya's oil exports for much of the year, after a nearly 22 percent rise in 2010.

With Libyan output and exports now recovering, investors' concern over oil supplies has shifted to Iran, the world's third-largest oil exporter in 2010, according to the EIA.

Iran, at odds with the West over its nuclear program, said on Tuesday it would stop the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions were imposed on its crude exports.

The U.S. Fifth Fleet, which patrols the seas of the Middle East and Central Asia, said on Wednesday it would not allow any disruption to seaborne traffic in the area.

(Additional reporting by Randy Fabi in Singapore; editing by Jane Baird)

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China speeds up QFII approvals amid signs of capital outflow | Reuters

China speeds up QFII approvals amid signs of capital outflow | Reuters: "(Reuters) - China has since October granted nearly $1 billion in quotas for foreign institutions to invest in the country's capital markets following a five-month hiatus, reflecting Beijing's desire to encourage inbound investment amid signs of a capital outflow."

Combined quotas granted under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme in 2011 totaled $1.92 billion, the lowest since 2007, partly due to an approval freeze between May and October, according to official data released on Thursday.

Some analysts attributed the temporary suspension to the government's intention to ease pressure on the yuan to appreciate, but the tide changed abruptly in October as market jitters about the global economy prompted some investors to withdraw, weakening the yuan against the dollar in the onshore market.

"Typically when the yuan faces pressure to appreciate, regulators slow or suspend quota approvals," said Howhow Zhang, head of research at Shanghai-based consultancy Z-Ben Advisors. "I think now, because there is a capital outflow, approvals are being accelerated."

In December alone, five foreign institutions including Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali SpA (GASI.MI) and Spanish bank BBVA SA (BBVA.MC) obtained combined QFII quotas of $500 million, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE). That compares with $250 million granted in November and $200 million in October.

Zhang said the data reflected the regulator's desire to accelerate QFII approvals.

Newly-appointed China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) Chairman Guo Shuqing said earlier this month that the watchdog would speed up approvals under the QFII scheme.

Under the system for allowing controlled inflows of capital for financial investment, the CSRC grants licenses to qualified institutions but foreign exchange regulator SAFE grants the quotas.

A sister scheme for allowing fund outflows, the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) program, has grown much more rapidly in recent years.

QDII quotas had risen to $74.95 billion as of December 21, up from $68.36 billion at the end of 2010. However, new quotas of about $820 million in the last three months of the year were much smaller than in the first three quarters.

In another sign that Beijing is encouraging inbound investment, China recently published rules allowing the Hong Kong subsidiaries of Chinese brokerages and fund houses to raise offshore yuan to invest domestically, under the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor, or RQFII, program.

The name refers to the fact that such investments are denominated in renminbi.

China launched the QFII scheme in 2003 to allow qualified foreign institutions to buy mainland stocks and bonds, and has so far granted total combined quotas of $21.6 billion.

(Editing by Chris Lewis)

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U.S. Fifth Fleet says won't allow Hormuz disruption | Reuters

U.S. Fifth Fleet says won't allow Hormuz disruption | Reuters: "(Reuters) - The U.S. Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday it would not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran threatened to stop ships moving through the world's most important oil route.

"Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated," the Bahrain-based fleet said in an e-mail.

Iran, at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear program, said on Tuesday it would stop the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if sanctions were imposed on its crude exports."

"Closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran's armed forces is really easy ... or as Iranians say, it will be easier than drinking a glass of water," Iran's navy chief Habibollah Sayyari told Iran's English-language Press TV on Wednesday.

"But right now, we don't need to shut it ...," said Sayyari, who is leading 10 days of exercises in the Strait.

Analysts say that Iran could potentially cause havoc in the Strait of Hormuz, a strip of water separating Oman and Iran, which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest point, it is 21 miles across.

But its navy would be no match for the firepower of the Fifth Fleet which consists of 20-plus ships supported by combat aircraft, with 15,000 people afloat and another 1,000 ashore.

A spokesperson for the Fifth Fleet said in response to queries from Reuters that, it "maintains a robust presence in the region to deter or counter destabilizing activities," without providing further details.

A British Foreign Office spokesman called the Iranian threat

"rhetoric," saying: "Iranian politicians regularly use this type of rhetoric to distract attention from the real issue, which is the nature of their nuclear program."

SANCTIONS

Tension has increased between Iran and the West after EU foreign ministers decided three weeks ago to tighten sanctions on the world's No. 5 crude exporter, but left open the idea of an embargo on Iranian oil.

The West accuses Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb; Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

The Iranian threat pushed up international oil prices on Tuesday although they slipped back on Wednesday in thin trade.

"The threat by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz supported the oil market yesterday, but the effect is fading today as it will probably be empty threats as they cannot stop the flow for a longer period due to the amount of U.S. hardware in the area," said Thorbjoern bak Jensen, an oil analyst with Global Risk Management.

The Strait of Hormuz is "the world's most important oil chokepoint," according to the U.S. Department of Energy. About 40 percent of all traded oil leaves the Gulf region through the strategic waterway.

The State Department said there was an "element of bluster" in the threat, but underscored that the United States, whose warships patrol in the area, would support the free flow of oil.

France urged Iran on Wednesday to adhere to international law that allows all ships freedom of transit in the Strait.

Iran's international isolation over its defiant nuclear stance is hurting the country's oil-dependent economy, but Iranian officials have shown no sign of willingness to compromise.

Iran dismisses the impact of sanctions, saying trade and other measures imposed since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed shah have made the country stronger.

During a public speech in Iran's western province of Ilam on Wednesday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad implied Tehran had no intention of changing course.

"We will not yield to pressure to abandon our rights ... The Iranian nation will not withdraw from its right (to nuclear technology) even one iota because of the pressures," said Ahmadinejad, whose firm nuclear stance has stoked many ordinary Iranians' sense of national dignity.

Some Iranian oil officials have admitted that foreign sanctions were hurting the key energy sector that was in desperate need of foreign investment.

Though four rounds of the U.N. sanctions do not forbid the purchase of Iranian oil, many international oil firms and trading companies have stopped trading with Iran.

"SHOWING THEIR TEETH"

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if sanctions fail to rein in Iran's nuclear work.

An Iranian analyst who declined to be named said the leadership could not reach a compromise with the West over its nuclear activities as it "would harm its prestige among its core supporters."

As a result, he said, "Iranian officials are showing their teeth to prevent a military strike."

But he added that closing the Strait of Hormuz would harm Iran's economy, undermining the Iranian leadership ahead of a parliamentary election in March.

The election will be the first litmus test of the clerical establishment's popularity since the 2009 disputed presidential vote, that the opposition says was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad's re-election.

The vote was followed by eight months of anti-government street protests and created a deepening political rift among the hardline rulers.

With the opposition leaders under house arrest since February and the main reformist political parties banned since the vote, Iranian hardline rulers are concerned a low turnout would question the establishment's legitimacy.

Frustration is simmering among lower- and middle-class Iranians over Ahmadinejad's economic policies. Prices of most consumer goods have risen substantially and many Iranians struggle to make ends meet.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi and Myra MacDonald; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Oil rises on Iran warning on Strait of Hormuz | Reuters

Oil rises on Iran warning on Strait of Hormuz | Reuters: "(Reuters) - Oil rose for a sixth straight session on Tuesday as Iran's threat to stop oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz added to concerns about potential threats to supplies from the region.

Facing the possibility of more European Union sanctions by the end of January over its nuclear program, Iran's first vice-president warned that the flow of oil through the Gulf strait -- which includes crude from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq -- would be stopped if foreign sanctions are imposed on Iran's oil exports."

Iran's warning added to concerns about potential threats to the region's oil exports, with recent violence in Iraq and unrest in Syria posing potential threats to shipments there.

Consumer confidence rose to an eight-month peak in December, according to the U.S. Conference Board, accentuating oil's price rally along with thin trading volume in the year-end holiday week, analysts and brokers said.

"The geopolitical fear premium with the Iran comments and also the U.S. consumer sentiment rising to an eight-month high make it hard to be short oil during this holiday week," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.

Brent February crude rose $1.31 to settle at $109.27 a barrel, after pushing above front-month Brent's 100-day moving average of $109.34 intraday to reach a high of $109.50.

U.S. February crude rose $1.66 to settle at $101.34 a barrel, the highest settlement since front-month crude closed at $102.59 on November 16.

Crude trading volumes remained reduced in the holiday week as the year's end approaches. Brent volume was 76 percent below the 30-day average and U.S. volume 66 percent below its 30-day average.

IRAN AND POTENTIAL SUPPLY THREATS

It was not the first time Iranian leaders have raised the specter of shutting the Strait of Hormuz in the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, and EU leaders have not made explicit calls for an embargo on Iranian crude.

France, backed by Germany and Britain, has led the push to ban Iranian crude, but other states, notably Greece, have expressed reservations because of their reliance on Iranian oil.

Shutting the strait could cut a third of all seaborne oil supplies. Ahead of Iran's latest warning industry sources said OPEC-member rival Saudi Arabia and other Gulf OPEC states are ready to replace Iranian oil if sanctions halted Iranian supply to Europe.

Iran began 10 days of naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, already raising concern about a possible closure.

A series of bombings have hit Iraq in an escalating dispute between the Shi'ite-led government and Sunni leaders and Syria said on Saturday its oil production had fallen by a third due to international sanctions imposed over its crackdown on protests.

Concerns that Europe's debt crisis might spread and have a broad, dampening, effect on oil demand helped limit the oil price rise.

U.S. stocks rose slightly in a light-volume session, helped by the better-than-expected consumer confidence data, but the gains were seen as tenuous after a 5 percent rally over the previous four sessions. The S&P 500 turned positive for the year on Friday on improving economic data. .N

Persistent worries about Europe's debt crisis kept the euro near an 11-month low and traders said it may face more selling if Italy struggles to raise money at this week's year-end debt auction.

U.S. OIL INVENTORIES

Weekly reports on U.S. oil inventories are delayed this week because of Monday's holiday.

U.S. crude inventories were expected to have fallen last week, with distillate stockpiles also down and gasoline stocks unchanged, according to a Reuters survey of analysts on Tuesday.

Industry group American Petroleum Institute will release its data at 4:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration's report following at 11 a.m. EST on Thursday.

(Additional reporting by Janet McGurty and Matthew Robinson in New York and Dmitry Zhdannikov in London; editing by Bob Burgdorfer and Andrea Evans)

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Factbox: Strait of Hormuz | Reuters

Factbox: Strait of Hormuz | Reuters: "(Reuters) - Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Iran's first vice president, said on Tuesday that the flow of crude will be stopped from the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if foreign sanctions are imposed on Tehran's oil exports, IRNA, the country's official news agency reported.

About half of the world's oil is shipped by sea and most of it passes through one of three narrow shipping lanes, two of them in the Middle East. As a result, even brief blockages could cause price spikes that threaten global economic growth."

Here are some details about the Strait of Hormuz:

* WHERE IS THE STRAIT?

- The most important oil transit channel in the world is a narrow bend of water separating Oman and Iran. It connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

- At its narrowest point, the strait is only 21 miles across and consists of 2-mile (3-km) wide navigable channels for inbound and outbound shipping and a 2-mile-wide buffer zone.

* OIL SHIPMENTS:

- Flows through the Strait in 2009 were roughly 33 percent of all seaborne traded oil (40 percent in 2008), or 17 percent of oil traded worldwide, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

- Some 15.5 million barrels passed through in 2009, according to the U.S. EIA. U.S. warships patrol the area to ensure the safe passage.

- The bulk of the oil exported through the Strait of Hormuz travels to Asia, the United States and Western Europe. About three-quarters of Japan's oil imports and about 50 percent of China's pass through this strait.

- An additional 2 million barrels of oil products, including fuel oil, are exported through the passage daily, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

* ALTERNATIVE ROUTES:

- Industry sources last month said that the United Arab Emirates could soon start pumping oil via a pipeline that would allow it to bypass the Straits of Hormuz and protect exports if Western powers resort to military action in a row over Iran's nuclear program. The Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP) project, a 480-km pipeline with a capacity of up to 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) will allow the UAE, one of the world's top five exporters, to boost exports from its Fujairah terminal outside the Straits and on the Gulf of Oman.

- Other alternate routes could include the deactivated 1.65-million barrels per day Iraqi Pipeline across Saudi Arabia (IPSA), and the deactivated 0.5 million-barrels per day Tapline to Lebanon.

- Additional oil could also be pumped north via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline to the port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea, but volumes have been limited by the closure of the pipeline linking north and south Iraq.

* STRATEGIC CORRIDOR:

- Merchant ships carrying grain, iron ore, sugar, perishables and containers full of finished goods also pass through the strategic sea corridor en route to Gulf countries and ports such as Dubai.

Sources: Reuters/International Energy Agency (IEA), U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)

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Oil falls on dollar's rise, Wall Street pullback | Reuters

Oil falls on dollar's rise, Wall Street pullback | Reuters: "(Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday, snapping a string of six straight sessions of gains as part of a broad sell-off across commodities and equities.

The euro neared a one-year low against the dollar after data showed euro zone banks were still hoarding cash rather than lending it out, unnerving markets ahead of an important Italian bond sale and raising concerns about oil demand growth.

"The complex wasted little time in offsetting yesterday's strong gains as the Tuesday injection of geopolitical risk premium was negated by today's broad based de-risking," Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates, said in a note."

"Today's loss of risk appetite was triggered by a decline in the euro to 11 month lows, a drop that developed despite a well received short term Italian debt auction," Ritterbusch added.

The gains in the dollar .DXY weighed on commodities, dragging gold down 2 percent and outweighing oil market concerns about Iran's threats to shut off the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial chokepoint in the transport of crude.

U.S. stocks fell more than 1 percent following a recent year-end rally and the S&P 500 erased gains for the year on renewed concerns about the euro zone and worries about a difficult start to 2012. .N

Brent February crude fell $1.71 to settle at $107.56 a barrel. After briefly rising and pushing above its 50- and 100-day moving averages to reach $109.50, Brent fell as low as $106.77, below its 300-day moving average of $107.78.

Brent remained on pace to post a 14 percent gain for the year, after posting a nearly 22 percent rise in 2010.

U.S. crude fell $1.98 to settle at $99.36 a barrel, having traded as low as $99.11. U.S. crude was on pace to post a 9 percent rise for the year, after jumping 15 percent in 2010.

Crude trading volumes remained thin in the year-end holiday week, with Brent turnover 40 percent and U.S. crude 51 percent below their 30-day averages.

U.S. heating oil and European gas oil were more resilient, off just over 0.5 percent, because of concerns that Swiss refiner Petroplus could face a shutdown of its plants after lenders froze about $1 billion in borrowing allowances the company uses to buy crude.

Petroplus owns about 4.4 percent of European refining capacity and may run out of crude feedstocks in the coming days, according to traders, tightening products supplies and threatening exports to the United States.

The Petroplus problems came as Repsol (REP.MC) halted operations of its 220,000 barrels-per-day Bilbao refinery for four and a half days due to strike action.

IRAN, SANCTIONS, THREATS

Facing the possibility of more European Union sanctions over its nuclear program, Iran's first vice-president on Tuesday warned that the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz would be stopped if foreign sanctions are imposed on Iran's oil exports.

Closing off the Gulf to oil tankers will be "easier than drinking a glass of water," Iran's top naval commander told the country's state television on Wednesday.

The U.S. Fifth Fleet said it would not allow any disruption of traffic in the strait. France urged Iran to adhere to international law allowing freedom of navigation.

Turmoil and internal strife in fellow OPEC-members Iraq and Nigeria also have added to the concerns about potential threats to oil supply.

U.S. OIL INVENTORIES

Data from MasterCard showed U.S. gasoline demand continued to struggle, with driving demand down 1.6 percent over the Christmas holiday compared with a year ago, though demand was up versus the previous week.

Crude prices briefly extended losses in post-settlement trading after the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. crude stocks rose 9.6 million barrels last week.

Gasoline stockpiles rose 1.9 million barrels and distillate stocks rose 554,000 barrels, the API said.

Ahead of weekly reports on stockpiles, U.S. crude inventories were expected to have fallen 1.7 million barrels, with distillate stocks down 500,000 barrels and gasoline stocks slipping 100,000 barrels, according to a Reuters survey of analysts.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly inventory report will follow at 11 a.m. EST (4:00 p.m. British time) on Thursday.

(Additional reporting by Ikuko Kurahone in London and Randy Fabi and Seng Li Peng in Singapore; editing by Jim Marshall and David Gregorio)

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