Canadian Dollar Falls on Slowing Global Economy, Crude Oil Price, Equities

Canada’s dollar fell for the second week as stocks were pummeled and oil, the nation’s largest export, declined to the lowest level since February, signaling less demand for risky assets.

The loonie, as the currency is nicknamed, fell versus 12 of its 16 most-traded counterparts this week on speculation slowing economic growth will weigh on demand for raw materials. Growth concern was tempered yesterday when reports showed Canadian jobs grew for a fourth straight month in July and employment increased in the U.S., the nation’s largest trading partner, more than forecast. Demand for Canadian government securities will be tested when the Bank of Canada auctions three-year debt on Aug. 10.

“Concern over the health of the U.S. economy is probably a very negative translation to the Canadian economy,” said Gregory Salvaggio, senior vice president of capital markets in Washington at the currency trader Tempus Consulting Inc. “On top of that, significant slippage in commodity prices all contribute to downward pressure on the loonie.

The Canadian currency fell 2.8 percent to 98.20 cents per U.S. dollar in Toronto from 95.52 on July 29. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0183. It touched 94.07 cents on July 26, the strongest since November 2007.

Stocks get little help from oil rally

Oil prices rebounded Friday from steep declines but the shares of Calgary-based oil and gas companies continued to fall to new depths.

ICE Brent crude for September delivery rose $2.12 to settle at $109.37 US a barrel on Friday and West Texas Intermediate futures crept up 25 cents to settle at $86.88. On Thursday, Brent plunged $5.98 and WTI was off $5.30.

In spite of the commodity price gains, Calgary oil producers, oilsands producers, gas explorers and service companies alike lost market value.

Savanna Energy Services Corp. was down 7.7 per cent, PetroBakken Energy Ltd. was off 7.1 per cent, Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. lost another 6.5 per cent, Husky Energy Inc. and Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. each fell three per cent, while Encana Corp. was down 2.9 per cent.

The S&P/TSX Energy Index fell 5.9 per cent Friday, leaving it at 2776.78.

That's down 11.5 per cent on the year.

Niger Delta villagers go to the Hague to fight against oil giant Shell

A man walks on slippery spilled crude oil on the shores of the Niger Delta swamps of Bodo, a village in Niger's oil-producing Ogoniland. Photograph: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images

Goi is now a dead village. The two fish ponds, bakery and chicken farm that used to be the pride and joy of its chief deacon, Barrisa Tete Dooh, lie abandoned, covered in a thick black layer. The village's fishing creek is contaminated; the school has been looted; the mangrove forests are coated in bitumen and everyone has left, refugees from a place blighted by the exploitation of the region's most valuable asset: crude oil.
Last Thursday, a long-awaited and comprehensive UN study exposed the full horror of the pollution that the production of oil has brought to Ogoniland over the last 50 years.
The UN report showed that oil companies and the Nigerian government had not just failed to meet their own standards, but that the process of investigation, reporting and clean-up was deeply flawed in favour of the firms and against the victims. Spills in the US are responded to in minutes; in the Niger delta, which suffers more pollution each year than the Gulf of Mexico, it can take companies weeks or more.

UPDATE 1-S.Sudan says Khartoum released blocked oil cargo

Aug 6 (Reuters) - North Sudan has released a 600,000 barrel oil shipment of landlocked South Sudan held over failed customs duties, a southern official said on Saturday as both sides argue over dividing oil revenues.
On Friday, Khartoum said it had stopped the crude cargo at the outlet of Port Sudan because South Sudan failed to pay customs duties, the latest in oil tensions between the two countries.
South Sudan took most of the country's oil production of 500,000 barrels of oil when it became independent on July 9 as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war with the north. Oil is the lifeline of both economies.
The South needs northern refineries, the only Red Sea port in Port Sudan and pipeline to sell the oil but both sides have failed so far to agree on usage fees in a row that could disrupt supplies from one of Africa's largest producers.
"Now the shipment has left, the 600,000 barrels," David Loro Gubek, undersecretary at the southern ministry of energy and mining in Juba, told Reuters.
He confirmed that Khartoum had demanded a fee for future use of northern oil facilities of around $32 a barrel which would amount to a third of the export value of South Sudan, according to Reuters calculations based on current prices.
Until now both split equally the oil.

Update on Bohai Bay Oil Cleanup and Production Curtailment

HOUSTON, Jul 13, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ConocoPhillips [NYSE:COP] wishes to provide additional information in regards to the oil spill incidents that occurred in Bohai Bay, People's Republic of China on June 4th and June 17th 2011, and the ongoing clean up and containment program that is underway.

On June 4 seepage on the seabed was observed along a naturally occurring fault near the ConocoPhillips-operated Peng Lai B Platform. The majority of seepage has been stopped following prudent adjustment of certain production activities. A containment device was designed and constructed and put in place as a precaution should the seep occur from the main source again.

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OIL - Boom - bust - STOP!

OIL - Boom - bust - STOP! from Leo Bar PIX IN MOTION on Vimeo.