Petroleum Inventory Report 4-30-08

Crude Oil up 3.8 million barrels
Gasoline down 1.5 million barrels
Distillates up 1.1 million barrels
Refinery Utilization 85.4% down .2%

China's oil consumption hits record high in Q1

BEIJING, (Xinhua) -- Soaring oil prices have not slowed China's consumption of oil as statistics show that China's apparent consumption of crude oil and refined oil products both hit record highs in the first quarter of the year.

According to statistics released Tuesday by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA), China's apparent consumption of oil products composed of gasoline, diesel and kerosene rose by 16.5 percent year on year to 52.73 million tonnes in the first three months, and crude oil, rose by eight percent to91.8 million tonnes.

The "apparent consumption" represents the sum of net imports and output and could be taken as an index for the real oil consumption excluding inventory. The growth of oil products consumption was a record high and much higher than the same period of last year, which was only 3.6 percent, said Shu Zhaoxia, professor of the Economics and Development Research Institute of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group). Sinopec Group is China's top oil refiner.

The growth of crude oil consumption was 2.5 percentage points higher than a year ago. State ceilings on prices of domestic oil products was the major reason contributing to China's surging oil consumption in the first quarter. Below-cost fuel prices did not restrain China's demand for oil but rather boosted it, said Shu.

Petroleum Inventory Report 4-23-08

Crude Oil up 2.4 million barrels
Gasoline down 3.2 million barrels
Distillates down 1.4 million barrels
Refinery Utilization 85.6% up 4.2%

OPEC Secretary General Comments On Oil Market

ROME (AP) — OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah el al-Badri said Sunday oil prices would likely go higher and that the group was ready to raise production if the price pressure was due to a shortage of supply — something he doubted.

"Oil prices, there is a common understanding that has nothing to do with supply and demand," al-Badri said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Rome.

The OPEC chief said the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries "will not hesitate" to increase production if the group thought the higher prices were due to shortages. But he said more oil will not solve the high prices.

"But how much higher it will go, of course it depends on a number of things: the political situation, whether there is a natural catastrophe, whether there are speculations in the market, whether there are strikes in certain producing countries. So there are many other factors other than OPEC production," al-Badri said.

Crude oil hit record highs for the fifth consecutive day on Friday.

Crude oil settled at a record $116.69 in NYMEX trading.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose to a new trading record of $117 in after-hours electronic trading Friday.

Petroleum Inventory Report 4-16-08

Crude Oil down 2.3 million barrels
Gasoline down 5.5 million barrels
Distillates up 100,000 barrels
Refinery Utilization 81.4% down 1.6%

Oil climbed to $114.08 a barrel in New York, the highest since futures began trading in 1983.

USD Weakness Continues To Lift Oil Prices

Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose $1.62 to settle at a record $111.76

Analysts Tout Valero In Barron's

From Barron's

"we're getting close to a trough in spreads," says Rob Lloyd, a Valero fan and lead manager of AIM Constellation and AIM Summit Funds. He thinks the long-term bullish case for refiners is intact, given how tough it is to build refineries in the U.S.

"even with these numbers down, they're going to be profitable," says Lloyd. He sees Valero earning $6.25 a share this year, for $3.5 billion in net income. "They'll do $2 billion in stock buybacks, no problem, and that's assuming they don't sell any refineries."

NYMEX Crude Hits New Record........U.S. crude for May delivery gained $2.37 to settle at $110.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil set a new intraday high of $112.21 earlier in the session. The previous intraday high of $111.80 was set March 17. The previous closing high of $110.33 was set March 13.

Petroleum Inventory Report 4-09-08

Crude Oil down 3.2 million barrels
Gasoline down 3.4 million barrels
Distillates down 3.7 million barrels
Refinery Utilization up .6% to 83%

Decreased output from OPEC and a weakening US Dollar helped crude oil rally on Monday. Crude for May delivery rose $2.86, or 2.7 percent, to settle at $109.09 a barrel in trading on the NYMEX.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 80 cents to $107.03 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in early trading on Monday.

A weak USD and a reduction in OPEC output is fueling the oil rally.

OPEC Output

OPEC pumped an average 32.35 million barrels a day last month, down 85,000 barrels from February, according to the survey of oil companies, producers and analysts. February output was revised up by 160,000 barrels a day. Production by the 12 members with quotas, all except Iraq, fell 30,000 barrels to 29.97 million barrels a day.

The decline in March was the first drop in seven months.

CanArgo Comments On Market Speculation

CanArgo Energy Corporation ("CanArgo" or the "Company") (AMEX: CNR)(OSLO: CNR) today makes the following announcement in response to market speculation:

The Company noted in its recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K that in order to continue with its planned development activities in Georgia, it was currently investigating fundraising proposals and that it would require to raise additional capital in 2008. The Company confirms that it is continuing to seek such funding and is in active discussions in connection with a potential fundraising. However, no agreement has yet been reached in relation to such a fundraising. A further announcement will be made in due course. Continued.......

Petroleum Inventory Report 4-02-08

Crude Oil up 7.4 million barrels
Gasoline down 4.5 million barrels
Distillates down 1.6 million barrels
Refinery Utilization up .2% to 82.4%