AP: Oil Rises as China's August Crude Imports Rise, Gold Little Changed as Banking Worries Ease
Oil is on the rise in early morning trade, lifted on optimism about the Chinese economy in particular as the country increased both crude and copper imports in August. China's customs bureau reported crude imports rising over 13% in the latest month from a year ago. Traders have also been buoyed by the latest changes in international banking rules which gave lenders more time than expected to increase their capital to protect themselves against possible credit crunches.
Gold, meanwhile, is little changed while investors' appetite for safe haven assets may be losing steam on improved global economic sentiment.
At 0750 ET, Brent crude is up 0.4% at $78.43 a barrel, while light sweet crude is up 0.9% at $77.13 a barrel, and natural gas is down 0.6% at $3.86 a million British thermal units.
Gold is largely flat at $1,246.00 an ounce, while silver is up 0.5% at $19.94 an ounce, and copper is up 1.9% at $3.48 a pound.
Athabasca Oil Sands Corp (ATH) said it will buy out Excelsior Energy Ltd (ELE) for about $149 million as the Canadian group expands into the oil sands of Hangingstone and West Surmont near Alberta. Athabasca is developing the Alberta oil sands projects in partnership with a Chinese state oil company.
Enbridge Energy Partners LP ( EEP ), which had to shut down its pipeline running across Canada and the United States last Friday, drained most of the oil from the line in Illinois. The company said it is working to divert crude supply to other available pipelines and storage facilities.
Kentz Corp Ltd (KENZ) projects full-year revenue exceeding analysts' expectations as it looks to expand into Alaska and Canada as well as Papua New Guinea. The Irish energy engineering group's clients include Chvron Corp ( CVX ), Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDSA) and BP plc ( BP ).
In the mining sector, Renaissance Minerals Ltd signed a deal to acquire the Pinjin gold project in Western Australia from Newmont Mining Corp ( NEM ). The exploration group will pay 200,000 Australian dollars upfront and issue about 1.5 million shares to Newmont.
