Briefs Attacks push oil prices higher

Oil prices moved higher Monday after new attacks on Iraqi oil lines forced the country to reduce its exports by half.

Iraqi repair crews worked frantically to fix one of two key southern crude oil pipelines, officials in the state-run South Oil Co. said. The disruption – coming about two weeks after exports were halted following sabotage attacks on the two export lines – heightened concern among traders and analysts about the security of Iraq’s oil flow at a time when global spare capacity for crude is thin.

The shutdown plunged exports of crude oil from Basra to about 960,000 barrels per day, roughly half the postwar levels there.

In London, contracts of North Sea Brent crude for August delivery were trading at $36.30 per barrel, up 38 cents on the International Petroleum Exchange. U.S. markets were closed in observance of the Independence Day holiday.
Russian oil giant nearer insolvency

A top official at Russia’s battered oil giant Yukos on Monday accused the government of driving the company to the brink of insolvency as a group of Western banks signaled it might call in a $1 billion loan.

Yukos has been ordered to pay a $3.4 billion back taxes bill by Thursday. Its bank accounts were ordered frozen last week, and a freeze on its assets remains in place, giving the company no way to raise money to pay the bill.

“The actions of representatives of the Russian government have led Russia’s best and most creditworthy company to the brink of an unintended and artificial situation of insolvency and possible bankruptcy, creating an unthinkable default situation with its bank lenders,” Yukos Chief Financial Officer Bruce Misamore said in a statement.

Societe Generale, the lead-arrangers for the lenders’ syndicate that gave notice Monday, said the banks don’t want to “jeopardize” the besieged company, but the notice means the banks can call in their debt at any time.
New Airbus jumbo jet heavier than planned

Airbus SAS conceded Monday what aviation watchers have long suspected: The European aircraft maker’s new A380 superjumbo has a weight problem.

According to the company’s own projections, a Paris-based Airbus spokeswoman said, the largest commercial airliner ever built will weigh 319 tons – about 5 percent heavier than the previous target.

The figures were first reported in Monday’s edition of German weekly Der Spiegel, citing internal Airbus documents.

The weight of an aircraft has a direct effect on its fuel efficiency, a key benchmark for airlines deciding what planes to buy.

But Airbus spokeswoman Barbara Kracht insisted that the A380 Airbus will still meet its fuel efficiency target – 81 miles for one gallon of kerosene per passenger – when the plane goes into service in spring 2006.
Coke opens plant in Somalian capital

After a 15-year absence, Coca-Cola Co. returned to Somalia Monday with the opening of a $8.3 million bottling plant.

The new Coca-Cola plant was opened in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu and is owned by United Bottling Co., formed by a consortium of 399 Somali investors, the Atlanta-based company said in a statement from its Nairobi office in neighboring Kenya.

Somalia, which has a population of about 7 million, has not had an effective central government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Much of the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed by more than a decade of banditry and clan-based fighting.

The country is controlled by heavily armed militias, and businessmen employ their own gunmen for security.
U.S. markets’ holiday slows trading abroad

Trading in European and Asian shares was mixed Monday, with business slower on many exchanges because of Wall Street’s closure for a long holiday weekend.

In Europe as in Japan, investors were cautious about taking fresh positions with the U.S. market closed for Independence Day.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed 0.09 percent lower at 4,403.30 on the London Stock Exchange, as higher oil prices underpinned energy stocks but restricted the upside for firms vulnerable to oil-related expenses.

The CAC 40 index of French blue chips ended 0.08 percent higher at 3,688.18. In Frankfurt, the DAX index of Germany’s biggest companies slipped 0.08 percent to 3,995.73 in quiet trading.

Asian stock markets closed generally mixed, with prices falling in Tokyo following last week’s declines on Wall Street.