Re: SC14

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=FT&Date=20060411&ID=5637642

Russia to supply less oil than expected

Oil supplies from Russia will fall short of expectations over the next four years, adding to the supply concerns that have driven world oil prices to record highs this week.

Claude Mandil, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told the Financial Times that expectations for growth in Russian oil supply were too optimistic and that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would have to make up the difference ( and guess what, they are crying uncle already )...........

He would not say by how much the IEA would reduce its Russian growth forecasts, but other analysts have slashed their expectations by as much as half.

Russia is the world's second largest oil producer. Until a few years ago, it enjoyed double-digit supply growth, which has been critical in helping meet the recent surge in Chinese demand........

The caution over its future growth comes as oil prices have surged because of fears of a US attack on Iran and ongoing supply cuts in Nigeria and Iraq......

All adding up to an increasingly tighter worldwide oil supply.