Monday, March 3, 2008

Oil hits new record: $103.95 a barrel

Oil hits new record: $103.95 a barrel

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JOHN WILEN
Monday, March 03, 2008

NEW YORK — The surging price of oil reached another milestone Monday, jumping to an inflation adjusted record high of $103.95 (U.S.).

The weaker dollar that has propelled oil and other commodities prices higher sent light, sweet crude for April delivery past $103.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the level many analysts consider to be the true record high for oil, after its $38 barrel price from 1980 is translated into 2008 dollars.

The price later traded up $1.52 at $103.36, fluctuating with the normal ebb and flow of trading.

Oil's most recent run into record territory has been driven by the greenback's slump against other world currencies. Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is falling.

Gold, copper and wheat are among the other commodities that have rallied in recent weeks as the dollar has fallen.

“It's coming down to another commodity price rally,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp., in Chicago.

The dollar has been weighed down by concerns about the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve's interest rate-cutting campaign. Lower interest rates tend to weaken the dollar, which fell Monday to a new low of $1.5275 against the euro.

The struggling dollar has prompted a wave of speculative buying by oil investors seeking a safe haven from the ongoing volatility of the stock market. Such speculation can become self-perpetuating, driving prices higher and attracting even more speculators.

Many analysts believe oil prices aren't justified by crude's underlying supply and demand fundamentals. While supply disruptions in Nigeria and the prospect of a supply cutoffs from Iraq and Venezuela helped boost oil prices last year, domestic oil inventories are now rising even as a number of forecasters are cutting their demand growth predictions due to the slowing economy.

Prices were also supported Monday by tensions between Venezuela and Colombia over Colombia's killing of a top rebel leader in Ecuador; reports that Ukraine's president threatened a “gas war” with Moscow after Russia cut gas supplies over a financial dispute; and reports of a U.S. air strike on a Somali town held by Islamic extremists.

Investors are keeping an eye on OPEC, which meets Wednesday to consider production levels. Most expect the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to hold output steady.

“Unless there's a surprise ... I think it's a non-factor at this time,” said Linda Rafield, senior oil analyst at Platts, the energy research arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., of OPEC's impact on trading Monday.

As for where oil goes from here, analyst estimates vary widely, with some predicting an eventual decline to the $65 or $70 range as supplies continue to grow and demand falls, and others seeing oil rising as high as $120 as investment capital continues to flow into oil markets from overseas.

For its part, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration's latest prediction is that oil will average $86 a barrel in 2008, up 19 per cent from 2007, when oil averaged $72 a barrel.

Surging oil prices are boosting prices at the pump. The average price of a gallon of gas stood at $3.165 Monday, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That's down 0.1 cent overnight, but up nearly 70 cents from a year ago. The Energy Department expects gas prices to peak near $3.40 this spring, well above May's record of $3.227, but some analysts predict prices could rise to nearly $4 a gallon.

Diesel prices, used to transport the vast majority of the nation's goods, are also surging. Diesel prices hit another new record of $3.674 a gallon Monday.

Other energy futures also rallied Monday. In other Nymex trading, April heating oil futures jumped 5.58 cents to $2.8627 a gallon, and April gasoline futures rose 5.07 cents to $2.7206 a gallon. April natural gas futures gained 18.4 cents to $9.55 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude futures rose $1.46 to $101.56 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

© Copyright The Globe and Mail

Breakwater Provides Initial Exploration Results on Mina Profunda Gold-Zinc Project, Toqui Mine, Chile

Breakwater Provides Initial Exploration Results on Mina Profunda Gold-Zinc Project, Toqui Mine, Chile

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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 3, 2008) - Breakwater Resources Ltd. (TSX:BWR) has received initial exploration results for the Mina Profunda gold project area located directly underneath Dona Rosa and Aserradero. This exploration program is part of a 3,600 metre underground drill program investigating several sectors of the Toqui mine including Estatuas, Dona Rosa and Aserradero.


The first seven holes drilled along a north-south trend immediately beneath Dona Rosa have confirmed the continuity of gold mineralization within a separate calcareous sandstone horizon at a depth of almost 60 metres below mine workings. Drilling, spaced at 25 metre intervals, returned high grade gold intersections with average core intercepts of 12 metres. Exploration drilling will continue to infill this area.


Preliminary assay results received to date from our 2008 program are shown in the table below. Refer to map for location of recent drilling.



Drill-Hole Dip Azimuth Total From To Core True Zn Au
Length (m) (m) Length Thickness (%) (g/t)
(m) (m) (m)
------------------------------

--------------------------------------------
DAS-03 -90 27 235.2 196.8 209.1 12.3 11.3 2.6 8.3
degrees degrees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LCS-01 -53 216 75.6 51.1 70.4 19.3 16.9 1.7 3.5
degrees degrees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LCS-02 -49 167 102.8 71.4 85.0 13.6 8.7 2.3 14.6
degrees degrees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LCS-03 -64 158 75.2 53.3 65.5 10.7 9.3 3.5 6.1
degrees degrees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LCS-04 -69 324 60.1 45.5 57.6 12.1 11.3 3.5 9.2
degrees degrees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LCS-05 -48 359 92.2 76.2 84.2 8.0 5.5 3.6 0.5
degrees degrees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LCS-06 -72 84 77.5 61.6 72.1 10.5 7.9 2.6 4.4
degrees degrees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LCS-12 -89 304 56.1 38.2 51.1 12.9 11.9 3.4 9.9
degrees degrees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------




Exploration drilling over the last two months has tested a 20 metre thick tuffaceous-calcareous sandstone horizon located 40 to 60 metres beneath the upper fossiliferous limestone that hosts the main mineralization at Toqui. A rhyolitic intrusive sill, 35 to 60 metres thick, separates the two units. This deeper horizon was first recognized in 2000 when several surface drill holes (including DAS-03 which graded 8.3 g/t gold and 2.6% zinc over a true thickness of 11.3 metres) intercepted significant gold anomalous values. The recent drill results demonstrate that gold mineralization is an important component at Toqui and greatly increases the potential for a large gold-zinc skarn system within an untested stratigraphic horizon. This gold-zinc mineralized zone remains open, and additional drilling will test the areas along strike in the immediate future.


Access to this new area is possible from the development headings currently being driven to access the Porvenir deposit.


Breakwater is a mineral resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and mining of base metal and precious metal deposits in the Americas and North Africa. Breakwater has four producing zinc mines: the Mochito mine in Honduras; the Toqui mine in Chile; the Myra Falls mine in British Columbia, Canada; and the Langlois mine in Quebec, Canada.


The exploration programs at El Toqui are under the supervision of Torben Jensen, P.Eng. who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. All core samples are split in half at the drill site, with one-half of the core sample sent to Andes Analytical Assay Ltda. in Santiago for sample preparation and analysis by atomic absorption and fire assay for the gold values and high silver values. The other half of the core sample is retained on site. The pulp samples are sent to Assayers Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia for further analysis by ICP methods.


Forward-looking Statements


The information in this news release has been prepared as at March 3, 2008. Certain information included in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements". The words "expect", "will", "intend", "estimate" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The Company cautions the reader that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from the Company's estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the mining industry such as government regulation, environmental and reclamation risks, title disputes or claims, success of mining activities, future commodity prices, costs of production, possible variation in mineral reserves, mineral resources, grade or recovery rates, failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes, the timing of estimated future production, capital expenditures, financial market fluctuations, requirements for additional capital, conclusions of economic evaluations, limitations on insurance coverage, risks associated with using third-party contractors, inflation as well as those factors discussed in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form on file with Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities.


The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.


To view a map of the Mina Profunda Project, please click on the link below:


http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/bwr303.pdf



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Breakwater Resources Ltd.
Torben Jensen, P.Eng.
Vice President, Engineering
(416) 363-4798 Ext. 232


or

Breakwater Resources Ltd.
Ann Wilkinson
Vice President, Investor Relations
(416) 363-4798 Ext. 277



© 2008 The Globe and Mail

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