High density plastic firms up: Prices of high density plastic was firmed up on the plastic market onSaturday on local purchases and closed higher in Delhi. Marketmen said paucity of stocks was another factor which influenced the market sentiment. Arrivals and offtake was negligible and volume of business small. H.D. Moulding gained Re 1 at Rs 42 per kilo while imported was up by Rs 1.50 at Rs 41.50 per kilo. The following were Saturday's quotations per kg in Rs : LD no 40 - 44.50, LD no 400-46.50, LD no 1035-46, H.D.Moulding (deshi) 42, H D (Moulding) imported 41.50, H D Colour 48, PP no 0035-40, PP no 100-38, PP imported 37, PP colour 48, ABS (Indian) 56, ABS imported 55-56, colour 64-66, crystal (Indian) 41, crystal (imported) 46, crystal colour 48, nylon no 6-115, nylon no 66-152, PVC resin deshi 35, PVS plastic grade 54 and Dop standard 46.

US West Coast oil prods rise: Prices for U.S. West Coast oil products rose on Friday in a quiet market that saw traders dabble in March contracts. March bids for ultra-clean CARB unleaded gasoline were 44.50 cents a gallon, compared to 43.00 cents forFebruary gasoline on Thursday. San Francisco gasoline was just under Los Angeles at 44.25 cents a gallon. Los Angeles jet fuel rose once cent to 37.00/38.00 while CARB diesel gained 0.50 cent to 38.00/39.00 cents. "After the tons of deals done yesterday, we're pretty quiet today," said one trader. "People are getting out of the Feb (February) and into March," the trader said. "We're in between scheduling, so it's quiet." On the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), March gasoline futures ended at 30.34 cents a gallon, down 0.64 cent. NYMEX March crude contracts lost 28 cents to settle at $11.76 a barrel on worries of oversupply and forecasts of milder weather.

YPF prices $225m in bonds: Argentine oil company YPF said on Friday that the company had set a rate and price for $225 million in 10-year bonds expected to be placed next week. The bonds will carry an interest rate of 9.125 per cent and were priced at 99.684 per cent, YPF said in a letter to the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange. YPF said the issuewas part of a $1 billion bond programme approved in April 1998.

Singapore January oil exports fall: Singapore's domestic oil exports for January fell by 6.4 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier, the Trade Development Board (TDB) said on Saturday. The exports were valued at a nominal Singapore $1.094billion. Exports were down 11.8 per cent in December and 2.5 per cent in November, compared with the corresponding months a year earlier. The TDB said strong demand from Hong Kong mainly for subsequent re-exports to China contributed to a more moderate decline in exports in January than was typical in 1998.

Falling supply hits Canada oil spreads: A continuing drop in Canadian crude supplies led to historically narrow discounts for Canadian oil for March business, extending months of unseasonally tight price spreads, marketers said this week. Trading sources said the situation was likely to intensify in coming months as Canadian and U.S. Midwest refiners, gearing up for summer asphaltand gasoline production, scramble for more Canadian heavy and light crudes. "We're already well past the tightest differentials ever, so where can it go? Who knows?" said a trader for one U.S. Refiner.