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Crude oil futures near 44 a barrel Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Crude-Oil Futures Flirt With $44 a Barrel
Monday August 2, 5:05 PM EDT
Dow Jones Newswires
NEW YORK -- Crude-oil futures in New York settled minutely higher Monday but hit a fresh all-time high just cents away from $44 a barrel, as more negative developments for Russia's biggest oil producer erased market weakness on new U.S. terror warnings.
Russian tax authorities dealt oil giant OAO Yukos another blow, saying they planned to conduct a further probe of its business activities and payments since 2002.
"Yukos continues to be the main reason for higher prices," said Phil Flynn, an analyst with Chicago-based Alaron Trading Corp., which caters to retail investors. Traders said the latest salvo against Yukos showed the Russian government had no intention of letting up on its financial and legal siege of the company.
Yukos faces insolvency as it struggles to pay a $3.4 billion back-taxes bill from 2000. It won a small victory Monday when a Moscow court ruled it didn't have to pay an unprecedented $223 million bailiff fee, but concerns remain about the fate of the company and its valuable stream of crude-oil exports.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil set for September delivery rose two cents to settle at $43.82 a barrel after touching a fresh all-time high at $ 43.94.
October crude oil gained 11 cents to $43.16 a barrel.
Among products, September gasoline fell 1.87 cents to $1.2862 a gallon. September heating oil ended down 0.51 cent to $1.1642 a gallon.
Though crude oil's rise Monday was ultimately a marginal one, the move affirms crude oil's bullish trajectory, said Ed Silliere, a trader at Energy Merchant Corp. in New York, a supplier of energy products to independent marketers.
"There was low volume and little movement, but it is followthrough from last week's move," he said. "This means the bears are running scared."
For much of the day, crude-oil and product prices toiled to stamp out losses on the back of renewed U.S. terror fears, largely seen as bearish for demand and the domestic economy. During the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security said al Qaeda terrorists had cased prominent financial institutions in New York, New Jersey and Washington for possible vehicle-borne attacks.
Also at the Nymex, September natural gas tumbled 29.9 cents to $5.813 per million British thermal units.
In other commodity markets:
METALS: December gold on the Comex division of Nymex rose 70 cents to $394.40 an ounce. September silver edged up six cents to $6.62 an ounce. October platinum gained $8.40 to $826.30 an ounce.
GRAINS: Grains settled higher, but beans fell, at the Chicago Board of Trade. September wheat climbed 4.75 cents to $3.17 a bushel. December corn gained 2.25 cents to $2.2775 a bushel. November soybeans shed three cents to $5.66 a bushel.
-- Leah McGrath Goodman of Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this article.
Dow Jones Newswires
08-02-04 1705ET
© 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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