|
Crude oil nears 50 a barrel Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=af231sVMKKHI&refer=news_indexhttp://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=af231sVMKKHI&refer=news_index
Crude Oil Trades Near Record on U.S. Economic Growth Report
Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil futures in New York traded near a record high after the U.S. reported factory output and home construction rose, adding to concern that fuel inventories in the world's biggest energy user may drain faster than they can be replenished.
U.S. industrial production and home construction gained in July, the government said yesterday, A crude oil inventory report today is expected to show U.S. stockpiles fell for a third straight week, according to a survey of analysts.
``We seem to be on a one-way street headed for $50,'' said Mike Armbruster, co-founder of Altavest Worldwide Trading Inc. in Laguna Hills, California. Oil inventories will need to grow by more than ``a couple of million barrels'' to temper the price gain, he said.
Crude oil for September delivery rose as much as 17 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $46.92 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude oil traded at $46.90 a barrel at 8:59 a.m. Singapore time.
Yesterday, the contract rose 70 cents, or 1.5 percent, to close at $46.75 a barrel. Prices reached $46.95, the highest since oil began trading in New York in 1983.
U.S. industrial production rose 0.4 percent in July, led by manufactures of business equipment such as computers and semiconductors, the Federal Reserve reported yesterday. Housing starts rose 8.3 percent in July to an annual pace of 1.978 million new units, the Commerce Department reported.
The International Energy Agency this month said global oil use will rise to a record 82.2 million barrels a day this year.
U.S. Inventories
Oil futures have gained 26 percent since the end of June amid supply disruptions in Iraq, fears of violence after a referendum in Venezuela, and the potential bankruptcy of OAO Yukos Oil Co., Russia's biggest oil exporter. Futures have set intraday records on all but one day since July 30.
U.S. inventories of crude oil probably fell by 1.88 million barrels in the week ending Aug. 13 from 294.3 million the week before, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 14 analysts. Nine of the analysts expected a decline and five said supplies increased.
Oil stockpiles in the week ended Aug. 6 were up 5 percent from a year earlier. The U.S. Energy Department releases its report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington D.C. today.
Inventories likely fell given production in the Gulf of Mexico was cut last week by tropical storm Bonnie, Altavest's Armbruster said. Any fall will add to concern about global supplies.
``There's just so much uncertainty about supplies, whether they're from the Middle East, Venezuela or Russia,'' he said. ``There's just a big risk premium building.''
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, last week said it holds more than 1.3 million barrels a day of idle oil capacity that can be used ``immediately'' to meet potential shortfalls.
Efforts by other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to boost production may take several months, Libya's OPEC governor, Hammouda El-Aswad, said in Vienna yesterday. OPEC, which produces more than a third of the world's oil, will meet in Vienna Sept. 15 to discuss production quotas.
Prices gained even as Saudi Arabia increased output, said Bob Frye, a commodities broker at Access Futures & Options Trading, in Woodlake, California.
``Oil production increases somewhere and boom, the market goes up,'' he said.
Venezuela
Oil fell 1 percent Monday after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez defeated a referendum that may have removed him from office, which eased concern of oil-export disruptions from the fourth-largest supplier to the U.S.
Petroleos de Venezuela SA, South America's largest oil producer, said operations are normal after the vote. Production remains at about 3.1 million barrels a day, a Petroleos de Venezuela spokesman said. Former managers of the company have said the country's output is closer to 2.5 million barrels a day. Assessments by international agencies support those figures.
Russia's state-owned railway yesterday said it will continue to ship about 460,000 barrels a day of Yukos oil even if a government tax bill bankrupts the country's top oil exporter.
To contact the reporter on the this story:
Gavin Evans in Wellington, New Zealand at gavinevans@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Peter Langan at plangan@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 17, 2004 21:39 EDT
|
|
