08/15 10:02 Crude Oil Surges on Expectations for Low U.S. Inventories
By Josh P. Hamilton
New York, Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose more than 2 percent in New York and reached a 10-year high in London on expectations that a U.S. inventory report will show little relief for supplies that are at a 24-year low.
Oil inventories fell in three of the past four weeks and heating oil supplies are down 39 percent from a year ago with the heating season just three months away, the American Petroleum Institute said last week. This week's report is due later today.
``It's an extremely volatile situation,'' said Nauman Barakat, vice president of global energy trading at ABN Amro Inc. in New York.
Crude oil for September delivery rose as much as 76 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $32.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest price since June 30.
``If we get API numbers tonight showing further declines, we could be at $34 a barrel by tomorrow morning,'' Barakat said. New York futures reached a nine-year high of $34.37 in March.
In London, Brent crude oil for September settlement rose as much as $1.32, or 4.2 percent, to $32.80 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange, the highest since the Persian Gulf War in November 1990. Oil prices in London gained in nine of the past 11 sessions.
Prices in New York have climbed 19 percent this month as rising demand outstripped two production increases by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC has boosted output by more than 2 million barrels a day, or 2.7 percent of world output.
U.S. refiners failed to replenish heating oil inventories because they focused on making gasoline, analysts said. Demand for gasoline peaks between May and September, the driving season in the U.S. Crude oil inventories are 13 percent below last year.
OPEC Output
OPEC, which pumps about 40 percent of the world's oil, meets next on Sept. 10, and traders doubt the group will raise output before then. OPEC governors met in Vienna today to discuss oil policy and prepare for next month's gathering, when a formal decision will be made.
The group has said it would boost production if its oil-price benchmark tops $28 for 20 consecutive days. That measure stood at $28.53 a barrel yesterday, the second time in the past week it moved out of OPEC's target range of $22 to $28.
Saudi Arabia on July 3 called for an increase of 500,000 barrels a day to lower prices that at the time were around $32 a barrel. Prices fell below $30 in subsequent trading sessions. The U.S. has put pressure on OPEC to increase production, arguing that sustained higher prices will crimp economic growth.
Saudi Plan
Most OPEC members opposed Saudi Arabia's proposal, arguing that the surge in prices stemmed from a lack of cleaner-burning gasoline in the U.S. rather than a need for more crude oil. The objections came from those OPEC members that analysts estimate have little spare production capacity and therefore little to gain from an output rise.
The oil-price rally boosted oil shares in much of Europe. BP Amoco Plc rose as much as 18 pence, or 3.1 percent, to 607 pence, the highest since Aug. 3 in London, while Total Fina Elf SA gained as much as 4.5 euros, or 2.7 percent to 173 euros in Paris.
Last week, higher oil prices led BP to report record second- quarter earnings of $3.61 billion, up from $1.37 billion a year earlier.
World oil demand is rising as growth in Asia and Europe gathers pace and the U.S. economy maintains strength. Consumers worldwide will increase use by 1.5 percent this year to 75.8 million barrels a day and another 2.5 percent to 77.7 million barrels a day in 2001, according to the International Energy Agency, an oil adviser to 25 industrialized countries.
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Aktuell: Stand heute 17.41 h WTI + 0,33 $/b auf 32,27 $/b
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