lasting impact of Hurricane Ivan, which tore through the gulf in mid-September, has kept closed more than 400,000 barrels per day of crude output, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service. Weekly U.S. government data last week showed a drop in distillate (heating oil and diesel) supplies that left heating fuel at a 12 percent deficit versus last year. In addition, growth in U.S. diesel demand has not yet responded to higher prices at the pump, further hindering supply growth for heating oil. "Current prices do not seem sufficiently high to slow distillate demand, whether for diesel (truck traffic) or domestic heating oil," said Frederic Lasserre of SG Commodities Research. Heating fuel stocks in other major winter fuel consumers like Japan and Germany are also lower than normal, slowing the rate of imports arriving to U.S. shores. Top world policymakers warned Monday that crude oil prices are unlikely to tumble from record levels soon and are starting to dampen prospects for world economic growth. --More 2359 Local Time 2059 GMT
