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Oil prices rise amid Mexico storm worries
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 27 - 09 - 2007


Oil prices rose Thursday as a
tropical depression near Mexico raised concerns about
possible disruptions to oil and gas production, according to AP.
A tropical depression put parts of Mexico's Gulf Coast
under a storm watch Thursday, while Tropical Storm Karen
strengthened to near hurricane status in the open Atlantic
Ocean. The 13th depression of the season could strengthen
into a named storm over the next day in the southwestern
Gulf of Mexico, according to forecasters at the U.S.
National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The Nymex crude contract _ which rose 77 cents to settle
at US$80.30 a barrel Wednesday despite an increase in U.S.
crude and gasoline inventories _ gained 67 cents to
US$80.97 a barrel by midday in Europe in electronic trading
on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
November Brent crude added 52 cents to US$77.95 a barrel
on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In its weekly report, the U.S. Energy Department's Energy
Information Administration said Wednesday that crude
inventories rose by 1.8 million barrels during the week
ended Sept. 21, countering the average estimate of analysts
surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires that oil supplies would
fall by 1.8 million barrels. Gasoline inventories grew by
600,000 barrels last week, three times the 200,000-barrel
increase analysts had expected.
Refinery utilization plunged by 2.7 percentage points to
86.9 percent of capacity. Analysts had expected an 0.6
percentage point decline. Lower refinery activity could
reflect the impact of Hurricane Humberto, which shuttered
several Gulf Coast refineries two weeks ago. But it could
also reflect the beginning of heavy seasonal maintenance in
the Midwest, according to analysts.
The EIA reported that inventories of distillates, which
include heating oil and jet fuel, grew last week by 1.6
million barrels, more than the expected 1.1 million-barrel
increase.
Heating oil futures rose by more than a penny to US$2.1932
a gallon (3.8 liters) while gasoline prices added 0.28 cent
to US$2.0302 a gallon. November natural gas futures lost
2.5 cents to US$7.021 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Crude futures reached nearly US$84 a barrel last Thursday,
the day the October contract expired. November futures, the
new front-month contract, haven't traded above US$82.40 a
barrel, and had fallen for three straight trading sessions,
settling below US$80 Tuesday.
Some analysts attributed oil's late reversal to rise on
Wednesday to a technical factor: Strength in the spread, or
difference, between future oil contracts.
Investors closely scrutinize such spreads for signs the
market's so-called backwardation structure _ in which
nearer-month oil contracts are more expensive than later
month contracts _ might be ending. Backwardation is a sign
that supplies are tight, and tends to boost near-term
futures prices.
When backwardation didn't decline or disappear in the wake
of the EIA report, and indeed increased in some cases, some
investors saw a sign that oil prices are likely headed
higher in the near term. Vienna's PVM Oil Associates noted
that the development «could trigger speculative buying
from funds.»


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