Crude Oil Rises After Government Reports on U.S. Oil, Gas Supply Changes

Resumen de Prensa            Enervía, viernes, 12 diciembre 2003

FUENTE: Bloomberg


Crude oil futures gained in New York as rising winter demand for heating fuel and increased economic activity drain U.S. inventories.

Government reports showed U.S. natural-gas supplies fell 16 percent more-than-expected last week, while crude inventories fell 10-times as much as expected to a three-month low. Prices that have gained 4 percent this week may rise further if the U.S. has more below-normal temperatures, traders said.

``People are going to wait and see if we are going to get extended cold weather, and if we do, it may stay strong and go a little higher,'' said Anthony Nunan, manager of Mitsubishi Corp.'s international petroleum business in Tokyo. ``It seems to me we are pretty close to the top of the market.''

Crude oil for January delivery rose as much as 19 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $32.04 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $32.03 a barrel at 12:20 p.m. Singapore time.

On Wednesday, crude oil futures rose to a three-week high of $32.63 a barrel. Prices are about 14 percent higher than a year- ago. Natural gas prices are near nine-month highs after rising 36 percent this month.

After natural gas, the most commonly used energy sources for heating in the U.S. are electricity, heating oil, propane and kerosene, according to the Energy Department.

Yesterday, crude oil rose as high as $32.10 a barrel after the U.S. Energy Department said utilities took 111 billion cubic feet of natural gas out of storage last week, 42 percent more than the five-year average. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey expected a withdrawal of about 96 billion.

``U.S. crude oil inventories are falling back toward critical levels and global oil demand is rising as economic activity improves,'' David Thurtell, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a report. ``We expect oil to remain well-bid over the next month or so.''

Cold weather in the U.S. Northeast has boosted demand for gas and heating oil in recent weeks. Crude-oil stockpiles fell 6.4 million barrels, or 2.3 percent, to 277.9 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 5, the energy department said Wednesday.

A storm developing in the lower Mississippi Valley may bring snow, sleet and rain to the Northeast by Sunday, forecaster AccuWeather Inc. said on its Web site. Temperatures in New York may not get above 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) Sunday, AccuWeather said.

Heating oil for January delivery rose as much as 0.47 cents, or 0.5 percent, to 88.95 cents a gallon in after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Natural gas for January delivery rose as much as 17.5 cents, or 2.7 percent, at $6.79 per million British thermal units on the exchange.