Energy News
08/20 10:41
N.Y. Crude Oil Rises to $30/Barrel for 1st Time Since May 2001
By Mark Shenk
New York, Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Crude-oil futures in New York rose to $30 a barrel for the first time since May 2001 on concern that an American Petroleum Institute report later today will show the sixth decline in U.S. inventories in seven weeks.
Analysts were divided on whether the institute would report a rise or decline for the week ended Friday. With inventories already at their lowest level in a year and a half, the risk of another decline outweighs the benefits from a rise, traders said.
``We're worried about the API report later today,'' said Phil Flynn, a senior energy trader at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. ``Nobody correctly predicted last week's crude-oil number, so we're on edge about this report. Stockpiles are overdue for a rise but I don't believe we'll get it.''
Crude oil for September delivery was up 11 cents at $29.95 a barrel at 10:28 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange after reaching $30.10, the highest price since May 21, 2001. The September futures contract expires today.
The more-active October crude-oil contract was up 8 cents at $28.88 a barrel.
In London, the October Brent crude-oil futures contract was unchanged at $27.26 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.
U.S. crude-oil stockpiles plunged 3.1 percent to 295.6 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 9, last week's report from the Petroleum Institute showed. It was the lowest stockpile level since March 2001.
Analyst Forecasts
Of the nine analysts in a Bloomberg survey, five expected the institute to report a rise in inventories and four forecast a decline. The report on supplies in the week ended Friday is scheduled for release at around 4:30 p.m. New York time.
Prices have risen 17 percent over the past two months partly on expectations that the U.S. is preparing for an invasion of Iraq, the Middle East's fourth-biggest producer.
U.S. President George W. Bush has called for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's ouster on the grounds that he is pursuing nuclear, biological and chemical weapons that threaten neighboring countries and the U.S. Bush has said he has no timetable for an attack.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Ahmad al-Sabah said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can compensate for any halt in Iraqi oil supplies stemming from an attack, according to the Russian daily Vremya Novostei.
