Crude Oil Prices Rise Above $67 a Barrel
Friday January 20, 1:54 am ET
Oil Prices Rise Above $67 a Barrel; Market Remains Tense Over Iran Nuke Dispute, Nigeria Unrest
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Crude oil prices rose Friday amid concern over the Iranian nuclear dispute and political unrest in Nigeria, and despite growing U.S. supplies of oil and refined products.
Light, sweet crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange for February delivery rose 23 cents to $67.06 a barrel. Heating oil rose marginally to $1.8049 a gallon while gasoline gained 1.2 cents to $1.7884 a gallon. Natural gas advanced 19.4 cents to $9.099 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Worries of possible sanctions against Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, for its nuclear ambitions and violence in oil-rich Nigeria have helped to support oil prices in recent days. So much so that even a report of growing supplies in the U.S. could not calm the market.
On Thursday, a senior U.S. envoy accused Iran of deceiving the world about its atomic program, declaring that moves to haul it before the U.N. Security Council were meant to deny "the most deadly of weapons to the most dangerous of countries."
The comments by Gregory L. Schulte, America's delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency, were part of a broad U.S. campaign to swing not only diplomatic but public support behind a push to refer Tehran to the Security Council over fears it is trying to make nuclear weapons.
International pressure is mounting on Tehran to turn away from resuming uranium enrichment, and the United States and key European nations have pushed for a referral of the issue to the U.N. Security Council. Iran insists its plans for enrichment are only to produce nuclear energy.
Also Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell confirmed the death of a second catering contractor in an attack by armed militants on an oil platform in southern Nigeria, raising the death toll in the incident to 14.
The string of attacks, including the rupture of a major Shell pipeline in the region, has forced the oil giant to evacuate more than 300 workers from four installations deemed vulnerable to attacks. The company cut production by 221,000 barrels a day as a result.
The U.S. Energy Department report this week showed domestic crude-oil inventories grew by 2.7 million barrels last week to 321.4 million barrels, or 12 percent above year ago levels.
Gasoline inventories expanded by 2.8 million barrels to 211.6 million barrels, or 3 percent below year ago levels.
The supply of distillate, which includes heating oil and diesel, increased by 900,000 barrels to 134.7 million barrels, or 8 percent above last year.
AI
