"The market is due for a bounce, and we're getting some of that," said Tom Bentz, a broker at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York. "Throw in the Alaskan news, and here we go."
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline is flowing at 25 percent of its normal capacity due to high winds, the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. said late Monday, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Also, there have been shutdowns at ExxonMobil Corp.'s refinery in Baytown, Texas, the country's biggest at 562,500 barrels a day, and Citgo's 156,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Corpus Christie, Texas.
However, analysts don't expect oil prices to jump too high, as doubts remain that OPEC members are reducing oil exports as planned. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is scheduled to meet in Nigeria on Dec. 14, announced an output cut of 1.2 million barrels a day last month. The cartel may make further cuts at its next meeting.
In an interview with Nigeria's This Day newspaper, OPEC President Edmund Daukoru acknowledged that some group members weren't complying with the cut, confirming market suspicions.
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