Oil Rises a Sixth Day Before Report That May Show Supplies Fell
Oil Rises a Sixth Day Before Report That May Show Supplies Fell
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil in New York rose for a sixth day, the longest rally since August, before a report expected to show stockpiles fell last week.
U.S. inventories probably fell 1.9 million barrels, or 0.6 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Colder- than-average weather is forecast in the U.S. until next week, boosting demand for heating oil and prompting refineries to produce more of the fuel.
``U.S. refineries are consuming more crude at the moment,'' Naohiro Niimura, vice president of derivative products at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. in Tokyo. ``Prices should rise after today's data is released.''
Crude oil for January delivery rose 31 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $60.25 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:09 a.m. in Singapore. Prices have risen 4.9 percent in the last week and are 45 percent higher than a year ago.
The contract rose 3 cents to close yesterday at $59.94, the highest close since Nov. 4. Prices are down 15 percent from the record $70.85 reached on Aug. 30, the day after Hurricane Katrina, which damaged rigs, platforms and refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, made landfall.
``Oil went up with the cold and we've got more cold weather coming,'' said Mark Waggoner, president of Excel Futures Inc. in Huntington Beach, California. ``It's not quite winter time yet and that has some people worried.''
Heating Demand
Heating demand will run 19 percent above average in the U.S. Northeast until Dec. 13, Belton, Missouri-based forecaster Weather Derivatives said yesterday. About 80 percent of the nation's heating oil is consumed in the region.
Heating oil for January rose 0.8 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $1.78 a gallon in after-hours trading in New York. The contract has risen 10 percent in the last week.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said the larger of two crude-oil distilling units at its Deer Park, Texas, refinery was shut late yesterday because of a leak from a pipe.
The idled distilling unit can process 260,000 barrels of oil a day. The refinery's other distilling unit, which can process 70,000 barrels a day, is still operating, Shell spokesman David McKinney said.
Three other oil refineries, accounting for 5 percent of the country's fuel processing capacity, remain shut after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the U.S. Gulf region
Supplies of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, probably rose for a fourth week, gaining 1.75 million barrels last week, according to the survey of 16 analysts.
U.S. gasoline supplies probably rose 1.05 million barrels from 199.9 million the previous week, the survey showed. The Energy Department's weekly report on petroleum inventories comes at 10:30 a.m. in Washington.
To contact the reporter on this story: Will Kennedy in Singapore at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net
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