Hi DRT;
Here's an interesting article from Bloomberg on the outlook for oil prices:
Bloomberg Energy
Tue, 08 Aug 2000, 11:18pm EDT
08/08 21:28 Crude Oil Jumps as Inventory Drop
Raises Concern About Supply
By Taizo Hirose
Tokyo, Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose almost
3 percent as crude inventories unexpectedly fell to
the lowest level in 24 years, raising concern about
tight winter supplies of heating oil.
Crude supplies dropped 2.1 million barrels to 282.6
million barrels last week, the American Petroleum
Institute said. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had
expected the report to show an increase of between
2 million and 2.9 million barrels, after dropping
9 million barrels the week before.
A 17 percent increase in imports last week to
9.36 million barrels a day wasn't enough to satisfy
near-record demand from U.S. refiners.
``The number fueled already growing anxiety that
refiners may not be able to meet winter heating oil
demand,'' said Katsumi Ebihara, commodities futures
dealer at Globally Corp.
Crude oil for September delivery rose as much as 84
cents, or 2.9 percent, to $29.96 a barrel in
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, increasing its gain this month to 9
percent.
Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating
oil and diesel, also fell unexpectedly, dropping
1.18 million barrels to 111.35 million barrels.
Analysts had expected gains of between 800,000 barrels
and 1.5 million barrels.
The decline left distillate inventories 20 percent
lower than a year earlier and heating oil supplies
down 39 percent with only a few months left before
the start of the peak-demand winter heating season.
The drop in U.S. crude oil supplies was concentrated
along the Gulf Coast, the refining heartland and a
major importing center, where supplies fell 5.43
million barrels. That decline was partly offset by
a 3.40 million-barrel rise on the West Coast. |
