Clinton-Gore energy plan working.........."U.S. crude oil prices are down 15 percent from a 10-year high of $37.80 on Sept.
20, two days before U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered the release of oil from
national reserves to help bolster refinery supplies.
Prices will likely fall further as a result of the latest production increase from the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which started Oct. 1, and
because of the planned release of U.S. emergency reserves, traders and
analysts said.
The alarm over heating oil supplies in the U.S. ``is like the great gasoline
shortage of June and July -- it just disappeared and the oil price shot down to 25
bucks, said David Johnson, an oil analyst at Chase JF in Hong Kong. ``I think
there'll be enough oil to see us through the winter.''
The API said U.S. crude oil inventories rose 3.42 million barrels, or 1.2 percent,
to 287.8 million barrels last week from a week before. Analysts surveyed by
Bloomberg News had expected an increase of between 1.2 million and 1.7 million
barrels.
Heating oil stockpiles rose 300,000 barrels to 47.7 million in the week ended
Sept. 29, narrowing the year-on-year gap to 35 percent from 36 percent. Still,
supplies declined along the U.S. East Coast, the biggest market for heating oil." |
