13:59 DJS Crude Up $1 A Barrel On Blocked Russian Oil Exports, Iraq Worrrie
13:59 DJS Crude Up $1 A Barrel On Blocked Russian Oil Exports, Iraq Worrries
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Commodities futures settled mostly higher
Thursday. Crude oil futures were rallying, boosted by a disruption of Russian
and Nigerian petroleum exports and new tensions between the United Nations and
Iraq. Precious metals futures surged at New York's Commodities Exchange, as
the dollar tumbled against the mark and yen. In Chicago, grains and beans
ended mostly higher.
Shortly before 3 p.m. EDT, the CRB-Bridge index was up 1.98 at 201.34.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, October crude oil was up $1.06 at
$14.73 a barrel. November crude oil was up $1.00 at $14.89 a barrel.
Among petroleum products, October unleaded gasoline was up 1.95 cents
at 42.55 cents a gallon. October heating oil was up 2.54 cents at 39.60 cents
a gallon.
October natural gas was up 7.8 cents at $1.730 per million BTUs.
Shipping sources told Dow Jones Newswires that the Russian government
is blocking tankers chartered by Russian oil companies at key loading ports on
the Baltic and Black Seas, because of nonpayment of taxes and pipeline fees.
Some six cargoes of gasoil are known to be blocked at Tuapse and Novorossisk,
according to the sources.
There also appear to be some logistical problems at some ports. A crude
oil pipeline terminating at the Russian Black Sea port of Tuapse was closed
because of a lack of storage capacity. The effect of the closure on exports
was unclear. If anything, the lack of storage implies oversupply at the port,
market sources said.
There was also news that operations at a pipeline running into the
Latvian port of Ventspils on the Baltic Sea had been stopped from Saturday
afternoon until Monday evening.
Crude futures extended gains after Richard Butler, the chief United
Nations weapons inspector, told the U.N. Security Council that even under a
reduced inspection regime, U.N. monitors have been denied access to sites
previously approved by Iraq.
"That added to the buying," said one trader. "It appears the U.N. and
Iraq are heading toward another crisis."
One analyst said less supportive news also helped the market. Iraq is
expected to export only $2.86 billion worth of oil in the current phase of the
U.N.-supervised Iraq oil-for-food sale. That figure is a bit below
expectations of $3 billion in sales. OPEC member Iran was grumbling Thursday
about low oil prices and expressed hope that OPEC will make more cuts to
stanch the slide in prices.
Also supporting the market was news that the Senate approved a spending
bill with a provision giving the Department of Energy $420 million to purchase
oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Assuming $15 a barrel of oil, the DOE
can buy some 28 million barrels of oil.
On New York's Commodities Exchange, December gold surged $4.90 to end
at $288.30 an ounce. The dollar hit a ten-month low against the German mark
early Thursday after continued selling on Wall Street heightened fears that
U.S. stock prices haven't stabilized. The yen also strengthened against the
dollar following renewed intervention threats by Japanese officials. Gold was
fixed Thursday afternoon in London at $279.15 an ounce, down $1.00 from the
morning fixing.
September silver futures jumped 11.0 cents to settle at $4.888 an
ounce.
October platinum rose 20 cents to close at $370.10 per ounce. Traders
said lease rates for palladium, platinum's sister metal, narrowed sharply
overnight, indicating increased supplies of metal on the market "There's
confusion over what's happened on palladium because of the financial chaos in
Russia," said a trader in London. Russia supplies around 60% of the world's
palladium, which trades in tandem with platinum.
Among industrial metals, September copper rose 0.85 cent to finish at
75.20 cents per pound.
Among grains in Chicago:
December wheat jumped 3 14 cents to settle at $2.59 1/2 per bushel.
December corn rose 3 1/2 cents to end at $2.08 a bushel.
December oats climbed 1 cent to finish at $1.10 1/4 per bushel.
November soybeans ended unchanged at $5.21 a bushel.
In the livestock complex:
October cattle fell 0.40 cent to settle at 57.90 cents per pound.
October hogs closed down 0.65 cent to 37.30 cents per pound.
February pork bellies fell 0.58 cent to end at 47.70 cents per pound.
Among food and fiber futures in New York:
December coffee fell 1.05 cents to settle at $1.1225 per pound.
December cotton declined 0.16 cent to close at 74.68 cents per pound.
October sugar fell 0.16 cent to end at 7.54 cents per pound.
September orange juice finished down 0.45 cent to 115.05 cents per
pound.
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All Rights Reserved.
09/03 1:59p CDT
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