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Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Justa Werkenstiff who wrote (14629)	6/21/2000 4:03:00 PM
From: Justa Werkenstiff	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15132

NYMEX crude off day's highs as OPEC readies output hike NEW YORK, June 21 (Reuters) - NYMEX crude oil futures traded off the day's highs in afternoon trade Wednesday but remained bullishly strong after OPEC delegates said the cartel was going to raise output in the third quarter by 708,000 barrels per day (bpd). The deal, once ratified, will raise the output quotas of 10 OPEC members participating to 25.4 million bpd from the 24.692 ceiling established in March. At 1:42 p.m. (1742 GMT), NYMEX August crude, on its first day as front month contract, traded 85 cents higher at $31.50 a barrel. It shot up to a new contract high of $31.95, up $1.30 a barrel earlier, after the market deemed that earlier indications of an increase of less than 750,000 bpd would not be sufficient to cool off the sizzling market rally. Profit-taking from the day's highs exerted some pressure, pulling down crude futures, but market sentiment continued to keep it well supported, traders said. While the intended OPEC output increase appears to be modest, traders are also considering the possibility that OPEC may still act to raise output in September if demand continues to move up, traders said. "The market is also concerned that even if OPEC raises output ceilings, not all members of the cartel may have the added capacity to increase their individual production levels," said Tom Blakeslee, an analyst and trader at Energy Merchants in Bel-Air Maryland. No formal announcement of the OPEC output increase has been made. OPEC President and Venezuela's Energy Minister, Ali Rodriguez, said that market stability remains high on OPEC agenda and that the cartel was committed to reasonable prices for consumers. Traders continued to dump front month July gasoline on crack spread selling. The contract slipped to a new session low of $1.0275 a gallon, down 2.51, and later ticked up to $1.0335, down 1.91 cents. July heating oil remained buoyant on crude's strength and was up 2.22 cents at 78.35 cents a gallon, after hitting an intraday high of 79.30 cents. In London, August Brent crude on the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) trimmed gains to 60 cents at $29.62. In New York, drawdowns of more around 4.5 million barrels in crude stocks last week also helped crude futures stay at higher levels, traders said. 15:35 06-21-00