To: Keith Minler who wrote (1864 ) 3/7/1999 9:35:00 AM From: Sam Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2306
here is some news Keith,maybe old now Crude rises for third day amid declining inventories Filed: March 4, 1999 By Stephen Voss c.1999 Bloomberg News New York, March 4 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil rose almost 4 percent to a two-month high, gaining for a third day, as declining U.S. inventories signaled a revival of demand after a mild winter weakened heating oil consumption. "The feeling is that we've seen the lows for the year," said Tom Bentz, senior vice president of energy trading at Cresvale International LLC in New York. Crude oil prices have risen 9.4 percent since Monday. An industry report showed that a decline in inventories last week erased a year-on-year surplus that was caused partly by weak heating oil demand. Today's gain was accelerated by pre-arranged buy orders triggered early in the day, traders said. Crude oil for April delivery rose as much as 46 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $13.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest price since Jan. 12. Prices have risen 29 percent from a 12-year low of $10.35 in December. "We're not going to see sub-$11 crude oil and this is the realization of that," Bentz said. In London, April Brent crude rose as much as 40 cents to $11.65 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange. To be sure, recent meetings between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two biggest producers in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, have failed to produce an agreement on output cuts to ease a global supply glut. While both countries have said lower OPEC production would help lift sagging prices, they haven't made any firm commitments. Traders said that makes it less likely that OPEC will agree to new cuts when it meets on March 23 in Vienna. "Some positive news from Iran is the big fundamental change we're looking for," said Al Zappulla, a trader at ABN Amro Inc. in New York. "Without some bullish news from Iran I don't think OPEC is going to do anything." Crude oil prices are being determined largely by the analysis of historical price charts, in the absence of fresh news about supply and demand, traders said. Iraq late yesterday reopened a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan that carries about half its oil exports. The line was closed Sunday after a U.S. air strike damaged a communications facility used to operate the line. News of the restart didn't weigh on prices, though, because it "was pretty much expected," said Zappulla. "Even when the story first broke they said it would be back up in two to three days," he said. Copyright© 1999, The Bakersfield Californian | Email the Webmaster Associated Press Copyright Notice | Privacy Policy Statement