Oil
prices fall in New York
By
Julie Charpentrat
AFP
NEW
YORK
Petroleumworld.com
02 24 06
Oil prices fell in New York trading Thursday after data showing
strong supplies of crude and gasoline over the past week added
to selling pressure. Prices in London edged up slightly.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April,
fell 47 cents to close at 60.54 dollars per barrel after trading
for part of the day below 60 dollars.
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery
ended on a gain of 10 cents at 60.54 dollars per barrel.
The US Department of Energy revealed Thursday that crude oil reserves
rose by 1.1 million barrels to 326.7 million in the week to February
17, bigger than the 700,000-barrel increase expected by economists.
Crude stocks in the US are some 10 percent higher than at the
same stage last year.
Gasoline -- or petrol -- inventories edged up by 100,000 barrels
to 225.6 million, the DoE said, below market expectations for
a rise of one million barrels.
According to the DoE, gasoline stocks are however at their highest
level since June 1999.
Kyle Cooper, analyst for Citigroup Global Markets, said the data
confirmed that inventories overall "are in great shape"
while demand, although steady, is not "robust."
Swelling US stockpiles over the past few weeks have overshadowed
concerns about rising geopolitical tensions, taking oil prices
further and further away from their late January high of 69.20.
Nevertheless, prices remain susceptible to the slightest hint
of supply disruption, as evidenced earlier this week when they
shot higher following weekend attacks against oil facilities in
Nigeria.
"Supply versus the potential for supply disruption -- these
are essentially the two poles between which participants' focus
bounces," said Fimat analyst Mike Fitzpatrick.
He added that while "in the near term, the path of least
resistance will be pointing lower ... the reaction over the weekend
(to the Nigeria attacks) shows how sensitive the market remains."
And looking further ahead, Fitzpatrick said there are still too
many longer term uncertainties in key producing countries for
the oil price to head significantly lower.
Crude futures had steadied for much of Thursday.
"The market is currently caught between the pressure of the
high and swelling stocks and geopolitical concerns about the security
of oil supply," analysts at the Sucden brokerage firm said.
The oil market was keeping a watch over Nigeria, where violence
has cut output in Africa's biggest producer of crude.
Last weekend separatist guerrillas in the country attacked the
Forcados oil terminal run by energy giant Royal Dutch Shell.
Damage to the terminal and surrounding pipelines, combined with
fears for the safety of other workers, has forced the firm to
cut production by 455,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), equivalent
to almost 20 percent of Nigeria's total output.
Nigeria, the world's sixth-biggest exporter of oil, produces light,
sweet crude, which is easier and cheaper to refine than the heavy,
sour crude produced by oil kingpin Saudi Arabia.
Elsewhere, analysts say that tension over Iran's nuclear program
could lead to disruption of the country's oil exports.
Iran exports 2.6 million bpd and is the second-biggest producer
in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi
Arabia.
AFP
02 2306
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