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Oil prices rebound despite US energy report
AFP
NEW YORK
Petroleumworld.com 05 11 06
World oil prices jumped Wednesday on global supply jitters linked to Iran despite news that US energy inventories rose last week, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, advanced 1.44 dollars to close at 72.13 dollars a barrel.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for June delivery rose 1.36 dollars to settle at 72.44 dollars a barrel.
Prices had receded after the US Department of Energy (DoE) said Wednesday that US gasoline stocks rose by a robust 2.4 million barrels to 205.1 million in the week to May 5. Analysts had forecast a rise of only one million barrels.
However, US motor fuel stocks are still 3.8 percent lower than at the same stage last year heading into the peak-demand US summer driving season, which starts late this month.
The DoE added that crude oil reserves in the United States increased by 300,000 barrels to 347.0 million over the week.
US crude stocks are now at their highest level since May 1998, although analysts had expected a bigger rise of 575,000 barrels.
"The report was slightly bearish," Societe Generale analyst Deborah White said.
But crude prices snapped back after speculators saw an opportunity to buy, Fimat analyst Mike Fitzpatrick said.
"When the prices didn't extend their selling, it brought buyers into the market, particularly funds," he said.
"Later in the day, there were refinery outages at two important installations, one in Texas City, and a Cononco Philips refinery in New Jersey," he added.
AG Edwards analyst Bill O'Grady said comments by US House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert, ruling out the elimination of a tariff on ethanol imports, had also influenced the market.
The comments "sent gasoline prices sharply higher and dragged everything else along with it", he said.
One factor making gasoline more expensive now is a US government requirement this year for refineries to replace the additive MTBE, which is a recognised health risk, with ethanol in fuel.
President George W. Bush said last week that he supported eliminating the tariff on ethanol imposed on imports from major producers such as Brazil, to help bring fuel prices down.
But US ethanol producers retain influential support from some US lawmakers, turning the issue into a political headache for Bush.
Overall, the oil market remains deeply nervous about developments in Iran, the world's fourth biggest producer of crude, whose nuclear ambitions have triggered a diplomatic crisis.
Bush vowed to pursue diplomatic efforts to counter Iran's nuclear programme, after the White House rejected a surprise letter from firebrand Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as containing nothing new.
Crude futures had fallen Monday on the news that Ahmadinejad had reached out to the United States. His letter ended a 26-year break in top-level contacts between the United States and Iran.
Iran faces possible UN sanctions over its nuclear drive, which the Islamic nation maintains is purely for civilian purposes.
According to analysts, any disruption to crude exports from Iran could send global crude prices rocketing to more than 100 dollars a barrel.
AFP 10 1949 GMT 05 06
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