World
  |
|
Oil prices rebound on Nigeria unrest worries
AFP
NEW YORK
Petroleumworld.com 05 11 07World oil prices rallied Thursday amid concerns about unrest in Nigeria, wiping out earlier losses linked to larger-than-expected US stockpiles of crude and motor fuel, dealers said.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, closed 26 cents higher at 61.81 dollars per barrel.
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for June delivery rose 59 cents to end the day at 65.79 dollars per barrel.
Global oil prices fell Wednesday after the US Department of Energy (DoE) reported a surprisingly strong buildup in crude stocks of 5.6 million barrels.
The DoE report also showed a gain of 400,000 barrels in gasoline reserves, the first rise since early February.
But prices rallied Thursday amid supply disruptions in Nigeria, the world's sixth-biggest oil exporter. Output has been slashed by about one quarter due to to a series of attacks on oil facilities in the crude-rich Niger delta.
"The situation in Nigeria continues to dominate the discussion surrounding oil prices," said John Kilduff of Man Financial.
Kilduff pointed out that Nigeria had supplanted Venezuela as a key supplier to the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer.
"Yesterday's small build in (US) gasoline inventories was not enough to overcome the worries over the sufficiency of supplies, as the summer driving season nears," he said.
Bart Melek, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, predicted the rise in oil reserves would be a blip.
"Given healthy demand, low gasoline inventories and OPEC discipline, it is very likely that the current sky-high oil stocks in the US will not be maintained throughout the summer, as refiners will need to accelerate activity to build stocks and provide product to satisfy driving demand," Melek said.
"As such, we continue to see plenty of upside for both oil and gasoline prices."
Traders are concerned about whether US refiners can convert enough crude oil into gasoline (petrol) in time for the driving season that starts at the end of May, when many Americans take to the road for their summer holidays.
"There is plenty of crude but not enough gasoline is being refined," said Tobin Gorey, a commodities analyst with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
AFP 10 2007 GMT 05 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels