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مشاهدة النسخة كاملة : النفط يرتفع قليلا



الفال 111
16-01-2002, Wed 12:59 AM
ارتفع النفط بسبب تقرير سينش عن نقص في الوقود في الولايات المتحدة...اقرأ
01/15 12:59
Crude Oil Rises as U.S. Distillate Inventories Forecast to Fall
By Mark Shenk


New York, Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose for the first time in three sessions on expectations that a report later today will show a decline in U.S. distillate fuel inventories.

The American Petroleum Institute will probably report a drop of almost 1 percent last week in distillate supplies, which include heating oil and diesel, analysts said. A snowstorm in the Southeast early this month boosted heating demand and kept diesel use in check as trucks stayed off the road, traders said.

``We didn't see a drop in real demand, just a delay,'' said Ed Silliere, vice president of risk management at Energy Merchant LLC in New York, which acts as a middleman between refiners and regional distributors. ``For four days during the previous week, you had no truck traffic in the Southeast.''

Crude oil for February delivery rose as much as 49 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $19.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fell 9 percent last week and are down 30 percent since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Heating oil for February delivery rose as much as 1.34 cents, or 2.6 percent, to 53 cents a gallon on the exchange. Prices are down 12 percent since the end of October as reduced demand because of mild fall weather left inventories about a third larger than a year ago.

The second-warmest November on record and mild weather during the first half of December had kept heating demand low. The storm in the Southeast dumped more than a foot of snow in some places.

Distillate inventories probably fell between 600,000 and 1.2 million barrels last week from 144.8 million, according to a Bloomberg survey of nine analysts. Crude oil inventories probably rose between 700,000 and 1.5 million barrels from 310 million.

Oil Companies Rally

Oil company shares followed crude oil higher. Exxon Mobil Corp., the biggest publicly traded oil company, was 77 cents higher at $39.41 in midday trading. ChevronTexaco Corp. gained $1.40 to $88.79 and Phillips Petroleum Co. rose $1.02 to $59.36.

World oil demand last year probably grew at its slowest rate since 1984, according to the International Energy Agency, as the top two economies -- the U.S. and Japan -- fell into recession.

Weak demand prompted the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and rival producers such as Russia and Norway to reduce output and exports starting Jan. 1. The producers pledged to reduce world supply by almost 2 million barrels a day, or about 2.6 percent. The agreement calls for OPEC to rein in production while the non-OPEC producers promised only to reduce exports.

AO Yukos Oil Co. and other Russian oil producers that had opposed the cuts said they would seek to increase exports of refined products such as heating fuel because domestic demand can't absorb their rising output.

``Russia is circumventing their quotas, demand is down and the weather here is not cooperating, which is why we have sold off almost $2 in the past week,'' said Chester Irvin, a broker at ABN Amro Inc. in New York, who expects prices to start falling again tomorrow.

Port Upgrade

The Russian port of Novorossiysk, the country's main outlet for crude oil exports, said it boosted oil loading by 10 percent to a record last year as the second-biggest crude oil exporter increased production.

The port has expanded capacity by one-third over the past two years in order to handle expected increases.

``I haven't become any more optimistic about oil prices since the beginning of the year,'' said Vagit Alekperov, chief executive officer of OAO Lukoil, Russia's top oil producer. ``I still think that our prediction of $16 per barrel of Urals for most of this year, plus-minus $1.50 each way, will hold.''

Russia's oil blend, Urals, was valued at $18.30 a barrel in Rotterdam today.

In London, Brent crude oil for February settlement rose as much as 30 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $20.08 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.