By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 17 -- Crude prices jumped higher on Feb. 16, despite a reported increase in commercial US crude inventories.
The Energy Information Administration reported US crude stocks jumped by 2.1 million bbl to 296.4 million bbl during the week ended Feb. 11. US gasoline inventories soared by 4.9 million bbl to 221.7 million bbl in the same period, while distillate fuel stocks fell by 3.1 million bbl to 112.5 million bbl (OGJ Online, Feb. 16, 2005).
In London, trading on the International Petroleum Exchange was delayed for an hour as 36 Greenpeace activists handcuffed themselves to the crude trading pit and used whistles and air horns to drown out traders in an apparent move to commemorate the official starting date for the Kyoto protocol provisions on climate change. The group said they were protesting against oil as a major contributor to climate change.
After police removed the protestors, the April contract for North Sea Brent crude closed at $46.15/bbl up by 76¢ for the day.
Other energy prices
The March contract for benchmark US sweet, light crudes jumped by $1.07 to $48.33/bbl on New York Mercantile Exchange, while the April contract escalated by $1.09 to $48.86/bbl. On the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., was up by $1.07 to $48.34/bbl. Heating oil for March delivery shot up by 5.07¢ to $1.34/gal on NYMEX. Gasoline for the same month increased by 2.64¢ to $1.28/gal.
However, the March natural gas contract dropped by 6.6¢ to $6.11/MMbtu on NYMEX, "as traders focused on a growing storage surplus and fairly moderate weather forecasts for next week, despite a brief cold snap this weekend and a sharp, upward reversal in oil prices," said analysts at Enerfax Daily.
EIA reported Feb. 17 the withdrawal of 98 bcf of natural gas from US underground storage during the week ended Feb. 11, compared with takes of 176 bcf the previous week and 172 bcf during the same period last year. US storage now stands at 1.8 tcf, up 328 bcf from a year ago and 313 bcf above the 5-year average. "Natural gas storage appears on course to exit the winter at around 1.3 tcf, assuming normal temperatures for the remaining 5 weeks of the traditional winter withdrawal season," said Robert S. Morris, Banc of America Securities LLC, New York.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven benchmark crudes inched up by 3¢ to $41.87/bbl on Feb. 16.
