By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Aug. 15 -- Energy prices rose Tuesday as international markets continued their recent pattern of retreating one day and advancing the next.
Following close of trading, the American Petroleum Institute reported US oil inventories increased by 113,000 bbl last week. However, US gasoline stocks fell by 1.6 million bbl while home heating oil inventories were down 138,000 bbl, API officials said.
Those declines of refined product inventories signal an increase in demand that defies previous expectations of an economic slowdown, said industry analysts.
The September contract for benchmark US sweet, light crude gained 19¢ to $28.01/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange, recovering much of Monday's loss. The October contract also advanced 6¢ to $27.27/bbl. Both contracts continued climbing in after-hours electronic trading to $28.13/bbl and $27.40/bbl, respectively.
Unleaded gasoline for September delivery jumped by 1.11¢ to 81.27¢/gal on the NYMEX, as home heating oil for the same month added 0.83¢ to 75.02¢/gal. The September natural gas contract bounced back to $3.09/Mcf with a 9.5¢ gain.
In London, the September contract for North Sea Brent crude increased by 11¢ to $25.99/bb on the International Petroleum Exchange. However, brokers said any bearish market indicators could swiftly roll back that gain.
The September contract for natural gas lost 2.2¢ Tuesday to the equivalent of $2.37/Mcf on the IPE.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven crudes inched up 9¢ to $25.01/bbl, almost the exact middle of the group's targeted price range.
Adel K. Al-Sabeeh, Kuwait's oil minister, said Tuesday that OPEC members are committed to maintaining adequate crude supplies for the international market.
He made that statement after a meeting with British Foreign Office Minister Ben Bradshaw and energy officials in London, in which they discussed Kuwait's plans to open its upstream oil sector to foreign investment.
The Kuwait Petroleum Corp. is in final preparation of a contractual and financial framework for such investments, pending approval by Kuwait's parliament. That project is aimed at doubling production from five of Kuwait's northern oil fields to 900,000 b/d within 5-10 years.
Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration said Saudi Arabia maintained its position as the biggest supplier of foreign crude to the US during June, the latest period for which numbers are available. The US imported 1.71 million b/d of oil from the kingdom in June, down from 1.72 million b/d in May but up from 1.4 million b/d in June 2000.
Total US imports of crude averaged 8.9 million b/d in June, down from 9.7 million b/d the previous month and 9.5 million b/d during the same time the previous year. US imports of both oil and petroleum products totaled 11.5 million b/d in June.
Other top suppliers of oil to the US during June were, in order: Canada, 1.4 million b/d; Venezuela, 1.3 million b/d; Mexico, 1.2 million b/d; Iraq, 776,033 b/d; and Nigeria, 705,867 b/d.