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| Britain |
| Gasoil Futures Rise to Record in London on Concern Over Tight Oil Supply |
| 2004-08-03 |
| Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Gasoil futures in London rose to a record for the sixth day in seven trading sessions on concern OPEC production won't be able to meet rising demand for energy. Crude prices, which passed $44 a barrel in New York, have been near record highs for the past two weeks. Gasoil, which in July averaged more than $350 a metric ton, has risen on supply concern, continued strong demand and alerts about possible terrorist attacks in the U.S. The August contract rose $6 to $378.25 a metric ton on the International Petroleum Exchange in London at 5:37 p.m. The price is now 5 percent above the previous high, which occurred in October 1990 when the Iraqi military occupied Kuwait. European demand for gasoil, which can be refined into diesel, has caused some shipments of the product to move there from the U.S. The 60,000-ton ship Difko Chaser was loaded July 27 to take gasoil from the U.S. Gulf Coast to European markets, according to Bloomberg data. ``Prices are so high that they can open up different types of arbitrage,'' said Francis Riley, an oil-products trader with Saras SA in Milan. ``Obviously, it's hitting the consumer at the moment.'' The president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Purnomo Yusgiantoro of Indonesia, told reporters in Jakarta today that Saudi Arabia can't raise output immediately to bring down oil prices and that prices are ``crazy.'' An unidentified Saudi official later said the country can pump as many as 1 million extra barrels a day if needed. Crude oil for September delivery gained 42 cents to $40.40 a barrel in London. Crude oil has 38 percent in the past year. To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Murray in London at at wmurray1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #7 I have never understood how world events impact increased gasoline prices at the pump. I'm quite naive about the whole process and that's probably why I'll never get rich. We get most of our oil for domestic use from stable countries like Canada, Mexico, Nigeria...and yes there's Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, too. Are we paying more because of OPEC artificially increasing the prices? or is it the 7 Sister oil companies getting greedy for profits? or is it because our military wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is putting an extra demand on petro so it becomes more precious? Can anyone explain to me why someone in the stable USA should be paying so much for gas when the danger to oil productivity is way far away? |
| Posted by: rex 2004-08-03 11:52:45 PM |
| #6 Venezuela, an OPEC member state, under Chavez has allowed al-Qa'ida to 'train' and operate within Venezuelan soil? Why, since he is not a Muslim? Radical leftist Chavez hates the United States just as the Islamic fanatics. Many oil traders are concerned about 'real' shortfalls in global energy supplies and Chavez is the kind of rat, if he power base is really threatened could cause a major headache for crude oil's winter supplies. My opinion, with crude hitting $44.24 today, we are heading for at least $60 if there is a major terrorist attack on U.S. soil, or Arabian oil falls under an on slot from Saudi terrorists. Maybe by Christmas current energy costs will look real cheap. Heating oil is the next concern as the Fall months shall soon be upon us. One note of interests. In November of 2003 a crude oil option contract, with a strike price of $40 per barrel could be bought for around $250 for the month August-04. That same contract is worth over 5K currently! We are about to repeat that energy history over the next 4 to 6 months. |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-08-03 11:13:14 PM |
| #5 I expect that the price will continue up until after the leadership crisis in Venezuela is resolved. There was an article last week about how a large cache of C4 is missing out of a military deport. I would expect that to mean that Chavez has either ordered the polls bombed in areas unfriendly to him or maybe he has had the oil-wells rigged the way Sadaam did. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-08-03 10:51:28 PM |
| #4 schadenfreude JH? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-03 10:30:38 PM |
| #3 $1.79 today in N.C., nananaanana! |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2004-08-03 10:29:09 PM |
| #2 I paid $2.03 for regular in Carson City, NV (no known refineries nearby...) got home to San Diego and $2.19 regular (refineries in L.A.)...crap |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-03 10:19:07 PM |
| #1 Oddly enough, the price of regular unleaded recently dipped to $1.99/gal at one particular Arco station here in the South Bay, has been trending downward rather slowly over the past couple of weeks. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-08-03 9:34:51 PM |