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| Oil Prices Up after Hurricane Hits Supplies |
| 2004-09-20 |
| Storm damage to key US oil installations and supply disruptions in Russia sent oil prices spiralling beyond the 46 dollar-mark today. The cost of light crude bounced to 46.35 US dollars a barrel in New York on news that Russia's largest producer, Yukos, had scaled back exports to China. This followed a 4% rise in oil prices on Friday as traders assessed the disruptions to supply after Hurricane Ivan tore through the Gulf of Mexico. Barclays Capital oil analyst Orrin Middleton said any signs of the stand-off between Russian authorities and Yukos starting to worsen would lead the market to over-react. Yukos, which produces 2% of the world's oil, is in dispute with the Putin administration over a tax bill of 3.4 billion US dollars (£1.87 billion). Russian courts last week rejected an appeal by Yukos against freezing assets at 24 of its units. This forced the company to review its cash situation and it announced today that it was suspending a chunk of its exports to China, representing around 100,000 barrels a day. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |