Home>News Center>World
             
     

    Oil leaps above US$70 as Katrina rips through US Gulf
    (Reuters)
    Updated: 2005-08-29 17:03

    Oil prices surged to a record above $70 a barrel before easing on Monday as one of the biggest hurricanes in U.S. history churned through the Gulf of Mexico, forcing major oil producers and refiners to shut down operations, Reuters reported.

    U.S. crude oil futures jumped nearly $5 a barrel in opening trade to touch a peak of $70.80 a barrel, surpassing last week's $68 high to the highest frontmonth price since the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) began trading contracts in 1983.

    It later traded up $2.92 a barrel, or 4.4 percent, at $69.05, trimming early gains after Hurricane Katrina was downgraded to a still powerful Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, with winds easing to 155 mph (248 kph), just 1 mph below the threshhold for a rare Category 5 storm.

    Despite easing, Katrina -- the 11th named storm of what is expected to be an unusually severe season -- threatens to do lasting damage to vital U.S. oil and refining assets in the Gulf of Mexico, further straining an industry that has struggled to keep up with two years of strongly rising oil demand.

    "Some fluctuations in strength are likely prior to landfall, but Katrina is expected to make landfall as either a Category 4 or possibly a Category 5 hurricane," the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its latest update.

    Oil product and natural gas prices also shot higher to records, with gasoline soaring 12 percent to $2.1575 a gallon and heating oil rocketing past $2.00 a gallon for the first time. Natural gas prices were up 20 percent.

    More than 40 percent of all U.S. crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was reported closed down due to the hurricane, with the total expected to rise significantly as more operators report affected production to the U.S. government on Monday. The full extent of the damage and how long it will affect supplies will only be known after the storm clears.

    "We're just going to have to wait and see what's left," said Chevron Corp. spokesman Matt Carmichael.

    Katrina is far stronger than last year's Hurricane Ivan, which tore up platforms and pipelines along a very similar path through the Gulf, disrupting output for months.

    The Gulf of Mexico normally pumps about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of U.S. crude, a quarter of domestic output and equivalent to nearly 2 percent of global oil production, similar to the estimated spare capacity left within OPEC.

    "We can expect two months of lost production, and coming in the peak-demand period this is the worst possible news," said David Thurtell, strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

    "The only way we can avoid yet higher prices is if President Bush releases supply from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve."

    The administration has said in the past it would release oil from the 700-million-barrel SPR only during a serious supply disruption, but has never given further details.

    "The Energy Department (DOE) is monitoring the situation," an administration official said in Washington. The DOE loaned out 5.4 million barrels last year after Ivan, which shut in a total 45 million barrels before full output was restored.

    About a million residents around New Orleans fled as potentially catastrophic Katrina was expected to make landfall near the low-lying Gulf Coast city around sunrise on Monday after whipping up winds near 160 miles per hour (mph) (266 kph).

    REFINERS HIT

    Apart from the impact on crude production, dealers fear the storm will tighten supplies of consumer fuels, which are much lower than relatively robust crude stockpiles and more difficult to replace given most refiners have been pumping flat out.

    "Last year we had 15 million barrels more gasoline (stocks) than now," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Illinois. "Given the already low stock levels most of price impact will be at the front of the gasoline curve."

    Gulf Coast refiners produce about 45 percent of U.S. gasoline, he said, and they might struggle to restore operations amid power cuts and flooding, even if they escape damage.

    Seven southeast Louisiana refineries with a combined daily refining capacity of 1.449 million barrels of crude oil had shut down ahead of Katrina making landfall, an amount equal to 8.5 percent of total U.S. refining capacity, operators said.

    Two of those refineries near New Orleans -- the 190,000-bpd Chalmette Refining LLC and Murphy Oil Corp.'s 120,000-bpd Meraux plant -- appeared to be directly in the path of the storm.

    "We're all wondering, 'What am I going to have to come home to?'" said Barb Hestermann, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), which imports 1 million-bpd of crude, a tenth of total imports, and also shut down at the weekend.

    NO CUSHION

    Dealers are concerned about lasting oilfield damage as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which controls half the world's exports, is pumping near full capacity, leaving it little room to make up for any prolonged outages.

    OPEC's president said at the weekend high prices, which have jumped 60 percent this year, were of rising concern to the cartel, but that they should start to ease as higher costs begin to curb demand that has proven remarkably resilient thus far.

    "OPEC will be exploring various options for the September meeting, which will hopefully contribute to moderate prices," OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah, also Kuwait's oil minister, said in an English language statement in Kuwait City.

    He did not elaborate on the nature of these options. OPEC meets on September 19 to chart output policy.

    Production elsewhere in the world was also under strain.

    In Ecuador, where output has just returned to normal after being hobbled by a week-long protest, activists vowed on Sunday to resume protests within the next 48 hours if energy firms do not agree to increase local investment.



    USS Park Royal crew await for Rice
    Coffin of Milosevic flew to Belgrade
    Kidnapping spree in Gaza Strip
     
      Today's Top News     Top World News
     

    Australia, US, Japan praise China for Asia engagement

     

       
     

    Banker: China doing its best on flexible yuan

     

       
     

    Hopes high for oil pipeline deal

     

       
     

    Possibilities of bird flu outbreaks reduced

     

       
     

    Milosevic buried after emotional farewell

     

       
     

    China considers trade contracts in India

     

       
      Journalist's alleged killers held in Iraq
       
      No poisons found in Milosevic's body
       
      US, Britain, France upbeat on Iran agreement
       
      Fatah officials call for Abbas to resign
       
      Sectarian violence increases in Iraq
       
      US support for troops in Iraq hits new low
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      Related Stories  
       
    Terror worries push oil price towards $64
       
    Oil price closes in upon 65 dollars on US market
       
    Oil prices surge to record US$66.10
    Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
    Advertisement
             
    久久精品中文无码资源站| 无码日韩精品一区二区人妻| 高清无码中文字幕在线观看视频| 日韩精品无码免费专区网站| 久久精品中文字幕大胸| 国产精品无码永久免费888 | 久久久久久久久无码精品亚洲日韩| 色综合久久综合中文综合网| 国产精品午夜福利在线无码 | 无码伊人66久久大杳蕉网站谷歌| 爆操夜夜操天天操狠操中文| 伊人久久大香线蕉无码麻豆| 亚洲av无码一区二区乱子伦as| 一本大道香蕉中文在线高清 | 中文字幕无码久久久| 久久久无码精品亚洲日韩按摩| 中文字幕无码一区二区免费| 久久精品99无色码中文字幕| 无码人妻精品中文字幕免费 | 亚洲最大av无码网址| YW尤物AV无码国产在线观看| 国产精品无码专区| 日韩AV无码久久一区二区| 亚洲日韩欧洲无码av夜夜摸| 日日日日做夜夜夜夜无码 | 中文有码vs无码人妻| 亚洲日本中文字幕天堂网| 一本大道香蕉中文日本不卡高清二区 | 曰韩无码AV片免费播放不卡| 无码中文字幕日韩专区| 国产av无码专区亚洲av桃花庵 | 久久精品无码专区免费| 2021无码最新国产在线观看| 国产日产欧洲无码视频无遮挡| 国产成人无码免费网站| 国产成人无码免费看片软件| 午夜成人无码福利免费视频| 亚洲中文字幕无码一去台湾| 91中文字幕在线观看| 最近中文字幕大全免费视频 | 无码福利写真片视频在线播放|