Petróleo sobe mais de 1% com três refinarias encerradas

[notiCIas]

Petróleo sobe mais de 1% com três refinarias encerradas


O petróleo avançava mais de 1% em Nova Iorque e Londres devido aos receios de que a oferta não seja suficiente para satisfazer a procura depois de três refinarias nos EUA terem sido encerradas. Há quatro sessões consecutivas que o preço do petróleo está a subir.

O crude negociado em Nova Iorque avançava 1,11% para os 54,80 dólares e o «brent» valorizava 1,50% para os 54,82 dólares.

As refinarias do Texas, Luisiana e Venezuela estão encerradas gerando o receio de que a oferta seja prejudicada numa altura em que a procura de gasolina nos Estados Unidos é mais intensa.

Além disso as reservas de gasolina nos EUA desceram 5,7% desde o final de Fevereiro.

Canal de negócios

[Paciente]

22 Apr 2005 16:59 GMT


Oil rallies above 55 usd/barrel amid gasoline supply jitters


LONDON (AFX) - Oil prices surged above 55 usd a barrel in nervous pre-weekend trade amid US refinery problems ahead of the summer driving season, dealers said.

At 5.28 pm, US June-dated futures contracts were up 1.23 usd at 55.43 usd a barrel.

Meanwhile, Brent June-dated futures contracts were up 1.03 usd at 55.04 usd a barrel.

Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic surged even higher in further forward trading months, with US September futures trading at a high of 57.45 usd and September Brent at 55.51 usd.

"As has been the case for some time now, any refinery problems result in significant price amplification," said Fimat analyst John Kilduff.

Oil prices renewed their upward trend since late yesterday on news of gasoline production difficulties at ConocoPhilips' 225,000 barrels per day refinery in Louisiana.

Analysts said the lost production of 50,000 bpd at ConocoPhilips is not expected to be significant.

Despite the relatively small production problem at Conoco, fears of a demand shortage continue to make for a nervous trade and the market will continue to be vulnerable to production-related price surges, Fimat's Kilduff said, referring to this week's 5 usd a barrel surge.

Oil prices will remain vulnerable in coming weeks as the gasoline stock situation comes into clearer focus for the driving season.

The US summer driving season traditionally starts to pick up at the end of this month, starting with the Memorial Day holiday on April 30.

In other oil news, the market has appeared to discount, for now, comments from the Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi in today's Wall Street Journal aimed at soothing oil prices.

Al-Naimi said that 50 usd a barrel for crude is too high although he declined to identify the right price.

The comments come ahead of crown Saudi Prince Abdullah's meeting with President Bush on Monday in Texas.

Al-Naimi also said Saudi Arabia is willing to pump to its full 11 mln bpd of capacity, regardless of OPEC quotas, and called the cartel's official output ceiling "irrelevant".

Fimat's Killduf noted that the problem with Al-Naimi's comments is that it feeds directly into the argument that by producing at maximum capacity, spare capacity is diminished, "leaving no buffer for the certain future production uncertainties."

Al-Naimi also said that Saudi Arabia is encouraging buyers to stockpile ahead of the latter half of the year when demand and supply could face a crunch point.

He also noted that Saudi Arabia is not to blame for high oil prices, which have been inflated by an influx of trading by pension, hedge funds, and banks. The Saudi comments come amid mounting pressure from the US, and the International Energy Agency's Executive Director Claude Mandil.

Mandil yesterday said OPEC producers should increase crude oil output to lower prices, even though he sees inventories being at reasonable levels.