Related News
Oil prices rise despite consumer worries
Source: Agencies |
March 30, 2011, Wednesday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
OIL prices rose yesterday as concerns about political upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East trumped US economic data suggesting that American consumers are worried about the cost of fuel and food.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery gained 81 cents to settle at US$104.79 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, Brent crude added 38 cents to settle at US$114.96 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Energy markets have been rattled by pro-democracy uprisings that have cut off oil exports from Libya and threatened disruptions of crude supplies from major oil producers like Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Benchmark oil has surged more than 20 percent since last month when fighting broke out in Libya. Libya sits on the largest crude reserves in Africa. Until recently, Libya produced nearly 2 percent of the world's oil. Experts say those exports will likely be halted at least for another several months.
Unrest in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria has raised further worries about world oil supplies. Those countries don't produce much oil of their own, but uprisings could interfere with oil shipments in the region. Yemen sits on a strategic shipping lane that handles about 4 million barrels of oil a day.
Gasoline pump prices were already at the highest levels for this time of year prior to the Libyan rebellion, and they've now pushed even higher. The US average yesterday rose slightly to US$3.587 per gallon (about 95 cents a liter), according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. A gallon of regular has climbed 23.3 cents in the last month and 78.7 cents since last year.
Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, said drivers could be squeezed more in April. "That's typically when we see some of the biggest price increases" at the gas station, Kloza said.
Economists said the overall impact of higher pump prices is unclear. The Conference Board Consumer Research Center said yesterday that rising food and fuel prices pushed its consumer confidence index in March down to levels that were last seen during the recession. Yet data from the Energy Department shows gasoline demand rising at the wholesale level compared with last year.
Meanwhile, MasterCard SpendingPulse said in a report released yesterday that US retail gasoline demand fell by 0.2 percent last week when compared with the same week last year. It's the fourth week in a row that SpendingPulse noted a year-over-year drop in demand.
The Energy Information Administration will release its demand data Wednesday with its weekly petroleum inventory report.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil for April delivery increased 1.61 cents to settle at US$3.0573 per gallon and gasoline futures rose 1.60 cents to settle at US$3.0436 per gallon. Natural gas for May delivery lost 18.5 cents to settle at US$4.263 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery gained 81 cents to settle at US$104.79 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, Brent crude added 38 cents to settle at US$114.96 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Energy markets have been rattled by pro-democracy uprisings that have cut off oil exports from Libya and threatened disruptions of crude supplies from major oil producers like Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Benchmark oil has surged more than 20 percent since last month when fighting broke out in Libya. Libya sits on the largest crude reserves in Africa. Until recently, Libya produced nearly 2 percent of the world's oil. Experts say those exports will likely be halted at least for another several months.
Unrest in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria has raised further worries about world oil supplies. Those countries don't produce much oil of their own, but uprisings could interfere with oil shipments in the region. Yemen sits on a strategic shipping lane that handles about 4 million barrels of oil a day.
Gasoline pump prices were already at the highest levels for this time of year prior to the Libyan rebellion, and they've now pushed even higher. The US average yesterday rose slightly to US$3.587 per gallon (about 95 cents a liter), according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. A gallon of regular has climbed 23.3 cents in the last month and 78.7 cents since last year.
Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, said drivers could be squeezed more in April. "That's typically when we see some of the biggest price increases" at the gas station, Kloza said.
Economists said the overall impact of higher pump prices is unclear. The Conference Board Consumer Research Center said yesterday that rising food and fuel prices pushed its consumer confidence index in March down to levels that were last seen during the recession. Yet data from the Energy Department shows gasoline demand rising at the wholesale level compared with last year.
Meanwhile, MasterCard SpendingPulse said in a report released yesterday that US retail gasoline demand fell by 0.2 percent last week when compared with the same week last year. It's the fourth week in a row that SpendingPulse noted a year-over-year drop in demand.
The Energy Information Administration will release its demand data Wednesday with its weekly petroleum inventory report.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil for April delivery increased 1.61 cents to settle at US$3.0573 per gallon and gasoline futures rose 1.60 cents to settle at US$3.0436 per gallon. Natural gas for May delivery lost 18.5 cents to settle at US$4.263 per 1,000 cubic feet.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
