Posted on 09/27/2006 12:13:59 PM PDT by kellynla
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil jumped 3 percent to over $63 a barrel on Wednesday as expectations that producing cartel OPEC may slash output to defend prices countered rising U.S. inventories.
U.S. crude rose $2.03 to $63.04 a barrel by 1853 GMT, surging back from a low of $60.10 hit after data showing large builds in U.S. gasoline and distillates stocks.
London Brent gained $2.24 to trade at $62.36 a barrel.
Oil in New York has fallen from a peak of $78.40 in July because of rising U.S. fuel stocks, easing economic growth and diminishing political tensions over Iran's nuclear stand-off -- the steepest drop since the 1991 Gulf War.
But U.S. crude has had trouble making a significant breach below $60 a barrel, despite growing supplies, and analysts say a cold northern winter, or a move by OPEC to support prices by trimming output, could send oil prices back up.
"The market is looking to stabilize at the $60-$61 level, with $60 being psychological, and as traders anticipate that is the price that OPEC will defend," said Amanda Kurzendoerfer, commodities analyst at Summit Energy in Louisville, Kentucky.
Some analysts said, however, the glut in U.S. inventories, along with a forecast for a warmer-than-usual winter, could push oil below $60 in the next two months.
U.S. gasoline inventories rose by 6.3 million barrels last week, much more than expected, a government report said, while crude imports hit the third-highest level ever.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
The Dims and Media cheer.
Dead cat. An increase in prices is not going to reduce inventories.
Drill off the coasts. Drill in ANWR. OPEC can go to h**l.
Are our gas prices tied to day traders sitting at home in stretchy pants speculating on oil?
"But OPEC has no plans to call an emergency meeting on supply cuts, an OPEC official said Wednesday, amid signs some of the group's biggest producers were at ease over oil's price decline.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ali al-Jarrah al-Sabah said on Wednesday most OPEC ministers were content with prices and not inclined now to reduce output.
That view was echoed on Wednesday in fellow OPEC countries Libya and Qatar."
I guess the fact that OPEC already said they won't cut input doesn't matter - the hedge fund boyz are desperate for ANY kind of bad news.
Not sure what kind of pants they wear, but yes.
In theory, if they speculate "wrong" they get a shave and a haircut to (again in theory) the market makes honest men of us all.
Precisely. Truth be damned!
Crude Oil Futures Rise Almost $2 as Speculators Buy Contracts
By Mark Shenk
Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose almost $2 a barrel as speculators who had sold contracts in a bet that prices would fall bought them back, pushing prices higher.
Prices failed to drop below $60, prompting the purchases. Futures have declined 20 percent from a record $78.40 a barrel on July 14. Oil fell earlier today after the release of an Energy Department report showing that U.S. inventories of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, and gasoline rose last week.
``The report was clearly bearish but when the market failed to break into new territory, sentiment shifted,'' said Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. in New York. ``Short-term traders look at failure to decline as a bullish signal.''
Crude oil for November delivery rose $1.74, or 2.9 percent, to $62.75 a barrel at 2:18 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are heading for the biggest single-session gain since Aug. 7. Oil touched a six-month low of $59.52 on Sept. 25 in New York.
Supplies of distillate fuel jumped 2.62 million barrels to 151.3 million. The gain left stockpiles 18 percent above the five-year average for the month. Gasoline supplies rose 6.3 million barrels to 213.9 million.
Crude oil supplies slipped 109,000 barrels to 324.8 million last week, the report showed. A decline of 1.7 million barrels was expected, according to the median of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The drop left inventories 6.3 percent higher than the five-year average for the date.
The department released its weekly report on petroleum inventories at 10:30 a.m. in Washington.
Darn straight...they will hold off until November...../smirk.
OPEC, such nice friends to have...Oil, would never have imagined that it would bring this nation to it's knees some day..Just listen to these two bit dictators/communists around the globe talking smack about us on any given day...just sickening..
Saudis are in panic mode. All the money from oil above 50 a barrel was earmarked for islamic madrass schools and terrorism.
As pump prices go up and down due to the market, the Dems will be disarmed in their accusations that W, Cheney and Haliburton are manipulating the price.
That's exactly what Karl Rove is thinking. That's why he had the price raised today. :)
Open said that they wouldn't lower production sell short.
The fools who went for large futures positions in the 70 or even 80 plus range are clinging by their fingernails, doing all they can to froth this downward market. They are calling their analyst buddies to issue "reports" claiming every little nit is some sort of new impetus for a price rise. The fundamentals are actually taking it down, down, down. The innate neutral point is probably below 55, maybe even lower. 1982 deja vu?
Too late. The world, America in particular has already changed its habits.
Anyone notice how many motorcyles are on the road now?
You got that little smirk there, you think you're so clever.
Lead. It's what's for supper. For some.
Excellent!
My XOM stock was dropping but has recovered in the past few days.
Charge what the market will bear, oil boys and girls.
OPEC is hostile. They can't explain why gas goes over $2/gal then when the price "crashes" to $2.38 they scream to cut production.
Traffic is so bad here that my commute now takes me 26-27 minutes by bicycle, no matter what the traffic, or 50 minutes by car if I leave at 7:00 or 25 minues if I leave at 6:30.
The bike has just become my mode of choice, for obvious reasons.
Plus, I will save gas and the state will lose the taxes.
I wonder if we'll ever really know what producers' gas 7-11 replaced the Citgo with.
OPEC is afraid they might go from *filthy* rich to just really dirty. Those rotten stinking bastards!
So gas prices will go up $.88 a gallon...
LOL!!!
Sounds like someone wants to make a killing between now and market close.
"Sounds like someone wants to make a killing between now and market close.
"
Soros?????
Should read - "Once again the cartel exercizes its control over the free market flow of oil. We will supply it at our price if you demand it."
Aren't global markets great???????
Looks like the predictions of 1.50 gas are going to be WAY off.
Darn traders really make me angry.
I hope you lose it all for the sake of pump prices.
exactly.
These tiny changes cause gas to go up ridiculously big amounts.
It shows just how greedy it is. I hate gas station owners and anybody involved in the business. Go to the place where heat doesn't stop.
Spoken like a true socialist.
Natural gas has evidently moved to the Nov contract. It is over a dollar higher than the Oct contract of yesterday. Dec and subsequent contracts are still in the vicinity of $7. Seems there is some hopeful thinking going on in the options industry.
The party's over.
you may be right
I just checked bloomberg.com
and crude is at 62.79
Only speculators matter in a monopoly market. It's not going below $2 a gallon until we provide it with some competition.
I bought one this past spring after not having one for over 20 years...almost 50 FUN miles per gallon.
BTTT
That and the little mopeds. It's fun seeing Gramma and Grandpa driving by on their matching mopeds to Dairy Queen... LOL!
Cool. I'm considering it myself--after I buy a new gas hog truck! It's been a long time. HOpe I can still ride. :^)
LOL!
Today looked like a good opportunity to cover their shorts.
Oh yeah, I kept my '95 Tahoe for winter.
the hedge fund boyz are desperate for ANY kind of bad news.'Xactly. Hedge the hedges. That's the new game... :)
They're trying to freak the markets on supply when we ought to be keeping an eye on capacity. Look there and you'll see that there's nowhere but down to for prices. This hysteria of $70 oil has been built on converging nonsense piled on top of growing demand, but none of it ever stifled capacity. Supply, yes -- Nigeria, Iraq, the Gulf, etc., but not capacity.
Meanwhile, that same hysteria that drove up prices has driven more capacity --- So yes, it's 1982 all over again.
For different reasons, of course. Which brings to mind one of the Bush Admin's greatest accomplishments: no price controls. Imagine how horrid it'd be under a President Kerry who would have tried to "protect" the poor consumer from high gasoline prices. There were murmors of this from the Dims, the Witch included, last year when prices spiked. Under Bush there was never any question that the markets would be allowed to go their way.
Ethanol requirements are another story... but even that regulatory pressure on prices has come absent price controls. The '70s were built by LBJ and Nixon and their idiot "anti-inflation" price control programs.
hee hee
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