Posted on 10/02/2006 5:33:33 PM PDT by kellynla
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell 3 percent to $61 a barrel on Monday as healthy fuel inventories in top consumer the United States countered plans by OPEC members Nigeria and Venezuela to trim output.
U.S. crude settled down $1.88 at $61.03 a barrel, after dipping as low as $60.90 after BP said it had restarted production at the Lisburne oil field in Alaska over the weekend. London Brent dropped $2.03 to $60.45.
BP shut the 30,000 barrel per day (bpd) field last week after discovering a gas leak in a pipeline. The oil major has been restoring output at its giant Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska after severe pipeline corrosion was found in August.
The Lisburne restart added to bearish market sentiment caused by ample U.S. supplies, which have sent prices falling from records over $78 a barrel in July and prompted concern among some OPEC members.
Nigeria and Venezuela last week to pledge to cut supply by about 170,000 barrels per day, less than 1 percent of OPEC's total output, from October 1 as U.S. distillate stocks are at a seven-year high.
"The fundamentals are not very rosy -- we've got very high stocks," said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix. "The market is expecting now to have a bit less production from OPEC, but the question is how much."
Some traders said the planned cutbacks by Nigeria and Venezuela would have little impact on prices unless larger producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries also said they would join the move.
"The only significant thing would be if Saudi Arabia announced they were going to cut output, which they haven't," said Christopher Bellew, a broker at Bache Financial in London. "I really don't think anyone expects much in the way of output cuts at the moment."
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
ping
$1.60 to $2.20 for regular gas on Election Day!!!!!
a local radio car guy - in Dallas - stated that if supplies are why prices go up and down then why is gasoline @ $2.00+ now when there are 215,000,000 gallons on hand which is the avergae for the last 20 years?
Yes, indeed. The later futures, Dec, Jan etc are also down about equally. This is across the board.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.