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AP Worldstream: Oil prices pull back after surging on U.S. data showing decrease in gasoline supply

Mar 30th, 2006
by admin.

Mar 30, 2006
Crude oil futures pulled back Thursday in early Asian trading after a 38-cent increase on the previous day on U.S. data showing a large decrease in domestic supplies of unleaded gas.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell 35 cents to US$66.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, morning in Singapore. Gasoline prices slipped less than 1 cent to US$1.9465 a gallon (3.8 liters) while heating oil futures also dropped less than 1 cent to US$1.8460 a gallon.
Last week's decline in commercial gasoline inventories in the United States was the fourth in as many weeks, and comes as refiners conduct maintenance on their facilities ahead of the Northern Hemisphere's summer driving season, when fuel demand peaks.
In its weekly petroleum report Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Department said gasoline inventories fell by 5.4 million barrels last week to 216.2 million barrels, about even with year ago levels. The agency also said that motor gasoline demand averaged 9.1 million barrels a day over the last four weeks, which is 1.3 percent above year-ago levels.
The average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. is $2.50 a gallon, up 34.5 cents from a year ago.
Inventories of distillate fuel, which include heating oil and diesel, slid by 2.5 million barrels to 124.2 million barrels, but that was 15.4 percent higher than last year. U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels to 340.7 million barrels, or 8.2 percent higher than last year.
Prices also continue to respond to concerns about supplies from Nigeria and the Middle East.
The outlook on Nigerian oil output remained uncertain. Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the largest foreign oil company operating in the country, has shut in nearly half of its Nigerian production and says it won't resume operations until the country is safe enough for its workers.
Iran, the No. 2 oil producer in OPEC, also remains a potential source of concern. It has been referred to the U.N. Security Council over fears it may want to misuse its nuclear program to make weapons, but the council has been at loggerheads over U.S.-led efforts to ratchet up the pressure on Tehran.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press

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