Oil prices eased below US$65 a barrel yesterday after hitting a new intraday high of US$65.30 over gasoline supply fears.
"With stock levels looking less prettier, gasoline will remain a key concern over the coming weeks," said Orrin Middleton, energy analyst at Barclays Capital in London.
The US inventories report on Wednesday showed a decline in gasoline stocks, triggering heightened concerns that a string of refinery shutdowns in the US will make it difficult for gasoline supplies to meet peak summer demand.
Market sentiment was cooled by a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasting slower global oil demand growth this year.
The Paris-based agency said in its monthly report yesterday that oil demand this year will be 150,000 barrels a day less then it expected, as China's oil demand continues to show signs of weakening.
Nevertheless, world oil demand will grow this year by 1.6 million barrels a day to 83.7 million barrels a day, IEA said.
Light, sweet crude fell US$0.13 to US$64.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after climbing to a session high of US$65.30.
Gasoline was trading at US$1.9035 a gallon (3.8 liters), up nearly US$0.01, while heating oil was down half a cent to US$1.8348.
Brent crude for delivery next month fell US$0.01 to US$63.98 on London's International Petroleum Exchange.
The IEA also warned that despite a rapid build in oil inventories during the first half of this year, more stocks are needed.
"Stocks have built rapidly in the first half of 2005, despite US$60 oil, but clearly, the market verdict remains more inventories are needed until investment responses catch up and demand patterns are clearer," the agency said.
Crude futures have risen 14 percent in the last three weeks, driven by an array of concerns about supply disruptions: US and Venezuelan refinery outages, the Atlantic hurricane season's impact on production in the Gulf of Mexico, the death of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd as well as tensions over Iran's nuclear program.
While oil prices are about 46 percent higher than a year ago, they would need to surpass US$90 a barrel to exceed the inflation-adjusted peak set in 1980.
The weekly US petroleum supply snapshot on Wednesday showed a drop in gasoline stocks by 2.1 million barrels to 203.1 million barrels, likely the result of at least seven US refinery outages in less than three weeks. It was sixth decline in a row for gasoline inventories.
Energy markets have been extremely jumpy about the refinery outages. Some traders said the troubles are evidence that the industry and its aging infrastructure are having difficulty maintaining output at high levels.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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