U.S. Sells Oil Companies 11 Million Barrels to Boost Supply
Posted on: Sunday, 18 September 2005, 18:00 CDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Energy Department announced the sale Wednesday of 11 million barrels of crude oil from its government reserve, about a third of what had been offered to the industry as part of the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort.
The sale from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve indicates that oil companies appear confident of adequate crude oil supplies in the commercial market and did not seek to buy nearly as much as what the government had offered.
"The sale ensures that refineries have the petroleum they need to keep gasoline and diesel fuel flowing to American consumers while production facilities in the Gulf -region regain their capacity," said Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman in a statement.
At the same time, the department's statistical agency released data showing commercial inventories of crude fell by 6.6 million barrels last week, more than what analysts had expected, and that oil imports also were down.
Still, inventories were above the average for this time of year even with the loss of about 1 million barrels a day of production from the Gulf region because of the hurricane, according to the report by the Energy Information Administration.
The inventory report prompted crude oil prices to rebound in midday trading. Crude oil futures prices climbed more than $1 a barrel to $64.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Interior Department said 58 percent of offshore Gulf crude oil production remains shut down.
Refineries were operating at 87 percent capacity, reflecting the shutdown of four major refineries in Louisiana as a result of the - hurricane, the EIA said. It is expected to be two to three months before those refineries, -accounting for more than 900,000 barrels of daily production, are likely to be back in operation, according industry and government officials.
Source: Columbian
Related Articles
- Oil Futures Surpass $90 a Barrel
- BP's Planned Heavy Crude Refinery Raises Prospects for County Line Energy Corp and Other Canadian Producers
- Crude Oil Futures Hit $70 a Barrel
- Crude Oil Prices Hit $70 a Barrel in Asia
- Crude Oil Price Hits $70 a Barrel in Asia
- Oil and Gas Production Virtually Halted By Hurricane Katrina
- Hurricane to Impact Energy Prices; Oil Rigs, Refineries at Risk of Damage
- Crude Oil Futures Drop Sharply As Hurricane Fear Eases
- UK Energy Demand to Outstrip Supply UKOOA Warns Oil and Gas Production to Fall This Year, While Reliance on Industry Grows
- Oil Back Above $60 a Barrel Energy Department Raises Price Forecast to $59 Until September
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds