Oil Prices Rise Ahead of OPEC Meeting
Posted on: Tuesday, 7 March 2006, 06:01 CST
LONDON - Oil prices rose Tuesday as OPEC oil ministers were gathering to consider the effect of lower demand and world events on their production strategy.
Markets were also watching the International Atomic Energy Agency's board meeting on Iran's nuclear ambitions, as well as the situation in Nigeria, where armed militants have vowed to cut daily oil exports by another 1 million barrels by the end of March.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery was up 24 cents to $62.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. April Brent on the ICE Futures exchange gained 43 cents to $62.77 a barrel.
Gasoline dipped less than a cent to $1.6505 a gallon, while heating oil rose fractionally to $1.7598 a gallon. Natural gas rose 3 cents to $6.575 per 1,000 cubic feet.
On Monday, light sweet crude fell $1.26 on the Nymex, partly tied to a technical sell-off in Nymex gasoline futures.
Some calm was brought to the world's jittery energy markets after oil ministers suggested that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will keep output levels intact at the cartel's meeting this week.
The group's official output target is 28 million barrels per day, though that does not include Iraq, which adds an additional 1.5 million barrels per day.
Kuwait wants the 11-nation cartel to maintain its production ceiling "just to help the prices be more stable," the nation's energy minister, Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah said. He said he believes oil prices will drop this spring, barring a rise of "tension and geopolitical problems."
Worries about Iran's nuclear program, the militant threats in Nigeria and attacks on Middle East facilities - including the Feb. 24 bombing of the world's largest oil-processing complex in Saudi Arabia - have stoked concerns about supply disruptions and kept prices high.
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
Related Articles
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds