Crude Prices Surge Above 66 Dollars

Crude prices surge above 66 dollars NEW YORK, March 28 (Xinhua) — World crude oil prices advanced sharply Tuesday amid worries of supply in Nigeria and Iran, on the eve of the weekly release of supply data.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, added 1.91 dollars to end at 66.07 dollars a barrel.

On London’s ICE Futures exchange, the price of Brent North Sea crude for May delivery climbed 1.36 dollars to end at 64.97 dollars a barrel.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange,the heating oil surged 4. 66 cents to 1.8277 dollars a gallon as gasoline futures rose 5.57 cents to 1.8845 dollars per gallon. Natural gas futures rose 14. 7 cents to 7.214 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.

Three Western oil workers, including two Americans and a Briton, held in Nigeria’s troubled oil-rich Niger Delta by militants for more than one month, have been released, a state government spokesman said on Monday. However, Royal Dutch Shell said that it will not be eager to restore oil production in Nigeria.

Nigeria is Africa’s leading oil producer and the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports. About one-fourth of the country’s daily output is still shut after a series of militant attacks.

Traders are still concerned about the possibilities that Iran’s oil exports would halt if the United Nations imposes Teheran an international sanction for its nuclear activities. Iran is OPEC’s number-two producer behind Saudi Arabia, making four million bpd of oil and exporting 2.4 million bpd.

The Department of Energy will release its weekly energy stockpiles report Wednesday. U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fall unexpectedly in the week ended March 17 while supplies of gasoline and other refined products also declined.