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WORLD / America
Crude futures set?new record above 80 dollars
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-18 05:30
NEW YORK - Crude-oil futures climbed to another record level above 80
dollars a barrel Monday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for October delivery rose 1.47
dollars to close at 80.57 dollars a barrel, a gain of 1. 9 percent.
Earlier, the price had climbed to an all-time high of 80.70 dollars.
Analysts said the market is gaining confidence that a Fed rate cut will
be a good sign for further energy demand.
The U.S. central bank will meet on Tuesday and experts expect it to agree
to cut its benchmark federal funds rate by at least a quarter percentage
point to 5 percent to help markets hobbled by a credit crunch.
Oil broke over 80 dollars a barrel for the first time last week as strong
global energy demand and supply disruptions raised fears of an inventory
crunch leading into the high-demand winter heating season.
U.S. crude supplies are running at their lowest level in eight months
while gasoline supplies in the top energy consumer were down at their
lowest since Hurricane Katrina knocked out several Gulf Coast refineries
in 2005.
The U.S. Department of Energy reported Wednesday that U.S. crude
inventories fell by a sharper-than-expected 7.1 million barrels in the
week ended September 7. The drop was almost three times steeper than
market expectations.
Crude-oil supplies dropped 2.03 million barrels in the week ended
September 14, according to the median of responses by 12 analysts
surveyed by Bloomberg News before an Energy Department report this week.
It would be the 10th decline in 11 weeks.
Oil was also receiving support Monday from fresh concerns over Iran's
nuclear program.
France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner increased pressure on Tehran
on Sunday, saying France had to prepare for the prospect of war with
Iran. Iran has called the comments provocative.
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