Oil prices streaked higher again on Tuesday as traders tracked the path of Hurricane Ivan amid fears of disruption to supplies from the Gulf of Mexico.
The price of benchmark Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in October climbed 43 cents to $41,49 a barrel in early deals in London.
”We have a very strong opening this morning,” said Lee Elliott, a trader with GNI-Man Financial.
”Everyone is turning their eyes to Hurricane Ivan. They are worried about the disruptions it can cause when it goes through the refineries in the Gulf of Mexico,” he added.
New York’s reference contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, rose 48 cents to $44,35 a barrel in pre-opening electronic deals.
Prices jumped by more than a dollar in New York Monday as oil firms evacuated workers from platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and the biggest United States oil-import terminal, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, stopped offloading tankers.
Hurricane Ivan roared across the western tip of Cuba late on Monday toward the Gulf of Mexico and the US coast after killing at least 71 in the Caribbean.
The Miami-based US National Hurricane Centre said early on Tuesday the storm was moving into the Gulf of Mexico, 90km west-northwest of the western tip of Cuba, and that a hurricane watch had been issued for the Northern Gulf coast of the United States.
Meanwhile, Opec ministers gathering in Vienna played down expectations that the cartel might raise its output ceiling at a meeting on Wednesday.
Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia said Opec does not support the current high levels of oil prices, but blames speculators for the market rally.
”The fundamentals do not support this price and Opec does not want this price,” Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi told reporters.
”Opec is doing its part, but Opec is not the only player in town and people want to make money,” he added.
Saudi Arabia will continue to pump 9,5-million barrels of oil per day as long as there is demand, and it has the capacity to produce an extra one million, possibly more, if the need arises, the minister said.
In Iraq, assailants sabotaged a key pipeline pumping oil exports from northern Iraq to Turkey, striking 60km west of Kirkuk after dawn, Colonel Emad Abdullah Obeidi of the Iraqi police said. — Sapa-AFP