LONDON, 23 September 2004 — World oil prices sprinted up to new one-month high points yesterday as traders showed alarm at a steep fall in US crude oil inventories in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. The price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in November soared by $1.26 to $44.65 per barrel in late trading here.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude for November delivery surged $1.49 to $48.25, climbing toward an all-time peak of $49.40 reached last month.
Prudential Bache broker Christopher Bellew said: “It looked like people had anticipated the figures and that prices were not going to go up, but they did. It is definitely a reaction to the statistics. It is encouraging fund buying.”
US oil inventories tumbled to their lowest levels since February last week in the wake of the hurricane, government and industry figures showed.
The US Department of Energy said crude reserves fell by 9.1 million barrels in the week to September 17 to 269.5 million barrels, the lowest levels since Feb. 6.
The American Petroleum Institute said its survey showed an even steeper drop of 12.9 million barrels to 266.7 million. Inventories of gasoline and distillates, which include heating oil, also showed sharp declines, according to the surveys.
Production in the Gulf of Mexico was slashed last week because of Hurricane Ivan, while the biggest US oil import terminal in Louisiana stopped unloading tankers and coastal refineries suspended operations.