NEW YORK, 8 August 2007 — Crude oil prices rose yesterday, pulling out of a nose dive after news of new refinery problems in the United States rekindled supply worries during the summer driving season. US crude oil futures rose 24 cents to $72.30 a barrel by 17:45 GMT, ending heavy losses since last week on economic worries that shaved $6 off the price and pulled it back from the record. London Brent, meanwhile, rose 63 cents to $71.80 a barrel.
Sources said ConocoPhillips shut processing units at two oil refineries on the US East Coast for repairs, including a unit at its big Bayway plant in New Jersey. A ConocoPhillips official was not immediately available.
Meanwhile, the dollar traded little changed against the euro and yen yesterday. In late European trade, the single currency fell to 1.3750 dollars, from 1.3795 dollars in New York late on Monday. The dollar eased to 118.39 yen, from 118.88 yen.
The pound was broadly weaker yesterday following the release of a very weak retail sales survey from the British Retail Consortium overnight, as well as being pressured by the reduction in risk exposure and the resultant shift out of high-yielding currencies.
The euro was changing hands at 1.3750 dollars, against 1.3795 dollars late on Monday, 162.80 yen (163.97), 0.6807 pounds (0.6789) and 1.6427 Swiss francs (1.6436). The dollar stood at 118.39 yen (118.88) and 1.1948 Swiss francs (1.1914).
The pound was being traded at 2.0202 dollars (2.0312).
Europe’s main stock markets rebounded yesterday. London’s FTSE 100 index gained 1.93 percent to close at 6,308.80 points. In Paris the CAC 40 gained 1.58 percent to 5,620.40 and in Frankfurt the DAX took on 0.94 percent to finish at 7,513.66 points.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of top euro zone shares rose 1.76 percent to 4,276.80 points.
In Asia yesterday, the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Nikkei-225 index of leading shares rose 0.04 percent to close at 16,921.77 points. Hong Kong’s key Hang Seng Index fell 0.13 percent to 21,907.99 points on profit-taking which wiped out intra-day gains.
At 1518 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 54.06 points (0.40 percent) to 13,414.72 and the NASDAQ composite had lost 9.22 points (0.36 percent) to 2,538.11. The broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index had shed 4.30 points (0.29 percent) to 1,463.37.
