[Goldfisch]

MARKET WATCH

Terrorist threats, refinery outages boost energy prices

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 16 -- Crude futures prices rebounded on the New York market Thursday after the US Department of State ordered nonessential US personnel out of Saudi Arabia because of the threat of a possible terrorist attack.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer and exporter of crude among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, has recently experienced a wave of violence that may be connected to Al-Qaeda. That and continued violence in Iraq have traders worried about possible disruptions of world oil supplies.

Those worries were heightened by reports of more problems at US refineries. Premcor Inc. said Thursday it shut down five units at its 225,000 b/d Port Arthur, Tex., refinery. Motiva Enterprises LLC shut down a 17,820 b/d hydrocracking unit at its 250,000 b/d refinery, also in Port Arthur.

Earlier, Giant Industries Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz., said it would temporarily shut down all operating units at its 20,800 b/d Ciniza refinery at Gallup, NM, following an Apr. 8 fire at an alkylation unit (OGJ Online, Apr. 13, 2004).

Energy prices
The May contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes jumped by 85¢ to $37.57/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the June contract advanced by 68¢ to $37.10/bbl. On the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., gained 32¢ to $37.05/bbl.

Heating oil for May delivery escalated by 2.88¢ to 96.55¢/gal on NYMEX, following government and industry reports of large declines in US inventories of distillates (OGJ Online, Apr. 15, 2004). Gasoline for the same month was up by 2.35¢ to $1.1788/gal. However, the May natural gas contract dipped by 1¢ to $5.73/Mcf Thursday, "as buying on a late rally in crude oil was offset by a soft cash [natural gas spot] market and mostly mild weather [outlook] that should slow heating demand," said analysts Friday at Enerfax Daily.

In London, the May contract for North Sea Brent crude lost 33¢ to $33.12/bbl Thursday on the International Petroleum Exchange, as traders reacted to reports of a large build in US crude inventories. That market will be watching US crude stocks in coming weeks for a trend toward inventory increases, said London brokers. If that occurs, crude prices could fall by at least $2/bbl, they said.

Meanwhile, gas oil for May delivery increased by $8.75 to $295.75/tonne. The May natural gas contract was up by 2.6¢ to the equivalent of $3.58/Mcf on IPE.

The average price for OPEC's basket of seven benchmark crudes gained 44¢ to $32.54/bbl Thursday.