Oil hits new high of over 83 dollars a barrel

www.chinaview.cn 2007-09-21 04:14:26

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) --

Crude futures closed above 83 dollars a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, marking another record high for a benchmark contract.

Crude oil for October delivery closed at 83.32 dollars a barrel, up 1.7 percent, or 1.39 dollars over the previous closing.

Crude oil rose to a record 83.90 dollars a barrel in intraday trading after the United States said that production in the Gulf of Mexico was shut because of a storm threat.

The October oil contract expired Thursday.

A weak low-pressure system with the potential to become a named subtropical storm as early as Thursday has formed in the eastern Gulf, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

More than 360,000 barrels, or 28 percent, of daily oil production was idled, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said Thursday in a statement.

Prices already went higher on signs that U.S. interest-rate cuts and a falling dollar will bolster demand.

The price of New York crude has hit a series of record peaks in recent days, including Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Energy said crude oil reserves had tumbled last week, underscoring global supply tightness.

Crude supplies fell 3.8 million barrels during the week ended Sept. 14, according to the U.S. Energy Department. That decline was bigger than the expectations of most analysts.

October gasoline rose 4.17 cents to settle at 2.1351 dollars a gallon. Heating oil futures rose 1.56 cent to settle at 2.2609 dollars a gallon. But natural gas fell 17.2 cents to settle at 6.008 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet after the government reported that inventories grew by 63 billion cubic feet last week, only slightly below consensus analyst expectations.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery added 62 cents to settle at 79.09 dollars a barrel, after earlier hitting an all-time high of 79.28 dollars.

Crude oil for October delivery on Wednesday closed 42 cents higher at 81.93 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had climbed as high as 82.50 dollars to set an all-time high level for a front-month contract on the exchange.

Editor: Yan Liang

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