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Crude rises on supply concerns



By Upstream staff 

Crude prices rose briefly past $60 a barrel for the second time this week, hoisted by traders' concerns that supplies may not be strong enough to meet demand.

However, crude futures closed short of a fresh record.

The August crude contract climbed as high as $60.05 a barrel on the Nymex before closing at $59.42 a barrel, up $1.33.

Comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan advising against a trade war with China in the thick of CNOOC/Unocal bidding, fed Thursday's rally, according to senior analyst at Alaron Trading, Phil Flynn.

Greenspan warned that a policy to "dismantle the global trading system in a misguided effort to protect jobs from competition would rebound to the eventual detriment of all US job seekers, as well as of millions of American consumers."

The comments "lead traders to believe that demand for oil from China will continue to remain strong and even be stronger," said Flynn.

Meanwhile, Evans dubbed the unsolicited $18.5 billion bid by CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil company, for Unocal as a mere "sidebar when it comes to the oil market itself."

He did add that the move could "help keep sentiment stoked if a bidding war for reserves develops."

Meanwhile, natural gas peaked at its highest level in three sessions, on the coattails of a rise in last week's supply.

July Nymex natural gas climbed as high as $7.64 per million British thermal units - its highest price since Monday. It closed at $7.473, up 3.1 cents, or 0.4%.

Overall, the "fundamentals remain bullish for natural gas," said managing partner at First Enercast Financial, Agbeli Ameko, noting that " July weather futures are priced significantly warmer than average across the north-east and south."


Thursday, 23 June, 2005, 21:25 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 24 June, 2005, 10:31 GMT

Crude concerns: a Saudi local contemplates a new ride
 

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