No end in sight to fuel crisis, U.S. warns

10/20/2000 – More bad news on the fuel price front: This week’s reports on inventories of crude oil and distillates like diesel fuel and heating oil showed more unexpected drops in the supplies available as we head into the winter months.

The American Petroleum Institute’s weekly inventory report showed that crude oil stocks fell for the second week in a row. Figures from the Department of Energy also showed a drop this week in oil inventories. Crude oil inventories remain disturbingly close to the 24-year lows reached in late summer, but the oil released from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve is not actually in the market yet.

Even after that oil arrives, however, analysts told the Wall Street Journal that the low inventories are likely to keep crude oil prices well above $30 a barrel and increase the likelihood for future price spikes.

Distillate stocks – diesel fuel and heating oil – also fell. The API reported a drop of 500,000 barrels, the DOE 900,000. The WSJ reports that the low inventories are likely due to customers stocking up in fear of fuel supplies and further price spikes this winter.

Crude oil for November delivery rose 49 cents, or 1.5%, to $33.48 U.S. a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday. Although down from their September highs of over $37 a barrel, prices are still up 49% from a year ago.

-Truckinginfo.com