Oil prices hover around US$61

Oil hovered around US$61 a barrel on release of data that the United States economy was moving ahead robustly unaffected by high oil prices, and the consumption of fuel continued incessantly in the rapidly expanding Chinese market. Data from China revealed a 9.7% jump in China's oil demand in September, the biggest leap for 8 months. The surge comes after months of unexpectedly weak figures from one of the world's fastest expanding markets. As per a latest report, strong spending by US consumers and the government helped power faster than expected 3.8%l growth in Q3-2005, despite the impact of back to back hurricanes and record high oil prices. The US oil and gas industry is still struggling back from hurricanes that battered Gulf of Mexico rigs and refiners, with over 1.7 million bpd of US refining capacity still shut down. Loss of refinery output and high natural gas prices have led to concerns that USA could face a heating fuel supply crunch in the approaching winters. Energy operations in the Gulf of Mexico do not seem poised to return to normal until late March next year. Meanwhile, in Europe, workers at Shell's 418,000 bpd Pernis plant in Rotterdam have threatened to walk out on Monday afternoon if there is no progress in a dispute over pensions. A one-day strike in Belgium over government plans to raise the retirement age disrupted shipping at Antwerp port though refineries in the area were unaffected.