Forecast of a nearing storm that could bring rain followed by harsh cold and snow in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine by midweek has caused oil prices to rise. Light, sweet crude for January delivery increased to stand at US$57.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. January Brent crude on the ICE Futures exchange in London rose to US$55.45 a barrel. A winter storm forecast in the Northeast region has fueled speculation about whether prices have bottomed out. A milder winter so far this year has stirred a steady drop in oil and gas prices since September, reaching five-month lows.
However, with forecasts of an approaching cold front in the northeastern United States, one of the world's key energy markets, gives rise to speculation whether global production capacity can keep pace with an expected rise in heating oil demand this winter. Though recent government reports also indicate the nation's reserves have been growing while demand has tapered, distillate supplies are low for this time of the year. Any supply outage due to weather or geopolitical uncertainties could cause prices to spike because of limited excess capacity to deal with such shocks.
22-Nov-05 
{{comment.DateTimeStampDisplay}}
{{comment.Comments}}