N.Y. Oil Jumps to $60 on Concern Fuel Demand Will Strain Output

[norml]

N.Y. Oil Jumps to $60 on Concern Fuel Demand Will Strain Output
June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil prices in New York rose to a record $60 a barrel on speculation that surging demand for fuel will strain producers of grades that are suitable to make gasoline, diesel and heating oil.

U.S. demand for distillates, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, rose 6.9 percent in the four weeks ended June 17 compared with the year-earlier period, the Energy Department reported yesterday. Producers such as OPEC lack the capacity to raise production of the sweet, or lower-sulfur, varieties of crude that refiners favor to make transport and heating fuels.

``You get more distillate from light crude than the heavier ones,'' said Philip Verleger an economist and president of consultant PKVerleger LLC. Laws that limit sulfur in fuels have led to the closure of some older refineries, exacerbating the problem. ``Prices are being bid up because of environmental rules and people are trying to fill the gap,'' he said.

Crude oil for August delivery rose $1.71, or 2.9 percent, to $59.80 a barrel at 1:51 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, it touched $60 a barrel, the highest price for a contract closest to expiration since trading began on Nymex in 1983. Oil is up 59 percent in the past year.



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http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aPGIyL8s2jK4&refer=home

[phantom power]

1. "prices are being bid up because of environmental rules"

do they ever not blame the environmentalists? Yeah, it's our fault, all of us tree-huggers who fucking begged for increased conservation and alternative energy sources.

But just like clockwork, when the chickens finally come home to roost, they'll find a way to blame it all on us.

[Yavin4]

2. The Real Blame Goes To Unregulated Globalization

When you reproduce every factory in the world in China without energy saving regulations, then you put a strain on energy. There's no such thing as cutting costs through cheap labor. The costs just gets transferred from labor to energy.

[megatherium]

3. The Chinese are using more oil primarily because

they are infatuated with automobiles. They don't have much by way of mass transit, unfortunately.

[Skittles]

5. WOW YAVIN

I know what you mean but DAMN do you SAY IT SO SIMPLY! :thumbsup:

[DFWJock]

4. No worries

were turning the corner on oil prices.