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| 2003/08/02 |
Oil prices spurt
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10:52:04 �.�
New York, Aug 1 - Oil prices put on a late surge Friday in anxious pre-weekend trade, marked by supply fears and yet another pipeline sabotage in Iraq, analysts said.
New York's benchmark Light Sweet crude contract for delivery in September leapt 1.77 dollars to 32.31 dollars a barrel.
In London, Brent North Sea crude oil for September delivery was up 1.53 dollars at 29.90 dollars.
"First we had reports of reduced output from Nigeria, then there are worries about a Venezuelan refinery and also reports of a pipeline being hit again," said Refco analyst Jim Still.
Supplies were tight, a return of Iraqi oil appeared far off, and the jitters triggered a wave of buying by traders who had bet heavily on an imminent decline in prices, he said.
Fears were raised after saboteurs blew up part of a key oil pipeline in northern Iraq on Thursday night.
A meeting of ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna Thursday had opted to keep crude production unchanged.
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