Crude hits 14-year record

Crude hits 14-year record

on Mid East violence, gasoline prices

New York (Platts)--3May2004


Renewed Middle Eastern violence over the weekend and strong gasoline prices
sent June oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange to a 14-year record
Monday. June crude settled 83 cts higher at $38.21/bbl, the highest
front-month settle since the $38.89/bbl gained Oct 16, 1990.

News that five foreign contract workers for ABB were killed Saturday by gunmen

at Saudi Arabia's Yanbu petrochemical complex fed fears of supply uncertainty.
Subsequent comments from the US ambassador to Saudi Arabia advising US
citizens to leave kept a large $8-$10/bbl "terror premium" intact, said Tim
Evans, energy analyst at IFR Pegasus, noting that a price of $38/bbl is a
valuation driven by sentiment rather than actual supply tightness.

Evans expects crude inventories to build 1-mil to 3-mil bbl in the Department of
Energy's weekly inventory report Wednesday. Phil Flynn, energy analyst at
Alaron, expects a 2-mil bbl inventory draw, mainly on steady to lower imports.
June unleaded futures on NYMEX settled 2.66 cts higher at $1.2620/gal.

This story was first published in Platts real-time news and market reporting
service Platts Global Alert
(http://www.platts.com/Oil/Real-Time%20Information/Global%20Alert/ ).