BP Refinery Blast: Nymex oil futures rise more than $1/bbl

25 March 2005 00:43  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (CNI)--Oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) rose more than $1 (Euro.77)/bbl Thursday following the deadly explosion at a BP refinery in Texas City.

 

The price of light, sweet crude for May delivery rose $1.03 to settle at $54.84/bbl, reversing a two-day trend in which oil prices dropped more than $3/bbl.

 

Meanwhile, the price of Brent crude rose 89 cents to $53.93/bbl.

 

Traders downplayed the impact of the BP explosion on prices but the blast appeared to have some influence on the market. The explosion occurred Wednesday at the refinery’s isomerisation unit, which increases the octane level of gasoline.

 

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that gasoline inventories fell 4.1m bbl last week while crude oil stocks rose 4.1m bbl to 309.3m bbl, their highest level since July 2002.

By: Brian Ford
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