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WORLD> America
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Oil prices rise above US$133 a barrel
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-26 22:09 This week, investors will be watching for what implications US consumer confidence, new home sales, gross domestic product and other economic data might have for the dollar and oil prices, he said. "It's a pretty price sensitive week for economic data," Pervan said. "The data we're seeing out of the US at the moment looks pretty weak. You'd expect that trend to continue, pushing further down on the dollar." The dollar, one of the factors that has fed oil's rally from about US$65 a year ago, was slightly lower against the yen, but up a bit against the euro in currency trading during the afternoon in Europe after losing ground last Friday in New York. The euro was worth US$1.5764 compared with US$1.5775 on Friday, while the dollar stood at 103.41 Japanese yen from 104.17 yen Friday. Prices also were supported when militants in Nigeria, a major supplier to the US market, claimed they destroyed an oil pipeline and killed 11 soldiers in a gunbattle. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta says it attacked the pipeline operated by a Royal Dutch Shell PLC joint venture early Monday. Shell officials were not immediately available for comment, and a military spokesman had no immediate confirmation of any overnight incidents.Last week, a series of supply warnings shook markets, and Thursday, a report that the International Energy Agency - the energy watchdog for the most industrialized nations - is in the process of lowering its forecast for long-term global oil supply, sent crude futures rocketing to an all-time high of US$135.09 a barrel. The US driving season officially kicked-off with the long Memorial Day weekend there, and even if demand for gasoline and diesel is lower than it was a year ago, it will still be stronger than it was in the preceding months, he said. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 7.89 cents to US$3.9445 a gallon (3.8 liters) while gasoline prices rose 2.95 cents to US$3.4255 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 18.2 cents to US$12.039 per 1,000 cubic feet. |
