Crude Oil Rises on Concern OPEC Has Too Little Spare Capacity

Crude oil rose from a six-week low in New York on speculation an OPEC pledge to pump at full strength would fail to raise output enough to meet demand in the event of another Gulf of Mexico hurricane.

OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah said yesterday the group, source of about 40 percent of the world’s oil, may offer every barrel it can produce at a meeting today in Vienna. Tropical Storm Rita, near the Bahamas, is forecast to strengthen to a hurricane and head for the Gulf of Mexico, where Katrina slashed U.S. output by more than 25 percent last month.

Bloomberg