Prices Soar As Heating Oil Stocks Shrink Again

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Oil futures gained more than a dollar Wednesday, after
the U.S. government reported inventories of heating oil and diesel fell for a
fifth straight week, fueling concerns about supplies this winter.

10-20 08:04: OIL FUTURES:Prices Soar As Heating Oil Stocks Shrink Again
DJ OIL FUTURES:Prices Soar As Heating Oil Stocks Shrink Again

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Oil futures gained more than a dollar Wednesday, after
the U.S. government reported inventories of heating oil and diesel fell for a
fifth straight week, fueling concerns about supplies this winter.

Distillate inventories fell 1.9 million barrels last week, despite a sharp
rise in operating rates at U.S. refineries, according to the federal Energy
Information Administration, the statistics branch of the Department of Energy.
The decline, more than double what analysts had expected, left distillate
stocks at 119 million barrels – near the bottom of the average range for this
time of year. With the winter heating season fast approaching, energy analysts,
traders and the EIA are all concerned by the repeated draws.

November light, sweet crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange
rose as much as $1.05 to a high of $54.34 a barrel. In London, Brent crude for
December rose as much as $1.13 to $49.90 a barrel on the International
Petroleum Exchange.

Nymex November heating oil futures rose as much as 3.75 cents to $1.5460 a
gallon. IPE November gasoil rose as much as $17.25 to $479 a metric ton.

U.S. commercial inventories of crude rose by 1.2 million barrels, the fourth
weekly build in a row. But the gain was less than analysts had expected and not
enough to get inventories out of the bottom end of the average range.

U.S. petroleum inventories are tight, as production and pipeline outages
following last month’s Hurricane Ivan continue to leave refineries strapped for
sweet crude. About a quarter of crude production in the Gulf of Mexico remains
shut down, although it has improved slightly in the past few days.

On a global scale, the supply picture also looks precar, as spare
production capacity continues to be extremely thin amid strong demand.

-By Leah McGrath Goodman, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2062;
Leah.Goodman@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-20-04 1104ET

DJ info: 1086,28028,28031,28042,4107
N/DJCS,N/DJOS,N/OSAG,N/OSCM,N/OSEN,N/OSFR,N/OSME,N/OSOV,N/OSTR,N/CMD,N/CMKT,N/D
WI,N/DRV,N/EGY,N/ENY,N/MKT,N/NMX,N/PET,N/RMKT,N/TTN

KEYWORDS: FSN54280 ACEFMOT COMMENTS ENERGY GENERAL