Oil prices briefly spiked to a new record above US$147 a barrel on Friday as rising hostilities between the West and Iran and unrest in Nigeria sent investors rushing back to energy markets.
A decline in the US dollar and concerns about an oil worker strike in Brazil contributed to the higher price.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery soared to an all-time high of US$147.27 a barrel before settling at US$145.08, up US$3.43.
That was slightly below last Thursday’s settlement record of US$145.29 a barrel.
On London’s ICE futures exchange, Brent crude settled at US$144.49, up US$2.46.
Crude had fallen by nearly US$10 a barrel over two days at the start of the week, but rebounded by more than US$5 a barrel on Thursday as anxiety heightened about Middle East and Nigerian supplies being disrupted.
The resurgence in crude prices stokes concern that US$4-a-gallon (US$1.05 a liter) gasoline is here to stay for US drivers and means home heating could get much more expensive this winter.
In other NYMEX trading, heating oil futures rose to a trading record of US$4.1586 before settling at US$4.0766 a gallon, up US$0.0392.
Gasoline futures also rose to a new trading record of US$3.631 a gallon before finishing at US$3.5632, up US$0.0523.
“If you think your gasoline bills are expensive now, wait till you get your home heating bill this winter,” said Stephen Schork, an analyst and trader in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
While US consumer demand for gasoline is waning as people try to save money, other factors are keeping energy costs high: The weak dollar, refineries cutting back on production and resilient demand for diesel fuel. Diesel is a distillate fuel produced and distributed similarly to heating oil, so diesel demand often affects the price of heating oil.
The other big reason gasoline and heating bills are likely to stay high is unrest in the Middle East and Africa.
“The bulls are still able to spin a bullish case on this — not based so much on the fundamentals, but on a lot of ‘What if?’ scenarios,” Schork said.
Iran, which has long been under UN scrutiny for its uranium enrichment program, has been testing missiles this week, including a new missile capable of reaching Israel. On Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned the oil-producing nation that the US would defend its allies, and Iran responded with another missile launch. Neither the US nor Israel has ruled out a military strike on Iran.
On Friday, there were rumors of Israeli military exercises taking place in Iraqi airspace, which were reportedly denied by Israeli officials.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
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