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.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a