Fuel Prices Recede Following Post-Hurricane Spikes
fter skyrocketing following the disruption of Gulf Coast oil infrastructure by Hurricane Katrina earlier this week, fuel prices tailed off Friday, with both crude oil and gasoline futures dropping, news services reported.
Gasoline wholesale futures were down 21.8 cents, almost 10%, and crude oil was down nearly $2 a barrel to less than $68 in intraday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.
Many areas of the country reported gasoline shortages and retail prices above $3 in Wednesday and Thursday, and there were also reports of some rationing of diesel fuel as far from the Gulf as Wyoming, news services reported.
“I believe it’s an appropriate response to the disruptions we are currently dealing with from the hurricane,” Bodman told reporters in Washington.
Bodman said DOE will release 30 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve beginning Tuesday, offering the oil up for sale via market bids.
DOE authorized release of 9.1 million barrels of crude on a loan basis, including 6 million barrels to ExxonMobil Corp., 1.5 million to Valero Energy Corp. and 1 million to Placid Refining Co.
Delivery of those shipments will begin Saturday, Bodman said.
Meanwhile, the pipeline from the Louisiana Offshore Oil Platform, the major Gulf intake facility just off the Louisiana coast, was running at 50% capacity on Friday, news services reported.
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