Price of Crude Oil Falls as Refineries Begin to Reopen
he price of crude oil in New York declined on Thursday afternoon after Hurricane Ivan moved inland and crews returned to production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana, Bloomberg reported.
Crude oil for October delivery was down 33 cents, or 0.8%, at $43.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices, which were down 12% from the record of $49.40 a barrel reached on Aug. 20, are 57% higher than a year ago.
As Hurricane Ivan moved toward the United States, more than 75% of U.S. oil output from the Gulf of Mexico, or 6.5% of the nation's daily consumption, was cut, Bloomberg reported. And closed ports in the Gulf region were slowing imports, which may cause U.S. crude supplies to drop for an eighth straight week, Bloomberg said.
Meanwhile, a day after OPEC announced it would increase oil production by 1 million barrels a day on Nov. 1, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the cartel may need to cut output in 2005 because of concern that the world market is oversupplied, news services reported.
New York oil prices, which hit a record of $49.40 a barrel on Aug. 20, have increased 36% since the end of last year.
OPEC pumped 29.9 million barrels a day last month, the highest in 25 years, for a second straight month.
