Oil Hits Record High for Seventh Straight Session
U.S. Crude rose to� $84.10 a barrel and settled at $83.32 today, setting records for both intraday and closing prices for the seventh session in a row. Tight supplies and concerns about a Gulf Coast disturbance are credited with driving the price increase. On September 12th, the Energy Information Administration reported an unanticipated large drop in domestic crude inventories, sparking concerns about supply shortages. Crude inventories fell 7.1 million barrels than, which is roughly 4.4 million barrels more than analysts expected. Today, as traders were on the floor, several large oil companies announced they were completely shutting down production along the Gulf Coast. Both Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP announced that they were evacuating workers and shutting down indefinitely. Market analysts are also expressing concern that the regions refineries could be affected, which would further constrict supplies.Published Thursday, September 20th, 2007 at 10:47 am and filed under Industry News.