Oil Jump Erases Week’s Declines
Crude oil jumped more than $5 a barrel Thursday to close near $128 a barrel, erasing the declines from earlier in the week, and the Energy Department said it would delay scheduled oil deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until next spring, Bloomberg reported.
Oil futures rose $5.49 to close at $127.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, almost matching Monday’s closing price of $127.76 and erasing the week’s declines, according to Bloomberg.
The jump was boosted by concern that the U.S. dollar may fall versus the euro, on speculation that the European Central Bank may boost interest rates to cut inflation, Bloomberg said. Oil is traded in dollars on the Nymex.
Meanwhile, DOE said it will delay delivery of 2.1 million barrels of oil to the SPR until the spring, in an attempt to ease the price surge, Bloomberg said. The delivery had been scheduled for this summer.
After overwhelming passage by Congress, President Bush signed a measure into law last month that would suspend oil shipments to the SPR through the end of the year if oil remains above $75 a barrel.
