Oil price up despite increased stockpiles

27 September 2007

The price of crude oil continued to rise on Thursday morning despite a report showing that stockpiles in the US have risen.

The US Energy Information Administration's weekly report was expected to show that stocks of crude had fallen by around one million barrels.

However, when it was published on Wednesday it actually revealed a 1.8 million barrel increase, as well as rises in the stockpile of petrol and heating oil.

Despite this, the price of US crude climbed by 77 cents to close at $80.30 (£39.71) a barrel on Wednesday, before gaining a further 37 cents during early trading on Thursday.

The price of heating oil futures in New York remained unchanged after the report.

Meanwhile, analysts are watching the progress of Tropical Storm Karen closely, amid fears it could develop into a hurricane and hit oil production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

Last week, worries about a storm in the region prompted oil companies to evacuate workers from offshore rigs, leading to a 60 per cent drop in output and the price of crude hitting an all-time high.