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Gasoline retreats as refineries restart
( 2001-05-12 09:28 ) (7 )

Gasoline futures skidded Friday in New York amid reports of completed repairs to gasoline producing units -- reversing a pattern of buying on fears of weekend refinery problems.

June gasoline futures slumped 2.40 cents to dlrs 1.0501 a gallon at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gasoline futures were under heavy selling pressure Friday as refinery restarts combined with a report from the West's energy watchdog cutting estimates of oil demand and assertions that US refiners are likely to meet summer gasoline demand.

``There is a psychological shift going on in the gasoline market,'' said Tim Evans, analyst at research firm IFR Pegasus. ``Significant changes in (refining profits) suggest this decline in gasoline is more urgent and more important than those in the past.''

Gasoline contracts came under steady selling pressure as traders bet that refining profits would fall.

Prices were also pressured by news Louisiana and Illinois refining units were ready to restart after repairs. Another report said that all units at Venezuela's mammoth Punta Cardon refinery were operating normally again after a power outage there Tuesday.

The outlook for gasoline bulls also faded after the Paris-based International Energy Agency revised down global oil demand for the sixth time Friday -- by 200,000 barrels a day to 76.5 million barrels a day for 2001.

The agency also said that US refiners are in better shape to meet summer demand for gasoline than a year ago.

Disruptions along the crude and refined products supply chain could still trigger price spikes, the IEA said.

A series of refinery glitches recently combined with tight supplies to catapult gasoline to record highs. And it's too soon to tell if the refining mishaps belong in the past.

Other energy futures also finished lower. Light sweet crude for June delivery fell 3 cents to dlrs 28.55; June heating oil fell .77 cents to 76.06 a gallon; June natural gas fell 7 cents to dlrs 4.278 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude from the North Sea fell 29 cents to dlrs 28.19 on London's International Petroleum Exchange.

In other commodity markets, cocoa futures fell on the Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange after a late attack by speculators and trade houses.

The July contract slid dlrs 35 to dlrs 1,014 a metric ton. Speculators had increased their long exposure earlier, buying contracts as the market overcame the high of dlrs 1,050 from Wednesday and Thursday. They sold when the price fell below dlrs 1,016, which was the 40-day moving average and the breakout point for the recent rally.

Wheat futures gained at the Chicago Board of Trade for the second straight day as traders continued to react to bullish government crop data. The July contract rose 2.75 cents to dlrs 2.7125 a bushel. In Thursday's monthly crop estimates, the USDA forecast the smallest winter wheat crop since 1978.