(Refiles to fix typographical errors; update recasts, adds
Venezuelan minister quote, background, U.S. inventory
estimates)
By Matthew Robinson
NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Oil surged nearly 5 percent on
Tuesday to hit a record over $100 a barrel on expectations OPEC
will not hike output to ease high prices next month despite the
economic woes of top consumer the United States.
U.S. crude <CLc1> settled up $4.51 at $100.01 a barrel
after hitting $100.10 a barrel, a penny higher than the
previous high struck on Jan. 3. London Brent crude <LCOc1>
settled up $3.65 at $98.56 a barrel.
News Nigerian oil delta rebel leader Henry Okah had died
raised worries about supplies from the OPEC country, but a
spokesman for the government later said he was alive and in
custody. []
"Certainly OPEC is one of the supportive factors in the
market as it has said it will not boost output at its meeting
next month," said Eric Wittenauer, analyst at AG Edwards.
"News that Nigerian rebels said their leader Henry Okah was
shot dead helped give traders a reason for bidding the market
up in the afternoon."
Worries about the economic health of the United States
pushed oil off its record peak, but signs that OPEC will hold
or even cut output when it meets on March 5 sent prices back to
triple digits.
"OPEC should maintain production or cut production,"
said Venezuela Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, echoing comments
made by OPEC President Chakib Khelil on Monday.
Other cartel officials said it would be hard to justify a
reduction in supplies at current price levels, despite
expectations demand will dip seasonally as the Northern
Hemisphere winter comes to an end.
A rush of speculative investment in oil and other
commodities helped push up prices in the asset class, traders
said. []
Further price support came from U.S. refinery problems and
tensions between U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> and
Venezuela over the takeover of an oil project last year.
A fire on Monday shut Alon USA Energy's 67,000 barrel per
day refinery in Big Spring, Texas, and officials said they were
expecting to partially restart the plant in about two months.
[]
The outage, as well as seasonal refinery maintenance,
helped send U.S. RBOB gasoline and heating oil futures to
record highs as well.
Crude prices began to rally last week when Venezuela cut
exports to Exxon Mobil after the U.S. company won court rulings
to freeze $12 billion of the OPEC nation's assets as part of an
arbitration battle.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday the state
could sue Exxon for unpaid oil taxes and repeated threats to
cut oil sales to the United States.
A move by LUKOIL to cut supplies to German refineries over
a pricing dispute also put markets on edge. []
A Reuters poll of analysts forecast U.S. government data due
out on Thursday would show a 2.3 million barrel build in U.S.
crude stocks, a 2 million barrel draw in distillate
inventories, and a 600,000 barrel rise in gasoline stocks.
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Ikuko Kao in
London, Chua Baizhen in Singapore; editing by Jim Marshall)
