Heating oil inventories rose 606,000 barrels last week to
42.8 million, widening a year-on-year deficit to 40 percent from
39 percent the week before, the American Petroleum Institute said.
Concern that stockpiles of the fuel will run short in the months
ahead has helped gasoil prices jump 41 percent this year.

``Heating oil inventories need to build up a lot more,'' said
Shelley Mansfield, a trader at ADM Investor Services
International. ``It's severely worrying, though more or less what
we expected.''

Bloomberg

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), August 30, 2000

Answers

Oil climbs for fear of OPEC, heating oil

Oil prices took flight again on Tuesday, adding another
dollar a barrel to a runaway market as fears mounted of
winter supply shortages in the West.

Dealers took fright at the latest comments from OPEC,
whose president, Ali Rodriguez of Venezuela, blamed high
taxation among consumer nations and refinery bottlenecks
for soaring prices.

API Global News

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), August 30, 2000.