Oil Rises as Storm Threatens U.S. Output, Iran Misses Deadline

By Nesa Subrahmaniyan

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose for a second day as a storm threatened U.S. output in the Gulf of Mexico, and Israeli and U.S. officials sought additional sanctions against Iran.

Tropical Storm Edouard may strengthen to a hurricane while heading west toward Texas, the National Hurricane Center said. Oil rose from an 11-week low last week as Iran, accused of developing nuclear weapons, ignored a deadline in its dispute with the United Nations over its uranium research.

``It's that time of the year, and U.S. Gulf production could be in the path of the storm,'' said Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin & Gertz Inc. in Singapore. ``Concern about Iran is coming to the fore and supply risks would provide a high floor for prices.''

Crude oil for September delivery rose as much as $1.25, or 1 percent, to $126.35 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $126.10 at 1:49 p.m. in Singapore.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, both Category 5 storms with wind speeds of more than 155 miles an hour, devastated New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf's oil output and refineries in August, and September 2005, roiling oil and natural-gas markets.

``We can't rule out the possibility that it will strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane,'' Rebecca Waddington, a meteorologist with the Miami-based center, said in an interview. Edouard was lying about 80 miles (125 kilometers) south-southeast of the Mississippi River mouth at 10 p.m. New Orleans time yesterday.

Edouard, with maximum wind speeds of 50 miles an hour, is likely to strengthen as it moves west parallel to the Louisiana coast before making land on the upper Texas coast Aug. 5, the Miami-based hurricane center said. There is a 24 percent chance it will strengthen to a hurricane before striking land.

`Almost Too Late'

``It's really almost too late to evacuate many of the offshore platforms,'' said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston.

New York oil futures have slipped more than $21 a barrel, or 14 percent, from the record $147.27 on July 11 as U.S. gasoline demand slowed, and a firming of the dollar reduced the attraction of commodities as an investment.

The storm hasn't yet affected operations at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, spokeswoman Barb Hestermann said after it became a tropical depression.

The LOOP, as it is known, is the biggest U.S. crude-oil import terminal, with the capacity to receive 1 million barrels a day, or about 11 percent of U.S. imports.

``We're just kind of keeping an eye on it,'' Hestermann said. ``We don't feel like we need to take action.''

Iran's Deadline

New York crude futures gained 0.8 percent on Aug. 1 on speculation the odds of a military strike against nuclear research facilities in Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, were increasing.

Iran didn't respond by an Aug. 2 deadline to an offer from the U.S., Russia, China, France, the U.K. and Germany of economic and diplomatic incentives in exchange for the suspension of its uranium-enrichment program.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his nation is ``serious'' in nuclear talks after an informal deadline for it to reply to an incentives offer in exchange for halting uranium enrichment passed.

Iran said last week it has already replied to the proposal put forth by the U.S., Russia, China, France, the U.K. and Germany and dismissed the deadline.

Extra sanctions are needed, Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, said yesterday on CNN's ``Late Edition'' program.

``Those wildcat factors'' are holding up prices today, Gavin Wendt, senior resources analyst at Fat Prophets Funds Management in Sydney, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``Prices should be a lot stronger than they were a week ago,'' given the risks from the storm and Iran, he said.

CFTC Data

Brent crude oil for September settlement climbed as much as $1.12, or 0.9 percent, to $125.30 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange, and traded at $125.18 at 1:42 p.m. in Singapore.

Hedge fund managers and other large speculators last week reduced their bets on falling prices, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.

Net-short positions, the difference between orders to buy and sell the commodity, fell to 660 contracts at July 29, 82 percent less than a week earlier.

While the U.S. economy may be heading toward recession, demand in India and China remains strong and global production is straining to keep up, Fat Prophets' Wendt said. He expects oil to reach $175 a barrel before the end of the year.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nesa Subrahmaniyan in Singapore at nesas@bloomberg.net.