Bodman Says Kinder Morgan Fire Shouldn't Harm Oil Supplies

By Tina Seeley

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- A fire at a Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP facility in Texas shouldn't have larger ramifications for the oil market, the Energy Secretary said.

Samuel Bodman doesn't believe the problem ``as of now'' should have larger ramifications for the market, he told reporters today in Washington. The Energy Department hasn't received any requests for reserve oil because of the fire.

Houston-based Kinder Morgan said a fire late yesterday shut its Pasadena oil terminal in Texas, which connects refineries from along the Gulf Coast to pipelines serving the eastern and Midwest U.S. The company is planning to resume ``limited operations,'' later today, a company spokesman said.

Bodman also said he believed a price spike that affected crude oil futures markets two days ago was a ``short squeeze,'' and didn't reflect fundamentals of supply and demand.

``I think it was an anomaly,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tina Seeley in Washington at tseeley@bloomberg.net.