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Oil rose yesterday, nearing US$91 a barrel, with prices supported by the closure of Mexico's oil export terminals due to bad weather, as well as Opec's dismissal of calls to raise output.
US light crude for February delivery rose 36c to US$90.93 a barrel in Globex electronic trading. Oil snapped a three-day losing streak and closed 44c higher at US$90.57 a barrel on Friday, thanks to short-covering ahead of the Martin Luther King holiday in the United States.
Mexico closed all its main oil exporting ports on Sunday due to bad weather, the transport ministry said on its website. The Gulf of Mexico ports ship around 80 per cent of Mexico's daily oil exports.
Mexico, the world's No 9 exporter of crude oil and a top-three supplier to the US, has seen its exports repeatedly disrupted in recent months by rough weather that has halted shipments for days at a time.
Opec's cool reaction to US calls for it to raise output also helped keep prices firm above the US$90 mark.
"The shutdown of Mexico's oil ports is pushing up prices a little. I think there is also growing sentiment that Opec will leave its production unchanged at its next meeting," said Rowan Menzies, head of research at Commodity Warrants Australia.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Sunday said the cartel had little control over oil prices near US$90 a barrel.
"I don't think there is a need to increase because the market is well supplied," Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi.
US President George W. Bush and Energy Secretary Sam Bodman have urged top exporter Saudi Arabia and Opec to raise supply on two separate visits to the kingdom last week.
Opec will meet on February 1 to discuss output.
- REUTERS
