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Oil rises above $59

Monday, June 20, 2005 | 11:07 a.m.

Crude oil jumped above $59 a barrel to a second-straight record in New York as producers struggled to meet increasing fuel consumption.

OPEC members are pumping about as much oil as they can, Libya's Energy Minister Fathi Shatwan said last week while in Vienna for a meeting of the group. Heating oil has risen more than crude oil and gasoline on concern that refiners will be unable to meet rising demand. No new refineries have been built in about 30 years in the United States.

"The hysteria continues to permeate the market and push prices higher," said Jim Steel, director of commodity research at Refco Inc. in New York. "The threat of industrial action in the North Sea and the fears about Nigeria are enough to keep the pot boiling."

Crude oil for July delivery rose 23 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $58.70 a barrel at 12:39 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $59.23 a barrel, the highest since trading began in 1983. Prices are up 51 percent from a year ago.

Heating oil for July delivery rose 0.12 cent to $1.653 a gallon in New York. Heating-oil futures are 61 percent higher than a year ago.

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