Oil holds near $60 in New York as power crisis hits US supply

Oil holds near $60 in New York as power crisis hits US supply

Bloomberg

Oil held gains in New York after rising above $60 a barrel for the first time in a year as a deepening energy crisis in the US disrupted crude production and forced the shutdown of some of the nation's biggest refineries. As much as 1.7 million barrels a day of oil output has halted and deliveries via pipeline suspended as freezing weather cripples Texas's power system and blackouts spread to other states in the central US Energy Aspects Ltd said 3 million barrels a day of processing capacity could be off-line. The combination of frigid temperatures and refinery closures has spurred a scramble for fuels and is likely to lead to higher US prices for all kinds of products from gasoline to propane. "There are some tailwinds behind oil prices at the moment,“ said Fiona Boal, Head of Commodities and Real Assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices. The crisis is just the latest in a series of cold snaps in the northern hemisphere that have boosted oil consumption this year. In Europe, the North Sea oil market, which helps price more than two-thirds of the world's crude, also saw its biggest spate of bullish activity in years. Saudi Arabia's unilateral