News Release No. 340

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES RELEASES LATEST INFORMATION ON CRUDE OIL , GASOLINE AND HEATING FUELS

Volume 32-340

Contact: Larry Archer

(For immediate release)

573-751-3807

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, OCT. 22, 2004 - Since Oct. 1, U.S. crude oil prices have remained strong at the NYMEX settling above $50 in the last 21 trading sessions. In fact, NYMEX crude future prices set yet another all-time record high price on Oct. 15 at $54.93 per barrel, an increase of $22.98, or 72 percent higher compared to the closing price of $31.95 for the same date last year. On Oct. 21, crude oil closed at $54.92 per barrel.

Much of the price increase seen though out the month of October has been attributed to lost production and imports in the Gulf of Mexico resulting from Hurricane Ivan. As of Oct. 20, about 0.4 million barrels per day of the region's normal output of 1.7 million barrels per day was still shut-in due to the storm, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service.

For the week ending Oct. 15, commercial crude oil stocks were up 1.2 million barrels but down by over 11 million barrels compared to this time last year due to the prolonged recovery time following Hurricane Ivan. With total U.S. inventories at 279.4 million barrels, crude oil continues to trend at the lower end of the 5-year supply band for this time of year according to the Missouri Energy Bulletin, released today by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Energy Center.

The Missouri retail price for regular gasoline increased 16 cents per gallon from last month and stood at $1.92 per gallon as of Oct. 18. This is 46 cents higher than this time last year. A continuation of lower gasoline supplies coupled with lower-than-normal refinery operations and weak crude oil and gasoline imports due to Ivan are supporting higher retail gasoline prices.

The average retail price paid for regular unleaded gasoline in the United States was $2.04 per gallon. The agency's bimonthly fuels survey polled a selection of service stations throughout the state on the price of regular unleaded gasoline, diesel fuel, B-20 biodiesel fuel and E-85 ethanol.

U.S. gasoline inventories decreased slightly for the week ending Oct. 15 and are reported at approximately 199.7 million barrels, a decrease of 0.7 million barrels from the previous week. Gasoline supplies are within the 5-year average for this time of year.

The department's bimonthly energy bulletins are available online from the department's Web page at www.dnr.mo.gov/energy/transportation/fb.htm. The Oct. 21 Energy Bulletin is available at www.dnr.mo.gov/energy/transportation/EB102104.pdf.

For more information, contact the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Energy Center at 573-751-3443 or the department toll free at 800-361-4827.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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