Refinery fires in Texas and Louisiana sent crude futures back above $60 a barrel Friday as the outages fanned fears that production may not be able to meet demand in coming months.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 41 cents to $60.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. August delivery gasoline was up more than 2 cents to $1.7460 a gallon, while heating oil was up half a cent to $1.6504 a gallon. On London’s International Petroleum Exchange, September Brent gained 46 cents to $59.22 a barrel amid expectations the contract would push up to $60 as buying momentum builds.
