P. M. BRIEFING : Oil Spill, Blast Strengthen Prices
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LONDON — Oil prices, recovering early this year from a supply glut, have strengthened further after recent accidents in the North Sea and the Alaskan oil spill, the industrialized world’s energy watchdog said today.
The International Energy Agency said in its monthly survey that although OPEC supplied an estimated 700,000 barrels per day more oil in April than in March, the West’s own output shrank by a total 100,000 barrels a day over the month.
An explosion on a key platform in the North Sea on April 18 stopped pumping of almost 500,000 barrels per day of gasoline-rich British crude, a quarter of the country’s already much-reduced output.
The pipeline that passes through this pumping platform may not resume normal production for several more weeks.
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