Freezing cold weather across the Northern Hemisphere drove up middle distillate prices and helped to reduce some of the excessive stocks that had until then been keeping prices in check. Product stocks fell on both land and sea across the Atlantic Basin. In China, crude oil supplies were cut when parts of the Bohai Sea froze, forcing some offshore oil production platforms to suspend production. Elsewhere, frozen waterways disrupted the transporting of oil products by barge, and power cuts were reported in many countries affected by the cold. Heating was reduced in public buildings in Peking to conserve supplies of natural gas, and the British gas transmission system came close to a major shortage as demand hit record levels.
展开▼
