Commodities : Wednesday, Aug. 6, 1986 : Near-Month Oil Futures Off

Petroleum and energy futures prices suffered September setbacks, but continued their dramatic runup in future months in frenzied trading Wednesday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Only gasoline avoided the near-month hurdle that tripped crude oil and heating oil prices. Analysts split over whether the bull market that began two days earlier with an OPEC agreement to boost prices by returning to 1984 production levels could sustain its dizzying charge.

In other markets, platinum made a strong move amid concern over South African production, grain and soybean futures showed modest advances, and livestock was lower while meat futures were mixed to limit lower.

Petroleum and energy futures climbed the daily trading limit on record volume Monday and followed that path Tuesday.

But an American Petroleum Institute report showing that U.S. crude oil inventories had increased substantially compared with the week earlier pressured the market at the opening.

“The thing that impressed me was resilience in the face of that report,” said Peter Beutel, an analyst with Elder Futures.