P. M. BRIEFING - Oil Prices Soar as Winter Nears
LONDON —
Oil prices rose sharply today as the United States and Europe laid in winter fuel in what has lately begun to look like a tighter world petroleum market.
The worldwide average spot crude oil price is now $18 a barrel, according to an index compiled daily by Britain’s National Westminster Bank. That is a dollar up on the average for September and $2 above August. It is fully $4 up on the average for the whole of 1988.
Market analysts said demand has rebounded by nearly 9% since a glut took hold in 1983, helped along by weaker prices during the glut and by booming economies--especially in Asia.
