Crude Oil Rises a Second Day as IEA Predicts `Tight' Supplies

Crude oil rose for a second day in New York to near a record, moving above $142 a barrel, after the International Energy Agency said supplies may fail to keep up with demand. The IEA said in a report that spare OPEC capacity will shrink by 2013, keeping the market ``tight.'' About 4,000 workers at Venezuela's state oil company are on strike, Rafael Zambrano, executive secretary of the Fedepetrol union, said in a telephone interview yesterday. ``The lack of spare production capacity has really been the main factor driving the price rally so the fact that the IEA projects even less five years down the road is certainly bullish,'' said Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin & Gertz Inc. ``It's saying the tightness in oil markets will continue.'' Crude oil for August delivery rose as much as $1.48, or 1.1 percent, to $142.45 a barrel and was at $141.92 at 3:32 p.m. Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil touched a record $143.67 on June 30, and prices have doubled from a year earlier.