据报道，美国最大汽车燃料油承运商Colonial Pipeline一处主要汽油输送管道的运行恢复遭到延误，当前泄露事故正在扩大，随即汽油期货价格急升，并有进一步上涨的趋势。
报道称，该管道是墨西哥湾到东海岸沿线的主要燃料供应来源，每天为东海岸约5千万人供应汽油，9月9日起关闭管道已致910万桶汽油运输中断。目前已有6000-8000桶汽油发生泄露，南部阿拉巴马、乔治亚州进入紧急状态。
分析师指出，此次事故相当于一场小型飓风，美东地区汽油供应受到威胁、价格料将大涨。交易员和投资者买入原油以回补空头头寸，因汽油反弹约5%或以上，美股升逾1%。美股上涨给油价提供了支撑，因美国经济数据疲弱削弱了美联储本月升息的可能性。
从墨西哥湾岸区向美东地区输送汽油的美国Colonial Pipeline Line 1管道日输送能力超过100万桶，在上周五该管道因为汽油泄漏而被临时关闭，据Colonial Pipeline报道称，该管道泄漏了约6000桶汽油，且其不希望供应中断所持续的时间过长，此前Colonial Pipeline 曾表示，其预计在本周末将可以重启管道运行。但最新消息称，该管道重启时间被推迟至下周。
施耐德电气(Schneider Electric)的大宗商品分析师Robbie Fraser说道，“Colonial Pipeline问题是推动汽油价格在今天上涨的主要原因，而原油价格的上涨看起来则是以裂解价差交易为引导的。价差变得越大，表明市场就越是有兴趣购买原油，然后出售石油产品，这意味着最初的石油产品价格大幅上涨走势最终将拉动原油价格也出现上涨。”
GasBuddy.com的高级石油分析师Patrick DeHaan表示，“管道中断虽然导致东部地区的供应短缺，但却使得墨西哥湾地区的供应增长。因此，汽油输送管道的关闭可能会导致美国南部和中大西洋的某些地区的零售汽油价格，在未来几天时间里小幅上涨一两美分，但没有什么需要过于担心的。”
消息显示，利比亚计划重开此前关闭的港口，恢复石油航运；长期以来，尼日利亚和利比亚均因国内冲突，导致其本国原油出口受到中断，然而最近两国均希望在未来几周里恢复一些石油设备的运转。因此，市场对一些OPEC成员国潜在的石油产出复苏的担忧再次升高。
原油研究机构Petromatrix分析师Olivier Jakob表示，利比亚的石油产业向来以不透明著称，因此很难去衡量它的石油产量是否会回升至过去的水平；此前关闭的一些利比亚港口已经在逐渐重启中，以此来恢复石油的出口量。
OPEC会议方面，外媒援引一位知情官员报道称，石油输出国组织(OPEC)所有14个成员国和俄罗斯都将参加9月27日在阿尔及尔举行的非正式会谈。
高盛大宗商品研究主管Jeff Currie认为，当前并没有重大理由认为油价将会走高，油价或将面临一定的下行风险；预计未来12个月美国原油将在45美元/桶-50美元/桶的区间。
Between 252,000 and 336,000 gallons of gasoline may have leaked
Tanker trucks line up at a Colonial Pipeline Co. facility in Pelham, Ala., near the scene of a gasoline spill on Friday. PHOTO: JAY REEVES/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Federal regulators are investigating the cause of a pipeline leak that spilled as much as 8,000 barrels of gasoline south of Birmingham, Ala.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said Friday the cause of the leak from Colonial Pipeline Co.’s Line 1 is still unknown, since the pipeline hasn’t yet been excavated.
The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, said it would require Colonial to submit a restart plan and fulfill several requirements before allowing the pipeline to start up again.
“PHMSA had a team of investigators on site as quickly as possible to investigate the cause of this leak and took important safety measures to prevent additional damage to the environment and the communities impacted and to ensure the integrity of the pipeline before it returns to operation,” the agency said.
A spokesman for Colonial said the company was reviewing PHMSA’s order.
“We share PHMSA’s focus on safety and commitment to ensuring the integrity of the pipeline before it is restarted,” he said.
A mining inspector first alerted Colonial to the leak from the 1960s-era pipeline on Sept. 9 after smelling a gasoline odor on a mining property, the company has said.
Colonial previously estimated about 6,000 barrels of gasoline had spilled but said Friday that it could be as much as 8,000 barrels. That would put the spill between 252,000 and 336,000 gallons of gasoline.
The line has been partially closed since the leak was reported, which has choked off fuel supplies to parts of the Southeast and led to higher gasoline prices.
Colonial said Friday it expects to continue working to repair the pipeline this weekend and to restart it some time next week. Repairs have been delayed by benzene and gasoline vapors that prevented responders from working safely throughout much of this week.
According to PHMSA, the company is monitoring air quality in the area and has said that Alabaster, a town about 3 miles from the leak site, isn’t currently at risk from the vapors.
Gasoline from the pipeline was discovered in a nearby mine retention pond, and three dead raccoons and a dead rabbit were found nearby. Later, the company found that gasoline had flowed from that pond to another nearby pond through a culvert, according to federal pipeline regulators.
As of Thursday morning, Colonial said it had recovered more than 1,300 barrels of gasoline from one of the ponds and hadn’t yet estimated how much gasoline reached the second pond, according to federal regulators.
Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com
