Supply fears boost oil prices to monthly high

WASHINGTON — Oil prices advanced to their highest level in a month Monday, surpassing $46 a barrel, as supply constraints in the United States and Russia piqued the nerves of a market already edgy about the world’s limited production capabilities and rising demand.

Cash-strapped Russian oil giant Yukos said it would halt some oil exports to China, while U.S. petroleum inventories are expected to decline again this week due to delays caused by Hurricane Ivan.

Neither factor is itself a punishing blow to the global supply chain, analysts said, though each is enough to test the nerves of traders already worried that there might not be enough excess output capacity to handle a more serious, prolonged disruption.

While workers who had been evacuated from oil production platforms and refineries in and around the Gulf of Mexico last week are returning to work, analysts are uncertain about just how long it will take for output and shipments to resume to normal levels.

About 7.8 million barrels of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico have been shut-in, or cut off, since last Monday, according to the federal Minerals Management Service.