Energy Sector Roundup: Gas up

Crude-oil inventories rose by just 200,000 barrels, or 0.1 percent, to 325.8 million barrels, which were 4.3 percent below year-ago levels. Analysts expected a gain of 2.5 million barrels.

Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended May 9 was about 0.3 percent lower than a year earlier, averaging nearly 9.3 million barrels a day.

At the same time, U.S. refineries ran at 86.6 percent of total capacity on average, a gain of 1.6 percentage points. Analysts expected capacity to rise by only 0.8 percentage point.

Inventories of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.4 million barrels to 107.1 million barrels for the week ended May 9. Analysts expected distillate stocks to rise by 1.1 million barrels.

Anadarko Stays With Production Guidance

Independent oil and gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp. says it will stick with its production outlook for the year, despite delays in the repair of a natural gas pipeline.

The company still expects to produce 207 million to 212 million barrels of oil equivalent for the year. In 2007, the company reported total sales from retained properties, which excludes sold assets, of 196 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Anadarko Petroleum said the Independence Trail pipeline, which transports natural gas from the company-operated Independence Hub processing platform in the Gulf of Mexico, is now expected to be operational in the first half of June. The pipeline was originally expected to start up in mid-May after a leak shut it down early last month.

Argentina Labor Problems Hit Allis-Chalmers

Wachovia Capital Markets analyst Tom Curran says Allis-Chalmers Energy's drilling and completion operations in Argentina are being impacted by a labor dispute between labor unions and oil companies.