Crude oil hovers above $145

Crude oil was little changed above $145 a barrel after reaching a record yesterday amid signs demand for fuels, particularly from China, may strain supplies.

PetroChina Co. may import record volumes of petroleum products this year to meet demand needed for reconstruction after May's earthquake, China National Petroleum Corp. said June 28, and before the Olympics next month. Heating oil futures, a proxy for distillate fuels including diesel, reached an all-time high yesterday.

"There's a kind of expectation in the market that there will be strong ongoing demand for distillate fuel,'' said Tim Evans, an energy analyst for Citi Futures Perspective in New York. "We had the Chinese earthquake, and we've got the Olympics coming up.''

Crude oil for August delivery rose 15 cents to $145.44 a barrel at 8:55 a.m. in Sydney in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, oil rose $1.72, or 1.2 percent, to settle at $145.29 a barrel. Futures earlier touched $145.85, the highest since trading began in 1983.

US stock markets will be closed over the weekend for Independance Day celebrations.