The news heightened fears over the lack of spare capacity in the international oil system, as the OPEC cartel pumps at more than 95 percent of its capacity, the highest for a quarter of a century, to meet strong demand.
US light crude lost 25 cents to $42.65 a barrel on Thursday as investors banked profits, with some traders describing the YUKOS-led rally as overdone. US crude surged to $43.05 on Wednesday, the highest in the contract’s 21-year history, before ending at $42.90.
In London, Brent crude oil fell 28 cents to $39.25 after soaring almost $1 to a 14-year high of $39.68 before settling at $39.51 a barrel.
"Coming at a time of fundamental tightness, the YUKOS news is worrying," said David Thurtell, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
YUKOS pumps a fifth of the crude supply in Russia, the world’s second-biggest oil exporter, after Saudi Arabia. A company source said on Wednesday it was told by Russian bailiffs to halt sales of property, including oil.
The company has said it faced imminent bankruptcy as courts seek to enforce a $3.4 billion tax debt for 2000.
It was unclear whether the order might force YUKOS to halt shipments of oil, or simply bar it from signing new supply contracts. Oil brokers said Baltic and Black Sea loadings of YUKOS crude were going ahead normally.
Thurtell said that even if YUKOS was forced to cease sales, other Russian oil producers might be able to make up at least some of the lost output.
"Prices could get to $4546 a barrel in the near term if YUKOS does stop producing. But we suspect that this will be relatively short lived," he said in a research note. "YUKOS will probably be effectively renationalized and oil will flow again."
Thurtell said if Russian exports were disrupted and prices jumped higher, Western nations could tap their strategic reserves to keep prices down, as a lastresort move.
US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said on Wednesday the United States was monitoring the impact of the order on YUKOS and was trying to determine its consequences.
