NEWS & EVENTS: Breaking News
09.02.2010 10:00
Feb 9. In global petroleum industry news, oil prices inched up Monday, as a weaker dollar, cold weather and geopolitical disputes provided support after three straight losing sessions. Light, sweet crude for March rose 70 cents to settle at USD 71.89/bbl. The contract fell as low as USD 69.50 Friday, the lowest since December 15. London Brent crude rose 52 cents to USD 70.11/bbl. Unusually cold weather will settle across key heating fuel consuming regions in the United States this week, in the wake of heavy snow over the weekend, forecasters said. Recapping the highlights, the US and France have threatened carefully targeted new sanctions against Iran, which gave instructions Sunday for the production of higher-grade nuclear reactor fuel. Price support also came as a Nigerian militant group said Sunday it had attacked a Shell oil pipeline in the Niger Delta but the company said it had no reports of any such sabotage. The euro remained near 8-1/2 month lows versus the dollar on Monday as traders worried about debt troubles in Greece, Portugal and Spain, helping support crude prices. Wall Street stocks slipped on Monday, as the euro zone's debt problems weighed on sentiment. Major commodity markets are testing 200-day moving averages after sharp sell-offs in the past three weeks, but that important technical support level appears to have held for crude. In the short-term, we expect oil prices to rise back to around USD 75 and then ease back towards the USD 70 level. On Tuesday morning, oil pared most of yesterday’s gains as US equities dropped and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 10,000 for the first time since November amid concern that deteriorating European government finances will derail the economic recovery. Prices also fell on forecasts of a rise in crude supplies. The dollar rose, reducing the appeal of commodities as an inflation hedge for investors. Several hours before the Russian market opened, NYMEX crude moved as much as 57 cents lower, trading at USD 71.32. Today’s API report, due out at 4:30 pm Washington time today, could be delayed because a weekend storm forced government offices to close.
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