World
 
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Oil prices stay below 60 dollars
AFP
SINGAPORE
Petroleumworld.com 10 31 06
Oil prices remained below 60 dollars a barrel in Asian trade as concerns over threats to Saudi Arabian oil facilities dissipated, dealers said.
Signs of a slowdown in the United States, the world's biggest economy and energy consumer, also helped put a cap on prices, they said.
At 2:15 pm (0615 GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December was down six cents at 58.30 dollars from its close of 58.36 dollars Monday in the United States, where it had lost 2.39 dollars.
Brent North Sea crude for December slipped 12 cents at 58.56 dollars after plunging 2.40 dollars in London.
Steve Rowles, an analyst with CFC Seymour Securities in Hong Kong, said talk of further production cuts from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could have helped strengthened prices.
"I think that the main focus is on OPEC again -- more rumours that further production cuts will be made," he said.
OPEC announced in Doha, Qatar, on October 20 that the cartel would reduce crude output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from November 1, in a bid to offset falling prices on the world market.
But Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said Monday the cartel could decide to cut oil production further when they meet in special session in Nigeria in December.
"If the reduction already decided is not enough, in December we shall take another decision," he said.
He predicted the market would stabilise around the current price of 60 dollars a barrel and could even rise with the onset of winter.
Victor Shum, an analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore, said prices are remaining below 60 dollars a barrel after fears of an attack against Saudi Arabian oil facilities dissipated.
"Prices went up late last week because of the rumoured threat of attacks on the Saudi oil ports. Those fears have eased and so we see prices receding," he said.
The Saudi interior ministry said Friday that oil installations in the country were a "high-probability potential target" for terrorist attack, sending prices up.
But the ministry also said tight security measures were in place to protect the facilities and a spokesman for Western naval forces in the Gulf said coalition troops were taking measures against any threats.
Saudi Arabia pumps more than nine million barrels of oil per day and sits on a quarter of global oil reserves. It operates the world's largest oil terminal at Ras Tannura in the Gulf.
Shum said a "downbeat" report by US retail giant Wal-Mart signalled weakening US consumer spending and a slowing US economy which would have implications on oil prices.
Prices are likely to trade within a 58-62 dollar range in the near-term, Shum said.
"In the near-term, what will drive the oil market is what the weather is going to be like during the northern hemisphere (winter) and impacted by the broader global economic outlook," he said.
A colder than usual winter drives up demand for heating oil, lifting world crude prices.
AFP 31 06 33 GMT 10 06
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