World
  |
|
Oil prices creep up amid markets turmoil
AFP
NEW YORK
Petroleumworld.com 03 15 07Oil prices crept up on Thursday as traders tracked fresh turmoil on global equity markets, patchy US energy reserves and the build-up to an OPEC meeting this week.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, rose 23 cents to close at 58.16 dollars a barrel.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for April delivery added 16 cents to 61.06 dollars a barrel.
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries brushed off a slump across world stock markets, but noted that demand could still be hit should a downturn for equities linger and lead to slower US economic growth.
"I think it's just a blip," OPEC president and Nigerian oil minister Edmund Daukoru told reporters in reference to heavy falls to global equities on Wednesday.
"I don't see it having a too long-term effect on the global economy. I don't think it could affect oil demand," he said on the eve of a meeting of OPEC ministers in Vienna to set the cartel's production quotas.
OPEC was expected to keep its output target at 25.8 million barrels of oil per day on Thursday. Oil prices around 60 dollars are deemed satisfactory by the 12-member cartel.
On Tuesday, the International Energy Agency warned that global oil inventories could show the biggest fall for more than a decade in the first quarter, owing in part to OPEC production cuts.
The US Department of Energy then reported Wednesday that American crude oil inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels to 325.3 million in the week to March 9. That was less than the forecast rise of two million.
But the DoE added that gasoline reserves slipped by 2.5 million barrels to 213.9 million, just over the predicted decline of 2.38 million.
And distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, fell by 2.8 million barrels to 120.4 million, a little more than predicted.
New York crude had shed almost one dollar on Tuesday, after losses on Wall Street that were sparked by news that the number of bad mortgage loans was rising in the United States, the world's largest economy.
Asian and European stock markets fell heavily again Wednesday, closing down by more than 2.5 percent on average.
Turbulence in the stock market "is raising a few worries about demand growth," said Global Insight energy analyst Simon Wardell.
AFP 14 1937 GMT 03 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels