Crude oil prices tread water for the week as uncertainty about demand continued to weigh on the market. Prices were down slightly on the week, with the benchmark West Texas Intermediate settling on Friday at $81.24 a barrel, compared with $81.50 a week ago. Not even relatively bullish forecasts for oil demand, such as the International Energy Agency's report on Friday raising its forecast by 70,000 barrels a day for 2010, or the decline in the dollar could propel oil prices forward.
Oil has rallied to within sight of its 2010 high this week, but the physical crude markets in Asia and Europe are telling a more bearish story about oversupply and sluggish demand.
OPEC released its Monthly Oil Market Report on Wednesday. Although the March report projected higher demand for oil than the February report, OPEC remains cautious as key global economic issues remain unresolved.
Venezuela's worsening electricity crisis, caused in part by a drought linked to the El Nino climate phenomenon, puts its $300 billion economy at risk of contraction and may cut the OPEC country's oil product exports.
Oil failed to find momentum in either direction for a clear move away from $81.50 on Wednesday as investors waited for data on U.S. stocks or OPEC's monthly report ahead of next week's meeting to provide impetus.
Non-OPEC crude oil supply is set to surge in 2010 and 2011by 51.8 mn barrels per day and 52.3 mn barrels per day respectively and susbequently face consecutive decline from 2012, according to an analysis by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofAML). The optimism comes from expected production in news fields in Brazil, FSU, Norway, West Africa and Gulf of Mexico. If Iraq and Nigeria supplies increase as announced then crude oil would find it difficult to rise above $100 over the next decade, BofAML ...
Oil rose toward $79 a barrel on Friday, after sliding more than 2 percent the previous session, as an upwards revision in U.S. gross domestic product for the fourth quarter helped revive lackluster sentiment.
Iran sees an increase in oil demand in the second half of 2010 by between 1 and 1.4 million bpd which the major OPEC producer thinks will cause a rise in oil prices, Iranian media said on Saturday.
Global oil demand will grow by more than previously expected in 2010, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, with all the growth coming from emerging markets.
Oil dipped below $73 in choppy trade on Wednesday after OPEC trimmed its 2010 global demand growth forecast and as the dollar strengthened against the euro.
Oil dipped below $74 in choppy trade on Wednesday after OPEC trimmed its 2010 global demand growth forecast.
Oil fell below $78 a barrel on Tuesday, extending a week-long losing streak as mild weather and a stronger dollar weighed on prices.
Oil fell below $78 a barrel on Tuesday, extending its recent losing streak, as producer group OPEC said supply was ample to meet winter demand and trimmed estimated demand for its oil.
Oil fell below $78 a barrel on Tuesday, extending its recent losing streak, as producer group OPEC said supply was ample enough to meet winter demand and trimmed estimated demand for its oil.
OPEC is unlikely to cut oil supply at its next meeting in March, Qatar's oil minister said on Monday.
Oil rallied above $78 per barrel on Monday, snapping a five-day losing streak as the dollar eased against a basket of currencies, but concern over the outlook for energy demand and economic recovery weighed on the market.
Oil finished the year above $79 a barrel on Thursday, climbing a whopping 78 percent in 2009 and notching the biggest annual gain in a decade.
Oil rose toward $80 a barrel in thin holiday trade on Thursday, poised for the biggest annual climb in a decade, a year after posting huge falls as the global economic crisis sapped demand.
Oil rose on Wednesday for a sixth day as a mix of cold weather and declining U.S. crude and fuel inventories lifted prices to near $80, all but ensuring this year's gain will be the best in a decade for crude.
Saudi Arabia has quit a long-held lease for 5 million barrels of Caribbean oil storage near the key U.S. market and state giant PetroChina is poised to move in, industry sources say, a potentially major shift in global oil trade dynamics.
As 2009 draws to a close and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) prepares to meet again at the end of the month, it faces a global oil market that has firmed up in response to production cuts that began to take effect in January 2009.
OPEC agreed on Tuesday to keep supply curbs unchanged but faces a battle to crack down on those in its ranks who are failing to comply with quota restrictions if it wants to drain bulging global fuel inventories.
