Oil prices ease from record peak
Friday, 14 September 2007
SINGAPORE, Sept 13 (AFP): Crude oil prices weakened in Asian trade today on profit-taking after scaling new peaks on concerns over tight US supplies and hurricane worries, dealers said.
At 3:50 pm (0750 GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery dropped 12 cents to 79.79 US dollars a barrel from 79.91 dollars in late US trades Wednesday.
The October contract rose to a record high of 80.18 dollars during US trading hours, smashing the previous all-time trading high of 78.77 dollars on August 1, after a bigger-than-expected drop in US crude oil reserves.
Brent North Sea crude for October delivery fell 18 cents to 77.50 dollars.
"I think the profit-taking at this stage and some sell-off after the record high is going to provide some prompt relief to the oil market," said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz.
Crude prices are expected to remain above 75 dollars, supported by tight US energy stocks and the Atlantic hurricane season where September is traditionally the peak month, dealers said.
"We are in the middle of the peak hurricane month... then we enter the winter season (in the northern hemisphere)," said Shum.
"So the supply-demand fundamentals will remain tight going forward," he said.
Concerns over tight US supplies intensified after the Department of Energy said Wednesday in its weekly report that crude oil reserves fell by a sharper-than-expected 7.1 million barrels in the week ended September 7.
"The seven-million barrels drop in crude oil stocks was the primary surprise" of the Department of Energy report, Citigroup analyst Tim Evans said.
Moves by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to pump an extra 500,000 barrels of oil per day from the start of November was of little relief to the market, dealers said.
At 3:50 pm (0750 GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery dropped 12 cents to 79.79 US dollars a barrel from 79.91 dollars in late US trades Wednesday.
The October contract rose to a record high of 80.18 dollars during US trading hours, smashing the previous all-time trading high of 78.77 dollars on August 1, after a bigger-than-expected drop in US crude oil reserves.
Brent North Sea crude for October delivery fell 18 cents to 77.50 dollars.
"I think the profit-taking at this stage and some sell-off after the record high is going to provide some prompt relief to the oil market," said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz.
Crude prices are expected to remain above 75 dollars, supported by tight US energy stocks and the Atlantic hurricane season where September is traditionally the peak month, dealers said.
"We are in the middle of the peak hurricane month... then we enter the winter season (in the northern hemisphere)," said Shum.
"So the supply-demand fundamentals will remain tight going forward," he said.
Concerns over tight US supplies intensified after the Department of Energy said Wednesday in its weekly report that crude oil reserves fell by a sharper-than-expected 7.1 million barrels in the week ended September 7.
"The seven-million barrels drop in crude oil stocks was the primary surprise" of the Department of Energy report, Citigroup analyst Tim Evans said.
Moves by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to pump an extra 500,000 barrels of oil per day from the start of November was of little relief to the market, dealers said.