Oil prices ease in Asia after strong US stockpiles report
Friday, 19 October 2007
SINGAPORE, Oct 18 (AFP): Oil prices eased in Asia today after US officials issued a stronger-than-expected report on energy stockpiles against the backdrop of tensions in the oil- rich Middle East.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, was 12 cents lower at 87.28 dollars a barrel in morning trade.
After six straight sessions of rising prices in New York, the contract finished lower there Tuesday, settling at 87.40 dollars per barrel after spiking to a new high of 89.00 dollars in intra-day trade.
The fresh peak came just after the Turkish parliament voted to allow military strikes against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.
Brent crude for December delivery was 26 cents lower at 82.87 dollars a barrel.
The Brent November contract expired Tuesday after hitting an all- time high of 84.49 dollars.
Tensions along the Turkey-Iraq border helped oil prices gain more than four dollars this week before their pullback.
Turkish legislators Wednesday approved a government motion seeking a one-year authorisation for one or more incursions into Iraq but the motion leaves it up to the government to determine the timing and scope of the operation and the number of troops to be sent.
The US Department of Energy (DoE) said Wednesday that American crude reserves jumped 1.8 million barrels in the week ending October 12, beating analyst forecasts of 1.05 million.
Meanwhile, OPEC's "basket" price of crude oil, based on production in 12 different countries, rose above 80 dollars a barrel for the first time Tuesday, the cartel said here yesterday.
"The OPEC daily basket price stood at 80.82 dollars a barrel Tuesday, compared with 78.76 dollars the previous day," OPEC said in a statement.
The basket price, which is always published with a 24-hour delay, serves as the reference price for output policy of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries.
On Wednesday, oil prices eased slightly but still held above 87 dollars as the markets feared that more unrest in producer Iraq could further stretch global supplies.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, eased 20 cents to 87.41 dollars per barrel, after hitting an historic 88.20 dollars in intraday trade Tuesday.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, was 12 cents lower at 87.28 dollars a barrel in morning trade.
After six straight sessions of rising prices in New York, the contract finished lower there Tuesday, settling at 87.40 dollars per barrel after spiking to a new high of 89.00 dollars in intra-day trade.
The fresh peak came just after the Turkish parliament voted to allow military strikes against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.
Brent crude for December delivery was 26 cents lower at 82.87 dollars a barrel.
The Brent November contract expired Tuesday after hitting an all- time high of 84.49 dollars.
Tensions along the Turkey-Iraq border helped oil prices gain more than four dollars this week before their pullback.
Turkish legislators Wednesday approved a government motion seeking a one-year authorisation for one or more incursions into Iraq but the motion leaves it up to the government to determine the timing and scope of the operation and the number of troops to be sent.
The US Department of Energy (DoE) said Wednesday that American crude reserves jumped 1.8 million barrels in the week ending October 12, beating analyst forecasts of 1.05 million.
Meanwhile, OPEC's "basket" price of crude oil, based on production in 12 different countries, rose above 80 dollars a barrel for the first time Tuesday, the cartel said here yesterday.
"The OPEC daily basket price stood at 80.82 dollars a barrel Tuesday, compared with 78.76 dollars the previous day," OPEC said in a statement.
The basket price, which is always published with a 24-hour delay, serves as the reference price for output policy of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries.
On Wednesday, oil prices eased slightly but still held above 87 dollars as the markets feared that more unrest in producer Iraq could further stretch global supplies.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, eased 20 cents to 87.41 dollars per barrel, after hitting an historic 88.20 dollars in intraday trade Tuesday.