Oil slightly up in Europe

LONDON, Apr 26 (Commodity Online): Oil prices staged a slight recovery in European trade Tuesday as the dollar eased from recent gains while some investors began brisk buying ahead of US Fed meet outcome. Light sweet crude for June delivery was seen trading at $112.03 a barrel at 5pm Indian time while Brent crude futures were trading 20 cents up at $123.86 a barrel, having fallen to as low as $122.66. Investors were focused on the meeting, due to start later Tuesday, particularly since Ben Bernanke is to give the first regularly scheduled news briefing by a Fed chief in the bank's 97-year history following its decision Wednesday. The ICE US Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against six major world currencies was trading at 74.268, just slightly up on last week's lows, however the dollar is expected to weaken further, which will be bullish for oil prices in the short term at least. Analysts said oil was also helped by Saudi Arabia's state oil company comment that the world's top oil exporter was concerned about the economic impact of expensive oil. Saudi Aramco chief executive Khalid al-Falih said Tuesday that Saudi Arabia has enough spare crude oil capacity to meet world demand. Another Business Recorder report adds: The barrel price of crude oil in New York closed flat Monday after hitting a new three-year peak as worries intensified that Arab unrest would curtail global supply. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, a barrel of WTI light sweet crude for June delivery slipped to $112.28, down one penny from Thursday's closing level. Financial markets on both sides of the Atlantic were closed in observance of Good Friday, and major European markets remained closed on Easter Monday. Shortly after NYMEX trading began Monday, the benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures contract hit $113.48 a barrel, a fresh high since September 2008. But buying lost momentum in "a natural unwinding of the risk premium that had been built before the long weekend," said Matt Smith of Summit Energy.