Oil prices ease in Asian markets<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuters): Oil prices slipped in Asia amid profit-
\ntaking on Tuesday after surging to nine-year highs in London and
\nNew York, traders said.<\/p>\n
January New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) crude futures
\nwere at US$26.83 by 0804 GMT, down 24 cents from the New York
\nclose on Monday, where the contract had ended at $27.07.<\/p>\n
U.S. crude prices last rose above $27 per barrel during the
\nIraq crisis in January 1991, when allied forces were preparing to
\neject troops from Kuwait.<\/p>\n
Brent crude futures had also soared on the London
\nInternational Petroleum Exchange on Monday, with the January
\ncontract ending the day 71 cents higher at $25.78.<\/p>\n
Prices had rocketed to a fresh nine-year high of $25.90 in
\nearly London trade, but eased slightly by the end of the day.<\/p>\n
On the Singapore International Monetary Exchange, Brent crude
\nwas untraded.<\/p>\n
The price surge was mainly in response to Iraq's move on
\nMonday to halt oil loadings after Baghdad over the weekend
\nrejected a UN proposal to extend its \"oil-for-food\" deal for two
\nweeks.<\/p>\n
Iraq said the extension was orchestrated by the United States
\nto blackmail other Security Council members to accept a draft
\nsolution on weapons inspections.<\/p>\n
The Iraqi move comes at a time when global oil stocks are
\nrunning low as the northern hemisphere moves into peak winter
\ndemand season.<\/p>\n
Despite the declining inventories, producers seemed committed
\nto their decision to maintain output cuts until March 2000, as
\noriginally agreed.<\/p>\n
OPEC president Abdullah bin Hamad, who is also Qatar's
\nminister of energy and industry, said at the weekend that some
\nproducers wanted to extend the supply curbs to end June or even
\nend-2000.<\/p>\n
Current crude prices are a far cry from the historical lows at
\nthe start of the year, when Brent fell to sub-$10 levels. But
\nproducers have said they were more concerned about the level of
\nglobal inventories rather than the current price levels.<\/p>\n
Some analysts have said that stocks could fall below 1996
\nlevels by December if OPEC maintains its production restraint.
\nStocks in 1996 have been identified by some producers as their
\nideal inventory level.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/oil-prices-ease-in-asian-markets-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}