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AFP
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, edged up eight cents to $US71.77 a barrel.
London’s Brent North Sea crude for November gained 23 cents to $US70.00.
After a volatile week in which New York prices gained up to nearly two dollars, the market gave in t …
AFP
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, edged up eight cents to $US71.77 a barrel.
London’s Brent North Sea crude for November gained 23 cents to $US70.00.
After a volatile week in which New York prices gained up to nearly two dollars, the market gave in to profit-taking early on Friday before bouncing back again, traders said.
The mostly weak dollar, which has fueled prices in recent weeks, rebounded on Friday and kept a lid on prices after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted that US interest rates could be on the rise.
A hike in the US interest rates would make the dollar more attractive to investors.
“The market is flat after a pretty active week,” said analyst John Kilduff of MF Global. “The big focus is on the dollar. The rebound keeps a lid on all commodities, like gold and also oil,” he said.
Kilduff said a report by the International Energy Agency “is confirming the thesis that the recovery Globally is well underway”, giving room for further price rises.
oil demand is firming but the Global market is still weak amid concerns over economic recovery and its impact on Energy consumption next year, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.
Pointing to an oil price of about $US75 a barrel next year, the IEA warned that immediate oil demand is “in the doldrums“.
Demand should grow at the end of this year and in 2010 as the global economy rises after the crisis, but there is a wide range of risk in how the groggy oil market will recover and the oil price is unlikely to rise much.
Demand has plunged amid the world economic downturn, the most severe since the 1930s. oil prices tumbled from historic highs of more than $US147 in July 2008 to about $US32 in December because of the global recession but have since won back ground on recovery hopes.
Oil prices closed up more than two dollars a barrel on Thursday as investors sought refuge in commodities amid a weakening dollar and as economic recovery won a lift in the United States, traders said.
Prices have also won support this week on a report that Gulf states considered dropping the greenback for oil transactions.
The report sparked a series of denials by countries that were cited.
