NEW YORK: Oil prices fell more than 10 percent on Thursday to a one-month low as thickening economic gloom added to expectations that world energy demand would keep shrinking.
US crude fell $3.74 to $33.54 a barrel by 1:30pm EST (1830 GMT), after falling as low as $33.20 -- the lowest since Dec. 19. London Brent fell 90 cents to $44.18 a barrel, maintaining an unusual premium to the US benchmark.
The losses came after US data showing the number of US workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week and US foreclosure activity jumped 81% in 2008, suggesting the recession is deepening. "We have gotten more dire economic news and the notion is that 2009 will not result in any significant turnaround, with sentiment mounting that may happen in 2010 instead," said Jim Wyckoff, independent energy analyst in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The gloomy global economic outlook prompted OPEC on Thursday to forecast a fall of 180,000 barrels per day in world oil demand this year, 30,000 bpd steeper than its previous forecast.
Earlier in the week, the US Energy Information Administration forecast a world consumption drop of more than 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year.
US refiners, facing slumping demand from consumers and businesses, have been putting crude oil into storage instead of into processing units, pushing stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub -- the delivery point for US crude futures -- to record highs. The brimming inventories at Cushing have upended US crude's relationship with Brent, driving the higher-quality grade well below its European counterpart.
The American Petroleum Institute on Thursday said US demand for crude oil and petroleum products slid 5.9 percent in December from a year earlier, with demand in 2008 dropping at the fastest rate in almost three decades due to high energy prices and the slumping economy. US oil prices struck a peak of $147 a barrel in July but have tumbled since because of the economic crisis.
"The considerable uncertainty about the course of the recovery implies the potential for further deterioration in world oil demand growth this year," OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report. This could build a case for the producer group to cut output again after already reducing supply by about 4 million bpd since September to try to halt the oil price slide.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Oil_prices_fall_more_than_10/articleshow/3986979.cms
US crude fell $3.74 to $33.54 a barrel by 1:30pm EST (1830 GMT), after falling as low as $33.20 -- the lowest since Dec. 19. London Brent fell 90 cents to $44.18 a barrel, maintaining an unusual premium to the US benchmark.
The losses came after US data showing the number of US workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week and US foreclosure activity jumped 81% in 2008, suggesting the recession is deepening. "We have gotten more dire economic news and the notion is that 2009 will not result in any significant turnaround, with sentiment mounting that may happen in 2010 instead," said Jim Wyckoff, independent energy analyst in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The gloomy global economic outlook prompted OPEC on Thursday to forecast a fall of 180,000 barrels per day in world oil demand this year, 30,000 bpd steeper than its previous forecast.
Earlier in the week, the US Energy Information Administration forecast a world consumption drop of more than 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year.
US refiners, facing slumping demand from consumers and businesses, have been putting crude oil into storage instead of into processing units, pushing stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub -- the delivery point for US crude futures -- to record highs. The brimming inventories at Cushing have upended US crude's relationship with Brent, driving the higher-quality grade well below its European counterpart.
The American Petroleum Institute on Thursday said US demand for crude oil and petroleum products slid 5.9 percent in December from a year earlier, with demand in 2008 dropping at the fastest rate in almost three decades due to high energy prices and the slumping economy. US oil prices struck a peak of $147 a barrel in July but have tumbled since because of the economic crisis.
"The considerable uncertainty about the course of the recovery implies the potential for further deterioration in world oil demand growth this year," OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report. This could build a case for the producer group to cut output again after already reducing supply by about 4 million bpd since September to try to halt the oil price slide.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Oil_prices_fall_more_than_10/articleshow/3986979.cms
No comments:
Post a Comment