Oil Prices Fall Below 74 U.S. Dollars

Position

Home

News

Oil and Gas

Oil Prices Fall Below 74 U.S. Dollars

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 08:25

London - Oil prices on Monday local time to extend the losses caused by the latest bid to cool China's economic boom, traders said.
The main futures contract, New York, light sweet crude for delivery in March, down by 23 cents to 73.90 dollars per barrel at around 1700 GMT.

Oil Brent North Sea crude for April delivery fell 40 cents to 72.50 dollars per barrel.

Calm trading activity in the middle of the holiday in much of Asia, including China, and in the United States.

Prices had fallen on Friday on the back of China's latest effort to control the booming economy.

Central Bank of China (The People `s Bank of China / PBoC) announced it would raise the deposit reserve ratio (the minimum required deposits) for banks by 50 basis points on February 25, which is the second increase since the beginning of the year.

The increase in the ratio - the minimum amount of money banks must keep in reserve and not used for loans or other purposes - is seen as the latest sign that Beijing is moving to prevent the economy "overheating" (too hot).

"The tight monetary stance to fend off inflation Beijing in the country and keep the domestic economy from overheating, may also hold interests in global commodity markets, including oil," said analysts at JBC Energy, an energy consultant in Vienna.

The market has also shrunk last Friday, after news of an unexpected increase in crude oil stocks in the United States, which showed sluggish demand in the nation's largest energy consumer worlds.

The main report U.S. inventories for the week ending February 5 said that crude oil stocks rose for the fourth consecutive week, with 2.4 million barrels. That compared with analysts' expectations for the 1.3 million barrel increase.

Also, gasoline stockpiles rose more than expected, according to the report, which is usually published every Wednesday, but postponed due to snow storm in the northeastern United States.

Oil prices have been under pressure in recent weeks by fears that the stubborn Greek debt crisis could infect countries other euro zone and impede economic recovery - and demand for energy.

Meeting of the eurozone finance ministers in Brussels on Monday is expected to support extraordinary measures to instill some discipline in the budget that hit Greece debt.

European Union leaders on Thursday and then, stopped to offer a bailout to save Greece. | antaranews.com | tenderoffer.biz |