Crude oil futures at their highest level since conception on London's IPE

10-Mar-05

As large speculators continued building-up in crude futures, amid growing concern about global oil market, crude oil prices rose to a 4 month high. Oil futures for April ended at US$54.77 a barrel in New York. The April Brent crude-oil futures contract on London's International Petroleum Exchange, climbed to US$53.38 dollars a barrel, the highest since the contract began trading in 1988. Global oil demand is estimated to rise 2.5% to an average 84.7 million bpd in 2005.