Oil prices dip below US$70 on bearish pressures

13-Aug-09

As bearish pressures continue, oil prices have dipped below US$70 a barrel in New York. Equities have dipped as suggested by Standard & Poor’s 500 Index that lost as much as 1.5%, the biggest decline in more than a month. Oil inventories in USA are estimated to have increased by 1 mln barrels last week as refiners processed less crude. Though economic indicators point that the recession has probably ended in June, the global recovery will be slow. New York oil futures have more than doubled since February as a decline in the dollar made commodities more attractive and rising equity markets buoyed investor confidence. Oil reached an eight-month high of $73.38 a barrel on June 30. OPEC has raised its 2010 forecast for supply from outside the group to 51.17 million bpd as tax incentives slow the output decline in Russia, OPEC’s biggest rival. OPEC produced about 28.7 million bpd in Q2, little changed from the first quarter. The Energy Department forecast OPEC output will rise during the rest of the year, unless prices fall sharply.