In what could be termed as a recovery attributed to short-covering ahead of the weekend, oil prices rose in Asian trading. Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose to US$52.51 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midmorning in Singapore. On Thursday, the contract fell by US$2.14 to settle at US$51.88 a barrel. In the event of some short-covering before the weekend, prices could rebound to US$53.
Crude oil has tumbled by 15% in barely two weeks, attributed to a sell-off initiated by investment funds last year, coupled with a historically warm U.S. winter that has left supplies of heating fuel intact. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday that it expects warmer-than-normal weather in the Northern United States to continue through March.
Tanker tracker Oil Movements that said crude exports from OPEC countries are expected to rise 350,000 bpd to 24.5 million bpd in the four weeks ending Jan. 27, also helped trigger Thursday's selling. This report raises new questions over OPEC's commitment to a recent output-cut agreement. OPEC had decided to reduce production by 1.2 million bpd last November, and 500,000 bpd set to begin Feb. 1.
12-Jan-07 
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