Oil prices stabilize at fresh highs of US$124

08-May-08

Oil prices have stabilized at fresh highs of US$124 a barrel on continued buying, as investors enthralled by the market's upward momentum, are paying no heed to an increase in U.S. crude and gasoline supplies. Some evidence that investors are buying to keep up with the market's momentum, stems from the fact that a stronger dollar had little or no impact on trading. By midmorning in Singapore, light, sweet crude for June delivery settled at US$123.4 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, June Brent crude futures is at US$122.25 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. The U.S. Energy Department's weekly report stated that inventories of distillate fuels (including diesel and heating oil) fell unexpectedly while gasoline demand rose slightly last week.