Oil prices steady after spiking above US$61

10-Nov-06

Light sweet crude for December delivery steadied at US$61.13 a barrel in midmorning Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after spiking by US$1.33 on Thursday. The spike was an impact of U.S. midterm election results showed that Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, for the first time since 1994. Oil prices steadied on Friday after spiking above US$61 a barrel in reaction the leadership change in the U.S. Congress and amid continued uncertainties about OPEC production cuts accompanied by lower U.S. gasoline and diesel fuel inventories reported in a weekly report. Oil prices have tumbled from a July high above $78 a barrel, trading in a range of $57-$61 a barrel over the past month.