Oil prices cooled on Tuesday after reaching a record high of about US$59.52 on Monday. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July stooped to $59.26, while the price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in August fell to about US$58.17. This was after it reached a new record of about $58.58 in the previous trading sessions of the week in London.
However, prices are likely to hit US$60 for the first time if the US government reports a fall in weekly crude inventories- particularly distillates, which include heating fuel. The upswing in prices has been triggered by concerns that refineries will struggle to turn enough crude oil into heating fuel to meet Q4 demand. Prices have surged by about 40% since the start of the year and this minor fall in prices is viewed as a breather taken by the market.
On the supply side, concerns abound bout the Norwegian oil workers possibly striking. Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)members last week agreed to raise the group's production ceiling by 500,000 bpd on July 1 and said they might repeat the move by September. The move was a symbolic gesture because the cartel is already pumping more oil than its current official ceiling of 27.5 million bpd.
23-Jun-05 
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