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SINGAPORE: Oil prices turned lower in volatile Asian trade Tuesday
but remained above $102 per barrel as traders took profits from a
recent rise to record peaks, dealers said.
The decline reversed a rise in morning trade as
investors focused on the weak US dollar and news that the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would keep
output steady.
In afternoon trade, New York’s main contract,
light sweet crude for delivery in April, was down 23 cents to
$102.22 per barrel from $102.45 in New York on Monday.
London’s Brent North Sea crude for April
delivery fell 23 cents to $100.25 per barrel.
New York oil prices had scaled a new peak of
$103.95 Monday as the dollar dived to a fresh low against the euro.
“Prices are going down but they have not
fallen by a whole lot. I think it’s just some profit taking, the
prices were too strong,” said Victor Shum, a senior principal at
Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy in Singapore.
He said expectations of an increase in US energy
inventories when the data are released on Wednesday helped to slow
down oil prices.
Analysts said, however, that prices remained
under upward pressure because of the weakening US dollar, which
dropped to a new low of 1.5274 against the euro Monday.
Shum said the softer US dollar spurs investors
to put more funds into oil and other commodities that are seen as
“a safe haven and a hedge against inflation.”
OPEC produces 40 percent of the world’s oil.
-- AFP
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