Crude Oil Trades Little Changed as OPEC Considers Output Cut
- Friday, November 28, 2008, 8:12
David Fridley
Director
China Energy Group
Crude oil traded little changed in London as OPEC gathered to consider cutting production in an attempt to halt the slide in prices. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Cairo this weekend to consider further output cuts. Prices are being driven by the global economic crisis, Qatar’s Oil Minister said on arrival in Egypt. Oil has slumped 63 percent from a record $147.27 a barrel in New York on July 11 as demand falls around the world and economic reports show a deepening recession in the U.S., the world’s largest oil user.
“OPEC is aware that the market is not so concerned about the production side as it is about demand,” said Eugen Weinberg, a Commerzbank AG analyst in Frankfurt. “There is lots and lots of pressure on the market and that is weighing on the price.”
Brent crude oil for January settlement traded at $53.51 on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange, up 25 cents, or 0.5 percent. It earlier fell as much as 98 cents to $52.15 a barrel.
Crude oil for January delivery dropped 77 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $53.67 a barrel at 12:35 p.m. London time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Nymex was open only for electronic trading yesterday because of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Futures closed at $54.44 on Nov. 26 after rising 7.2 percent.
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